Advent Season: A Time of Hope in the Midst of a World at War Bishop Gabino Zavala Bishop President Pax Christi USA.

Transcription

1 PB.47.E.06 First Sunday of Advent Advent Season: A Time of Hope in the Midst of a World at War Bishop Gabino Zavala Bishop President Pax Christi USA December 2, 2006 The Advent season awakens our deepest longings and stirs our most fervent hopes for peace. Tonight is also a time to remember four modern-day martyrs, Sisters Ita Ford, Maura Clarke, Dorothy Kazel and laywoman Jean Donavan, killed in El Salvador 26 years ago tonight this is a lesson of what solidarity with the poor and oppressed is about. On this first Sunday of Advent, in this beautiful chapel at Catholic University, in the heart of our nation s capitol, let us call to mind tonight, a people who live in darkness, the darkest of darknesses, which is the darkness of war. Let us imagine ourselves among their families, wondering what will happen tonight to their loved ones, and whether they will ever hear the joyful news of the dawning of peace, that news that the prophet Jeremiah announced so many years ago: 1 st Reading from Jeremiah 33:14-16 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: The Lord is our righteousness. These are the prophetic words of Jeremiah, a Jewish prophet, speaking of the promised Messiah whom Christians will acclaim as Jesus Christ, and promising justice and righteousness to all who live in the land a land now populated by Muslims, as well as Christians and Jews. There is a beautiful expression that binds all of our peoples together we are Abrahamic peoples, who share a common root and a common dream of Peace, Salaam, Shalom. That is the message we yearn to hear this first night of Advent, in a world so torn by war. I speak to you tonight, not only as a Catholic bishop, but also as the bishop President of Pax Christi USA, with a special mission to proclaim in word and deed 1

2 the peace of Christ. It is a mission, really, that binds all of us, Christian, Muslim and Jew alike. I also come to you as a Mexican migrant, who came to this land in search of peace and promise with my mother, brother and sisters 50 years ago. Tonight, on this first night of Advent, let us be mindful, as well, of all those who are crossing borders, crossing mountains and deserts, many fleeing from the ravages of war, many in search of bread and work to feed their families. May we receive them into our hearts and into our nation as Christ would receive them, the stranger in our midst, for they, too, are Christ. So tonight, let us remember the families and communities throughout the world and especially in the Middle East, where the scourge of war has brought sadness and separation, death and destruction, in its wake. Let us remember families across our country, who celebrated Thanksgiving last week, but without loved ones--for many have made and are making grueling sacrifices, as their loved ones now find themselves in the midst of war in Iraq, in conditions similar to the people in exile to whom the prophet Jeremiah announced his message of hope. Some of these families are now preparing for their third tour of duty. Over 2,800 U.S. troops have died, and over 20,000 have been maimed or wounded. It is impossible to say how many Iraqis have died during the war and occupation, but Johns Hopkins University estimates 650,000, including women, children, ordinary families like ours precious lives. A few weeks ago, during our annual Bishops Conference, the President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop William S. Skylstad, issued a statement A Call for Dialogue and Action on Responsible Transition in Iraq, in which the Conference expressed its prayers and concerns for out military personnel in Iraq, as well as the suffering people of Iraq, who are also our sisters and brothers and deserve our care and solidarity. It was an important statement that noted The Holy See and our Bishops Conference have repeatedly expressed grave moral concerns about military intervention in Iraq and the unpredictable and uncontrollable negative consequences of invasion and occupation. Some of those negative consequences include: 2

3 * Deadly sectarian violence engulfing the Shia and Sunni communities; * Justification by our leaders of preventive war ; * Torture, and the abuse of prisoners and detainees ; * The safety of the men and women who serve in the U.S. military. In addition, the Conference urged that: The Administration and the new Congress need to engage in a collaborative dialogue that honestly assesses the situation in Iraq, acknowledges past difficulties and miscalculations, recognizes and builds on positive advances, and reaches agreement on concrete steps to address the serious challenges that lie ahead. The statement also offered this: Our nation s military forces should remain in Iraq only as long as their presence contributes to a responsible transition. This last point is really my starting point. I would offer that our presence in Iraq has long passed a capacity to contribute anything positive. Our 140,000 troops in Iraq are unable to stop the deepening spiral of violence. Last week we witnessed the bloodiest attacks since the U.S. invasion almost 4 years ago. It is time to bring our occupation of Iraq to an end. This is not to say that we have no responsibility for the destruction and chaos that has been unleashed. But a U.S. presence, front and center, is breeding hatred that will punctuate our world for generations. Even a CIA study concluded months ago that, in effect, this war and occupation is creating terrorism, not stopping it. Multilateral organizations like the United Nations and regional bodies, including the Arab League, are the ones with far, far greater possibility of advancing a reconciliation process and helping Iraqis shape a peaceful post-occupation transition. Of course the U.S. has economic responsibility to support reconstruction but with a preferential option for funding Iraqi-owned businesses that employ Iraqi citizens in the effort. And yes, we might leave medical and engineering units placed under international command. But it is time to step aside to create space for other actors. Can you imagine the impact if the U.S. tomorrow announced it would set a timeline to begin withdrawal, to clearly state we will dismantle all the permanent bases we have been building in Iraq.. Can you imagine the impact it would make in the region if the U.S. if instead of saying we will stay the course until we win, we said humbly: we are 3

