15th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B July 14, 2024
Fr. Alexander Albert St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville
What can I say about yesterday? Who should we listen to in the days to come? Maybe start with what we hear in today’s psalm: “I will hear what God proclaims; the LORD —for he proclaims peace.” Now, if you proclaim peace, especially in a time like this, you’ll be met with quite the variety of responses. One phrase that jumps to mind – a phrase fans of the John Wick movies might recognize – is the old Latin proverb: “Si vis pacem, para bellum.” It means “if you want peace, prepare for war.” It’s got a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? A similar vein as the Japanese proverb “better to be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener in a war.”
But are these sayings truly as wise as they seem? In a world riddled with misinformation, it’s good for us to cultivate a healthy skepticism, an instinctive desire to vet the information we receive. Not that most people actually do that. Most people rely on “gut instinct” and that usually translates to the subconscious judgment of how convenient the truth is and how well it fits the assumptions of my “group.”
Physical facts and mathematical realities are relatively simple to sort out. Wisdom, however, is not often so clear. This is why politics get so heated. God grant it gets no worse! Politics is… or should be about the wisest way to lead society towards peace and prosperity. Whether or not wisdom is “true” often depends on things that aren’t immediately obvious… things that may not be visible for years, decades, centuries… perhaps visible only in eternity. I cannot offer every answer.
What I can offer is a way to rephrase the question about wisdom, a way that is reliable, if not always easy. Instead of simply gut checking some piece of wisdom, some clever saying, consider instead how Jesus would view it. Seriously, if you really believe that Jesus is God incarnate, the savior of your soul, the creator of the universe, and the very source of wisdom, what better way to judge true wisdom? So, if you told Jesus “si vis pacem, para bellum” – if you want peace, prepare for war – what do you think Jesus would say?
Don’t get ahead of me! What you think Jesus would say is based on who you think Jesus is. And in the days to come, Jesus will be invoked on many sides to justify many incompatible ideas! This is why, if we are to learn true wisdom, we must first learn who Jesus truly is. If you approach the teaching of the Church as just a list of answers to questions, you’re missing the point. Scripture and Tradition don’t explicitly answer every question. They connect us to Jesus Christ, the source of wisdom. Our religion is not a set of ideas, it is the structure of a relationship. Your skeleton is not all of your body, but you certainly need it if you want your body to function! So our religion with its commandments, precepts, rituals, and sacraments isn’t a replacement for a relationship with Jesus Christ… but it’s essential structure. Breaking your bones does not help your body function and breaking your religion is not good for your relationship to Jesus Christ.
The prophet Amos lived in the time of a divided kingdom, political turmoil, and looming conquest. In our first reading we see him rejected by God’s people precisely because he reminds them of the religion they abandoned while everyone else would rather focus exclusively on the political tensions of the day. The Apostles in the gospel are warned that God’s people might also reject them for proclaiming the fulfillment of that religion in Jesus Christ. The pursuit of authentic wisdom is hard because, as it turns out, real wisdom requires us to suffer. Jesus Christ, the true God, wisdom incarnate does not fit well with the wisdom of the world. The most obvious example of that is right there [point to crucifix]. He died to give us life. But that paradoxical approach isn’t limited to his death; it runs throughout his whole life ministry.
Blessed are the poor… love your enemies… or what we see today: go on a long trip, but don’t pack; go right now with what you’re wearing and nothing else. Radical dependence on God’s providence. No plan except to preach repentance, heal the sick, and cast out demons.
And you know what? It works. They may not have weapons to conquer armies, but they do cast out demons. They might not have a first aid kit, but they cure the sick. And this proclamation of repentance? It is the psalm we began with: “the LORD… proclaims peace.”
Look, this kind of radical faith does not completely replace ordinary prudence. But it does transform it. Jesus and the Apostles often do make plans, buy stuff, and use money. So yes, plan your trips, buy your groceries, and secure your homes. But times will come when radical dependence on God’s providence overrides ordinary human wisdom. How many of you have seen people in our own area up and leave all the comfort and certainty of home to be missionaries? Are you really willing to trust God when he tell you to take a risk, to turn down what seems like the obviously smart thing to do?
To bring it back to the point: would Jesus agree that we should prepare for war in order to gain peace? He’d agree that we must go to war with ourselves, with our own sinful inclinations. He’d agree that we must defend the innocent. He’d agree that being meek is not the same thing as being harmless. Being harmless is not a choice. Being meek is having the strength and knowing not to use it rashly. But remember this! Our greatest enemies are not flesh and blood overcome by weapons. They are evil spirits overcome by faith and the power of God. Flesh and blood might be able to take our possessions and our earthly lives, but it is our own sins that can damn us.
God’s plan for peace is not the mere absence of war on earth… it cannot come from someone powerful instilling fear in everyone else. God’s plan for peace extends to heaven and earth and can only be found in Jesus Christ. Jesus conquered his enemies by dying while praying for them, with love for them in his heart even as they pierced it. He saved the world when he was killed by his own people who used a foreign imperial power to put him to death. That salvation has continued as nations have risen and fallen. It continues now.
If you want peace, prepare for war? Not quite. There will be many practical considerations you and I must both make in the months, years, and decades ahead, hopefully facing them together – two-by-two as it were. Perhaps… most likely we shall not always have the same answers. That’s normal. But at least strive to base your answers on the right kind of wisdom. Strive to resolve our differences with that wisdom. Strive for peace not with the wisdom of the world and by preparing for war against each other. Instead, make war on your own sinful passions by repentance! Make war on your unbelief through prayerful engagement with scripture and tradition. Make war on the suffering of others through acts of charity. This is the warfare of the Lord Jesus Christ, returning good for evil and blessing in place of curses.
Si vis pacem, para viam domini. If you want peace, prepare the way of the Lord. In war or in peace, only he can really save us.