The Word of God, the Word of Peace
The Gospel of Matthew Year A
Patricia McCarthy, C.N.D.
© The Order of St. Benedict, Inc., Collegeville, Minnesota. All rights reserved. No part of this may be reproduced by any means, without the written permission of The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota 56321.
Content
Preface
Section One: The Request
God seduces-The use the Scripture to reflect on the call of the prophets.
Section Two: The Response
Prophets allow themselves to be seduced-the responses of the prophets.
Section Three: The requirements-getting more specific as to how justice and peace are to be lived:
First a no
to economic power
to spiritual power
to political power
Then a yes
to generosity
to justice
to reverence for all creation
Section Four: The Reward
Peace
Persecution
Perseverance
Preface
This is a book about peace-not the media version of everyone sitting around in designer clothes surrounded by all the desired material possessions. This is a book about peace-the peace of Christ, in Christ, and with Christ. This is a book about peace-peace founded on justice, rooted in freedom, lived in charity, and spoken at the cost of our lives.
The definitive book on peace has already been written through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. If you are going to read one book on peace, let it be that one book-the Sacred Scriptures. In it God is clear and precise about the message and call of peace. The people of God, on the other hand, aren't so clear and faithful to God's desires for peace. They wheel and deal their way through history, using violence and injustice when it suits them, sometimes even pretending it's God's plan.
The purpose of this book is to encourage, open, and celebrate the word of peace given to us by God in the Scriptures in the time before Christ, and in his own Son after the birth of Christ. As clear as the call to be peace is, it is not easy to understand or accept. Society and life itself have programmed us to violence, so that we can't even imagine or take seriously the reality that we are called to live in complete peace with all people. The Word of God can penetrate our incredulity, enlighten our vision, and strengthen our resolve to be the people of peace God desires now and has always desired from the beginning of time.
Since peace is lived in the daily circumstances of life, this book highlights the prophets who tried to help the people of their day find peace in the nitty-gritty of life. It is not intended to be a book about the prophets themselves, but rather a book emphasizing the call of prophecy given to each baptized person. "The holy People of God shares also in Christ's prophetic office: it spreads abroad a living witness to him...."1 Hopefully the commitment to prophetic peace will be highlighted by the teachings of some of the Old and New Testament prophets and, as in all things, illuminated by the life and teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.
In the first section this book invites us to reflect on God's request. The idea of peace is God's, and God invites others to spread the word. Section Two follows with the response of the peacemaker, the decision to be with God in the work of peace. Section Three brings us to the decisions for peace. When does justice, the foundation of peace, demand that we say yes and when no? The final section deals with the reward of those who are faithful to God's plan. Even the results of peace need scriptural understanding. A life of peace and justice may not match our expectations. Individually and communally we need to immerse ourselves in the desires of God, discern the ways of God for our time and our place, and celebrate with others the cry of God for peace and justice for all people.
1. Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium), November 21, 1964, no. 12.
