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ON GOD'S LOVE AND THE MIDDLE EAST SITUATION
 Pope Benedict VXI presided a ceremony for Mideast
peace recently at the Church of Rhemes, Saint George in the Aosta
Valley, Italy. During the ceremony, the Holy Father delivered his
reflection on peace which revolved around the Lord has conquered
with a love capable of going to death.
Below is a copy of Pope Benedict's message.
* * *
I only wish to offer some brief words of meditation
on the reading we have heard. With the background of the tragic
situation of the Middle East, we are moved by the beauty of the
vision illustrated by the Apostle Paul (cf. Ephesians 2:13-18):
Christ is our peace. He has reconciled one another, Jews and pagans,
uniting them in his Body. He has overcome the enmity with his Body,
on the cross. With his death, he has overcome the enmity and has
united us all in his peace.
However, more than the beauty of this vision, we
are impressed by the contrast with the reality that we experience
and see. And, initially, we can do no more than ask the Lord: "But,
Lord, what is your apostle saying to us: 'They have been reconciled'?"
In reality, we see that they are not reconciled. . There is still
war between Christians, Muslims, Jews; and others foment war and
all continues full of enmity, of violence. Where is the efficacy
of your sacrifice? Where in history is this peace of which your
apostle speaks to us?
We men cannot resolve the mystery of history, the
mystery of human freedom that says "no" to the peace of
God. We cannot resolve the whole mystery of the relationship between
God and man, of his action and our response. We must accept the
mystery. However, there are elements of response that the Lord offers
us.
A first element is that this reconciliation of the
Lord, this sacrifice of his, is not without efficacy. There is the
great reality of the communion of the universal Church, of all peoples,
the network of Eucharistic Communion, which transcends the frontiers
of cultures, civilizations, peoples and times.
This communion exists; these "islands of peace"
exist in the Body of Christ. They exist. And forces of peace exist
in the world. If we look at history, we can see the great saints
of charity who have created "oases" of this peace of God
in the world, who have again lit their light, and have been able
to reconcile and to create peace again. The martyrs exist who suffered
with Christ; they have given this witness of peace, of love, which
puts a limit to violence.
And, seeing that the reality of peace exists, though
the other reality persists, we can reflect further on the message
of this Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians. The Lord has conquered
on the cross. He has not conquered with a new empire, with a force
that is more powerful than others, capable of destroying them; he
has not conquered in a human manner, as we imagine, with an empire
stronger than the other. He has conquered with a love capable of
going to death.
This is God's new way of conquering: He does not
oppose violence with a stronger violence. He opposes violence precisely
with the contrary: with love to the end, his cross. This is God's
humble way of overcoming: With his love -- and only thus is it possible
-- he puts a limit to violence. This is a way of conquering that
seems very slow to us, but it is the true way of overcoming evil,
of overcoming violence, and we must trust this divine way of overcoming.
To trust means to enter actively in this divine
love, to participate in this endeavor of pacification, to be in
line with what the Lord says: "Blessed are the peacemakers,
the agents of peace, because they are the sons of God." We
must take, in the measure of our possibilities, our love to all
those who are suffering, knowing that the Judge of the Last Judgment
identifies himself with those who suffer.
Therefore, what we do to those who suffer, we do
to the Last Judge of our life. This is important: At this moment
we can take his victory to the world, taking part actively in his
charity. Today, in a multicultural and multireligious world, many
are tempted to say: "For peace in the world, among religions,
among cultures, it is better not to speak too much of what is specific
to Christianity, that is, of Jesus, of the Church, of the sacraments.
Let us be content with what can be more or less common .."
But it is not true. Precisely at this time, a time
of great abuse of the name of God, we have need of the God who overcomes
on the cross, who does not conquer with violence, but with his love.
Precisely at this time we have need of the Face of Christ to know
the true Face of God and so be able to take reconciliation and light
to this world. For this reason, together with love, with the message
of love, we must also take the testimony of this God, of God's victory,
precisely through the nonviolence of his cross.
In this way, we return to the starting point. What
we can do is to give witness of love, witness of faith and, above
all, to raise a cry to God: We can pray! We are certain that our
Father hears the cry of his children. In the Mass, as we prepare
for holy Communion, to receive the Body of Christ that unites us,
we pray with the Church: "Deliver us, Lord, from all evils,
and grant us peace in our days." May this be our prayer at
this time: "Deliver us from all evils and give us peace,"
not tomorrow, or the day after: Lord, give us peace today! Amen. |
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