Category Archives: Culture of Encounter

Syria and Peace

07 Saturday Sep 2013

Posted by in Culture of Encounter, dialogue, encounter, peace, President Obama, Syria

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In each of the four gospels we have the account of Jesus at the end of his earthly ministry in the garden of Gethsemane when the crowd comes to arrest him.  We are given the scene of one of his disciples either preparing to draw a sword and defend Jesus against the encircling mob or actually drawing the sword and severing the ear of a servant who was present.  John’s gospel specifically identifies the zealous disciple as Simon Peter. 

For our purposes here it is helpful to reflect on Matthew’s account.  

While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people.  Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I shall kiss is the man; seize him.”  And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Hail, Master!”  And he kissed him.  Jesus said to him, “Friend, why are you here?”  Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him.  And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest, and cut off his ear.  Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place: for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” 

This disciple (whether it was Peter or not, I cannot say) was not a bad man.  He had a love for Jesus.  He did not want to see Jesus hurt nor an injustice toward Jesus committed.  He wanted to defend the master and teacher who had done nothing but preach God’s love and mercy and the coming of the Kingdom.  His motives were honest, yet from our Lord’s reaction we can see that his action fell short of the mark and he did not yet fully understand what the Lord was about.   

Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place: for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” 

Our Lord, even as he faced his own death, shows us that there is another way; that we do not have to give in to the sad and tired logic of violence, war and retribution.  In Christ and in the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom there is the ever new possibility of peace, restored relationship, honest encounter and even friendship.  As Pope Francis, a disciple of Christ Jesus, recently said in his Angelus message, “War never brings peace.  War begets war!  Violence begets violence! … Peace is a treasure of all humanity!”  Jesus reveals to us that there is truly another way – there is an ever-new logic of dialogue and encounter.   

We have all been witnessing the increasingly brutal cycle of violence in Syria.  All of us have been horrified by the gratuitous loss of life and the new revelation of the apparent use of chemical weapons by government forces.  We all want to “do something” to stop this horror.  No person, honest in his or her humanity, can deny that this is just plain wrong and evil.  

President Obama and the members of Congress (like that disciple in the garden of Gethsemane) are good people.  They are good people who want to “do something” to end the violence that is ripping Syria apart.  But more violence is not the answer that is needed at this moment.  A different way is needed and the gospel points out this way. 

Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place: for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”  

There is another way and we need to give this other way a chance!  The work of diplomacy, negotiation, humanitarian aid and dialogue is neither a sign of weakness nor a form of isolationism.  Dialogue is the furthest thing from isolationism – it is the willingness to truly seek out and encounter the “other” wherever and whoever he or she might be.  The way of encounter acknowledges that we share a common humanity with shared hopes and dreams!  The way of violence denies a common humanity.  Violence and resorting to the mechanism of violence to achieve ones goal is, in fact, the true isolationism.  It is, in essence, stating, in very stark ways, “My way or no way!”  It is also (and I believe that this is at play in the current situation) a way of assuaging ones tranquility and sense of having “done something” while not really having to encounter the other because when we encounter we might ourselves have to change.  The thought of bombing Syria can be likened to the decision that the only way to solve the domestic abuse situation next door (which everyone in the neighborhood is painfully aware of) is to throw some hand grenades through the front window!  What is the priority here?  Is it the good of the Syrian people and the country of Syria or is it our own peace of mind?  True encounter demands that the good of people always comes first, even above our own sense of tranquility.    

Violence begets violence.  War begets more war.  God calls us to a new way.  When we were lost in sin and turned away from God; God came to encounter us, God came to seek out our friendship.  Peace belongs to everyone and is ever possible because when we had turned our backs on God, God came to us in peace.  This is the “serene and sure vision” of religion that must be brought to our world and brought to all people, including those good people who out of a desire to “do something” would draw the sword.  How often must we draw the sword?  How many times?  When will it end?   

At the Meeting of Prayer for Peace in Sarajevo (September 11, 2012) Professor Andrea Riccardi – founder of the Community of Sant’Egidio – offered these words.  (The “serene and sure vision”, I would hold, is the vision of Christ in the garden of Gethsemane and it is what we have to give to the world and it is a vision our world desperately needs.) 

