Father Thomas Welbers' Homily	Jump back to Homily Index
Second Sunday of Lent, March 16, 2003 Genesis 22:1-18 Romans 8:31b-34 Mark 9:2-10	Listen to Audio

The world stood on the brink of war – with each power justifying its own national interests against the other. This war would be the bloodiest and most costly the world had ever known, eventually involving nearly every major nation in the conflict. It was waged with new and technologically advanced instruments of death. It also came to be known as the “war to end all wars,” which tragically proved to be just the opposite.

The world stood on the brink of war. The war I’m referring to, of course, is World War I. The year was 1914. Austria, a Catholic country, asked the Holy Father, Pope Pius X, to bless their troops who were preparing to invade Belgium, a Catholic country, in a pre-emptive strike to limit perceived aggression from France, another Catholic country.

The saintly Pope Pius X, just a few weeks before his death, responded curtly, “I bless peace, not war!” His equally saintly, though not canonized, successor, Pope Benedict XV, shepherded the Church through the course of World War I. He maintained strict neutrality toward the nations on either side of the conflict, even though they were busy demonizing one another, and he continually pleaded for an end to the violence and bloodshed. For this he was scorned and ridiculed by both sides, called cowardly and naïve. Yet, throughout the war, he tirelessly dedicated the resources of the Vatican to humanitarian help of the wounded and imprisoned, regardless of their nationality. Already elderly and frail when elected Pope, Benedict XV died a few years after the war’s end, in 1922, broken and weak in body but still strong and lucid in spirit.

Our present Holy Father, John Paul II, has consistently throughout his twenty-five-year pontificate opposed all violence and war, and steadfastly refused to take sides in any situation of conflict, firmly convinced that, while a just war may be theoretically permissible, and certainly evil is at work in our world, peaceful solutions are always possible. For this stand, he has also been called naïve and out of touch, that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. And yet, none of the major players in today’s conflicts even come close to the depth of his experience of the tragedy of both totalitarianism and war. As a native of Poland living among his people until elected Pope, he suffered, persevered, and risked his life in resistance movements under both Nazi and Communist domination, through the horrors of World War II and the terrors of Communist oppression. As Pope, he came within a centimeter of being slain by a Muslim extremist assassin, who may have been acting as an agent for a Communist country, and he continues to bear the physical pain of that wound every moment of every day. And he, more than any other world leader, must be given credit for the fall of Communism and the dissolution of Soviet Union. Oh yes, he knows what he is talking about. He’s no naïve simpleton.

For us, his message of peace focuses on prayer and faithful witness rather than protest. And however any of us may feel about the wisdom or justification of the actions and intentions of our national leaders, I think we can equally hear and act upon his call to prayer. Our prayer must transcend our differences, and so it is important that our prayer not be one-sided. It is vital that we pray for all who are in any way involved in this conflict, both the decision makers and the innocent who will suffer the most.

For us I believe that there are two particular groups of people who have a claim on our prayers. First, the men and women serving in our armed forces, who are serving our country and placing their lives on the line. May they be shielded from all harm, both physical and spiritual. Second, there are about a million Christians in Iraq, of whom nearly 200,000 are Catholics of the ancient traditional Chaldean Rite. They have already suffered greatly for many years through many regimes, and they are deeply fearful now. They are united with us by a bond of faith that has to transcend all other differences. They are our brothers and sisters in Christ, fellow members of Christ’s body, one with us in the Holy Spirit.

The event we heard in the Gospel, commonly called the Transfiguration, speaks to our deepest need today. Just before this occurrence, Jesus had spoken to his disciples about his own suffering and death, and assured them that his lot was going to be theirs as well. In order to be a follower of Jesus, one must be willing to embrace the cross in union with him. In response, his disciples argued about worldly power, position and prestige. The most important message of the Transfiguration is not the display of glory, but what it points to: the truth of the words, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”

As we stand poised at the brink of war, like Abraham’s hand raised to slay his son, Isaac, our job – yours and mine – is not to right the wrongs of the world, nor to prevent violence. That’s beyond us. That’s God’s job. Our job is to pray first for peace in our own hearts, so that then God can use us as his instruments of peace. And then to live in a way that gives faithful and courageous witness that we are disciples of the Prince of Peace. We can’t really pray for God to change others, until we have first and deeply prayed for God to give us the grace to change ourselves. When we can pray wholeheartedly, “Your will, not mine, be done” – then, and only then, he can use us as instruments of his peace.

© Thomas Welbers, 2003