4 sorry, we were wrong in going in, we did not understand the complexity, and we recognize that the longer we remain, the violence will only deepen. More U.S. military and political leaders on both sides of the aisle are saying there will be no military victory or military solution for Iraq. In last Sunday s Washington Post, Republican Senator Chuck Hegel from Nebraska, a former Vietnam veteran, wrote a striking op ed in which he said We have misunderstood, misread, misplanned and mismanaged our honorable intentions in Iraq with an arrogant self-delusion reminiscent of Vietnam. It is increasingly clear that we need, as the Bishops statement elevates, a search for genuine justice and peace in Iraq grounded in moral urgency, substantive dialogue, and new directions. As people of faith, we must help elevate and make a path for another way though the wilderness, the nonviolent way of Jesus, the peace of Christ, Pax Christi. We arrive, then, at this first week of Advent -- filled with the promise of peace! We are called to proclaim a message of peace as our nation seeks another way in Iraq and, hopefully soon, disengages itself from the tragedy of this war and occupation We believe that war the war in Iraq all wars are contrary to the will of God for peace. Let us put behind us the language of war, the language of just war, the language of violence. Let us instead speak of peace, of just peace, of non-violence. Years ago, before this magnificent Shrine of the Immaculate Conception was built, when only the foundation had been excavated, our own prophet of peace, Dorothy Day, came here and experienced a conversion that led to the founding of the Catholic Worker movement. We are all familiar with her life, but I want to take from her witness a page from the Catholic Worker, as we proclaim a message of peace to our nation tonight, in the midst of war, in a world filled with so much violence. Picture this page: on one side, the Works of Mercy, on the other side, the Works of War: What are the works of mercy? We all know them: Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty, visit the imprisoned, care for the sick, bury the dead. 4

5 What are the works of war? Some of us know them from experience. Those, like the Iraqi people tonight, know them intimately: Destroy crops and land, seize food supplies, destroy homes, scatter families, contaminate water, imprison dissenters, inflict wounds and burns, kill the living. In the passionate words of John Paul II, who as a young priest knew the death and destruction of war as his native Poland was crushed beneath the fascist armies of Nazi Germany and the communist armies of the Soviet Union: War is a defeat for humanity! War no more, war never again! That is the message of Jesus Christ tonight. That is the message of Advent: Advent is a time of waiting, a time of vigilance but above all, Advent is a time of hope. Pax Christi has recently put out a whole set of prayer, study and action resources with the Advent theme of waiting and witness -- on Iraq. We have much to do to elevate that witness but that is the challenge before us. Earlier, we cited words to the effect that there will be no military victory or military solution in Iraq. Remembering the anniversary we are celebrating tonight of the four U.S. Churchwomen martyred in El Salvador, that same call was echoed in that conflict, in contrast to the war supported by the U.S that there can be no military solution. Instead the essence of the conflict was about justice for the poor and oppressed. That is why the four women so generously gave of their lives. That is why we are called to give our lives as well. We know, as Christians, as heirs to the Prince of Peace, that true victory is not from power or might, rather it comes from a righteous branch springing up in the midst of a defeated and vanquished nation, it comes from the promise of peace to a people who have only known war. It comes from a God of hope and a God of life who is born into this world in a humble manger, in the midst of poverty and persecution, and among a people in flight from the ravages of war and violence. War remains a defeat for humanity! War destroys, and scatters, and kills. Peace is the victory for humanity! That is the task to which the prophets call us tonight. That is the mission for which Jesus came into the world to bring, and for which he suffered, died and rose! He is our peace! Stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near! Peace, Salaam, Shalom! 5