Let us look at the future without fear!  Let us prepare the future in friendliness among peoples.  Let us look at the future without being paralyzed by past fears!  We need courage and hope to prepare a future of life together in peace.  Let us forfeit all prejudices, the preaching of hatred.  We can build the future, educating women, men, the youth to peace: for only peace is holy, and living together reveals the will of God and the equality of all people.  Equality that is rooted in God himself.  For whoever kills a man, but also whoever hates or despises a human being, strikes God himself!  Religions can be foreseeing.  We can convey a new conviction to everyone, a conviction developed in contact with the sorrows of many and the experience of peoples: war is evil, violence can never be justified in God’s name.  Dialogue can help resolve insurmountable problems.  We have a serene and sure vision: it is an ancient and very new vision.  We are a reference point – the spirit of Assisi is – in the plurality of our religions: a reference point of peace. 

Before we rush to “do something”, before we rush to bomb Syria, let us spend some time with our Lord in the garden of Gethsemane and let us learn his way. 

This is what Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
In days to come,
The mountain of the LORD’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain
and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it.
many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the LORD’s mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may instruct us in his ways,
and we may walk in his paths.”
For from Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and set terms for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
One nation shall not raise the sword against another,
nor shall they train for war again.
House of Jacob, come,
let us walk in the light of the LORD!  (Is. 2:1-5)

Jesus, the Narrow Door and Humility: 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

25 Sunday Aug 2013

Posted by in Culture of Encounter, encounter, humility, the Narrow Door

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In today’s gospel (Lk. 13:22-30) Jesus is on journey toward Jerusalem, toward the cross and the resurrection, and he is passing through many towns and villages.  At one point someone asks him; Lord, will only a few people be saved?  The question witnesses to a common assumption of the time that salvation was dependent upon belonging to the “chosen people” or to the right group – be it social, religious or ethnic.  (The question might actually have come from someone troubled by this understanding and so he or she asks our Lord for his opinion.)  This raises a valid question for us; even if we might not say that salvation is dependent upon belonging to the right group, how often do we act and live our lives like this is so?  How often might we distance others from our lives or isolate ourselves from others who are different, who have very apparent needs that might make burdensome demands on my life and time (i.e. the poor, the immigrant, the mentally-handicapped, the elderly)? 

The Kingdom of God that Christ comes to inaugurate allows for no such separation nor limitations.  The Kingdom of God is found and revealed in the moment of encounter with the other in his or her need and likewise when we, ourselves, stand in need.   
Our Lord responds, Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.  Jesus then goes on to give us the image of the master of the house who locked the door to his house thus leaving some people locked outside.  Both “gate” and “door” are images of encounter – where walls and fences separate and divide, gates and doors allow for encounter and moving beyond supposedly set and rigid boundaries.  
Our Lord describes this gate as “narrow” in contrast to the way of self-focus which is very broad and open in our world.  It is easy to live life focused solely on self and on one’s own needs and in many ways we are encouraged to do this and even applauded for doing so.  Yet the gate of the Kingdom is here described as anything but open and broad.  It must be noted though that the narrowness of this gate is not due to a limited love on the part of God, nor a desire on God’s part that only a few be saved.  The gate is “narrow” in the sense that it requires a deflation of our egos in order to fit through!  Big egos, a life lived with a focus solely turned inward on self will not fit through this gate nor do such attributes even allow for honest encounter with God or even with another person in the first place. 
“While on this earth … humility,” wisely advised St. Teresa of Avila.  Cultivating humility in life allows for the letting go of self, of resentments, of pride, of indifference that is necessary in order to “fit through” and enter the narrow gate of encounter with another and the Kingdom of God.  
The narrowness of the gate into the Kingdom of God does not reflect any limit on the part of God’s love rather it points out those limits within our very selves that block real encounter with God and with one another.  
While on this earth … humility.  
Strive to enter through the narrow gate…    

"Culture of Encounter = Culture of the Good Samaritan", Pope Francis’ Wisdom

14 Sunday Jul 2013

Posted by in Culture of Encounter, Culture of the Good Samaritan, encounter, Encounter with Christ, gospel

