The call to conviction and commitment!
Isaiah 66: 10-14; Galatians 6: 14-18; Luke 10: 1-12, 17-20
What
could be the Good News today to the world, in these days of unrest – anything
sweeter than or more reassuring than peace? We observe unrest at all levels -
Global, National, Local - at all levels there is a sense of acute unrest, a
feeling of insecurity and anxiety.
At
the global level news like the Ukraine – Russia conflict, the Israel – Iran
conflict, the continuing conflicts in the Middle East such as those in Lebanon
and Syria, the never ending and sometimes never considered issues of some
African nations such as Somalia, Haiti, Mali and so on, the ongoing tensions in
Myanmar… these signs of unrest stand out as a reminder of the loss of hope in
humanistic solidarity!
At
the national level, the various uprisings, the increasing polarizations, the unchecked
politicisation of crimes, the exploitation of political power, the manipulation
of the media platforms, these are just the tip of the iceberg of unrests that
are aggressively active underground.
At
the local level, the recent custodial death and the uproar against it, the varied
killings and sexual harassments reported, the constant effort to create
political and socio-religious unrest, these are just another set of events laying
bare the unrest that rules the minds of persons in today's society.
Just
to add to these instances one opinion that is being considered as a wisdom for
human flourish these days: there are people who seem to say, 'it is alright to
be selfish' and some even saying, ‘it is legitimate to be self-centered’! What
a stage we have reached where people not only justify selfishness but propagate
it as if it is a virtue, a virtue of the new age, post-truth pragmatic school,
that is threatening to make all religious values meaningless!
The
Word this Sunday, presents us with what could be the good news for a time that
is marked by such unrests: the good news of PEACE.
"Peace"
is the term that is common to all the parts of the liturgy of the Word today.
The Lord promises a peace of comfort to God's people in the first reading; the
psalmist hopes for the peace of the Lord and invites to pray for it; St. Paul
wishes and blesses the people of God with peace; and finally Jesus highlights
good news as a sharing of peace!
But
what kind of a peace is the Word speaking to us about?
A
peace that promises... Comfort but not Compromise
Though
the Lord time and again promised the people of God peace in their borders and
the justice in their homes, the Lord does not compromise on anything. Of
course, the Lord has a great and true promise of comfort and well-being. But
the comfort that the Lord promises does not consist of any compromise.
We
see in the political arena today people who speak flabbergastingly about
principles and policies and not too far within the timelines, they begin to
speak and promote just the opposite of what they have been speaking a while
before! There are people who speak of something but as soon as it touches them
personally, do exactly the opposite things. Compromises seem to be a competence
of coping with life! It is propagated as a way of gaining a peaceful life!
Instead,
the peace that the Lord promises, is far from this - what matters to the Lord,
matters truly and matters always, without change or without exceptions. When we
are clear of what the Lord expects of us, and when we make a conscious choice
for it, we are filled with a peace that comforts us, even amidst difficulties
and pressures – no compromise can be justified!
A
peace that is born out of... Convictions and not Convenience
The
Lord as he sends his messengers ahead of him puts them through a rigorous
drill, to learn to put up with inconveniences for the sake of the convictions
they would live by. There is this tendency in the culture today to consider
what is convenient as true! A pragmatism of sorts, which says what does matter is
that which leaves you with peace of mind! But what kind of peace of mind are we
speaking of – that of time being, that which keeps you under uncertainty, that
which leaves you internally unsettled, that which tends to kill your
conscience?
The
conviction of a provident God, the conviction of the ever-loving God, the
conviction of the ever-present God... leads to a peace of mind that defeats all
consumer crazy claims of the day. Like St. Paul, we would be able to say, I
have learnt to live in want and in plenty (cf. Phil 4:12). That’s the key to
peace.
A
peace that is experienced through... Commitment and never Compulsion
Peace
is the good news that the Lord offers, but the bad news is that it is upto me
to accept it or not. When Jesus teaches them to wish peace to all… it does not
mean an empty wish, a wish that makes no difference! “Shalom” that is wished
for is something concrete and something that changes life qualitatively! But
this wish can bear its effects only when it is “received”… if there is a person
of peace, your peace shall remain or it shall return – that is what Jesus said.
The Lord promises peace, but it depends on us to receive it, deserve it, behold
it.
However,
it is not all that too easy to accept that offer of peace, because it involves
quite a bit of discipline and sacrifice! Again, the choice is always mine.
Behold I place before you life and death: remember those words that the Lord
said in Deuteronomy? It is the Son of that God who speaks to us today and he
will never be less demanding. When we decide to be deserving of that peace promised
by the Lord, without any external compulsion, we shall make some concrete
commitments, be it personally or be it collectively – like commitment to truth,
commitment to love, commitment to mercy, commitment to family, commitment to
sanctity!
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