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“And who is my neighbor?”
 What allowed the Samaritan to be neighbor to the man who fell victim to the robbers on the road to Jericho?  What enabled him to encounter this man in his need?  We are told that the priest and the Levite hurried by on the other side, possibly absorbed in their own concerns (too busy to be bothered) or out of a desire to remain ritually pure.  Whatever the reason, they chose to remain unengaged and removed and, by doing so, fell short of what it means to love ones neighbor as Christ here teaches.  
In contrast to the first two we are told that the Samaritan was “moved with compassion at the sight.”  Maybe he was a man acquainted with his own infirmity; maybe he was someone who knew by experience what it meant to be hurt and victimized.  Whatever the reason, the Samaritan allowed his heart to be touched by this man in his need.  This is what it means to be “moved with compassion”.  The Samaritan chose not to hurry by.  He chose to put whatever other cares he had at that moment on hold and encounter this man in his need.  The Samaritan made the choice to be neighbor. 
Maybe the proper question is not, “And who is my neighbor?”  Maybe the proper question is, “How do I become neighbor?”  Maybe the proper prayer is, “Lord, teach me how to be neighbor.”  
Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, is doing his best I believe to lead us as Church to the proper question and the proper prayer.  He is calling us as Church to the “Culture of Encounter” which, in essence, is the culture of the Good Samaritan.  Whether in visiting poor migrants on the tiny island or Lampedusa, washing the feet of prisoners on Holy Thursday, inviting the poor for a meal at the Vatican or challenging economic systems that deny the dignity of people and corrupt the earth; the Holy Father is calling us to take notice, to see the ones lying on the side of the road who are in need.  He is inviting us to be moved with compassion because he knows that this is what it means to be disciple and this is what it means to be Church and it is this type of Church that the world needs.  To paraphrase the Holy Father, “A Church closed in on itself; a Church that hurries by too busy to be bothered; is a sick and weak Church.”   
What does it mean to be a Church that notices, to be a Church living the gospel culture of encounter?  It means a lot.   
Parishes cannot be closed in, islands unto themselves.  Parishes must truly become centers of evangelization!  The focus of the parish must become outward looking in all aspects.  This is quite the shift, at least in the United States, where parishes have historically served as centers of religious and ethnic unity.  Maybe inward looking meetings and committees need to give way to the work of authentic ministry to and in the world?  Maybe time and energy spent on in-house church squabbles on all levels needs to be recognized as time and energy wasted when there is a world outside in need?  Is there place for the central focus of liturgy, prayer and community?  Certainly, and these aspects are essential and truly at the heart of Church but the energies that naturally flow from these essential aspects of church must then be channeled out into the world if they are to remain authentic, true and life-giving!  The energy of a river needs to flow forward!  When it becomes stymied then it becomes morose and dark, much like a swamp.   
Bishops, priests, religious and deacons cannot remain content to stay within the church walls – whatever form these may take.  This is more than just going outside, it means letting go of knowledge and expertise, which equates to letting go of power.  In the church, we know how things operate.  We have the answers.  “You want to get married?  Here, this is the marriage preparation process and what you have to do.”  “You want to learn about the Church?  Here, this is the program for you.”  Therefore, to step outside means to let go of power and to accept the risk of being vulnerable.  But, there is such a great multitude outside of the Church’s walls who just want us to come and be with them.  They do not expect us to know all the answers; they do not even want that.  They just want to be noticed and for us to be willing to meet their vulnerability in our own vulnerability.  This is the oil and wine that helps to bring healing and helps to bandage deep wounds.   
There is another part to his equation though.  Parishes and dioceses need to give their bishops, priests, religious and deacons the freedom they need to do this.  A gilded cage may be gilded but it is still a cage!  At the heart of every vocation to serve in the Church is the call to be a missionary who goes out into the world.  This is not a denial of the pastoral needs of the community but a healthy counter-balance that is essential, I believe, to the health and well-being of any vocation to serve.  For a community to so demand and absorb the energy and focus of the one who serves that he or she cannot even imagine the missionary dimension of vocation is a huge disservice both to the one who serves and to the needs of our world. 
The laity must step up but not in a “how the world does business” way, but in how we are all called by Christ to “do business” way.  It is no longer permissible for the laity to say, “Oh, proclaiming the Gospel; that is the job of the ones who make the vows to do that.”  Today, the Gospel must be proclaimed by all Christians; therefore, all Christians must be intimately familiar with and formed by the Gospel.  The Gospel calls all persons to discipleship and therefore, all members of the Church must have their thoughts, actions and attitudes challenged, purified and enlightened by the Gospel.  The laity in the Church can just as easily hurry by on the other side of the road as the priest and Levite did, but this does not lead to being neighbor.  The primary encounter for any Christian before all else is our encounter with Christ in the Gospel.  This is the encounter which must continuously guide and enliven all aspects of the life of discipleship and all members of the Church must continuously and daily seek this encounter.  Every day, personal time must be spent with Scripture, particularly time with the gospels. 
How do I become neighbor?   
Lord, teach me how to be neighbor.