September 21st is the World Day of Peace. And in honor of the day, I reflect upon one of my favorite quotes from the past couple decades.
Pope Saint John Paul II, in a 2003 address to the Diplomatic Corps, said, “No to War! War is never inevitable. It is always a defeat for humanity.”
“War is always a defeat for humanity.” The line sticks with me, I think, because it speaks so concisely and so eloquently of the Hope that is at the heart of our Catholic faith - the Hope that God intends us to be better than we all too often are. We are made to be like him - “you have made him little less than a god,” the Psalmist says. We are called to strive through His grace “to be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect,” and ultimately to live with Him in that Peaceable Kingdom where they shall not cause harm nor destroy.
And so in faith we strive, we grunt and we sweat, toward this final eternal end.
If we look at our life in this way, we can understand how our every failure to live in harmony with one another is a step backwards. Our every failure to love our neighbor as ourselves is a stumbling block on this earthly pilgrimage. Our every failure to love our enemies is an obstacle to overcome. It’s not easy. But it’s necessary. It is the work of our salvation.
A week ago we celebrated the Feast of the Victory of the Holy Cross, remembering that that Victory came not through domination, not through violence. The Victory of the Cross is the Defeat of Violence. We share in Christ’s Victory by uniting ourselves to His Cross — to his suffering. So uniting ourselves with the Violence only gives us a share in its defeat.
John Paul in his address contrasts the scourge of war, violence, and death, with a call to Life, Love, and Solidarity. In words more relevant today than ever, he speaks of “a world with a superabundance of information, but which paradoxically finds it so difficult to communicate and where living conditions are scandalously unequal,” and he reminds us that “it is important to spare no effort to ensure that everyone feels responsible for the growth and happiness of all.”
Matthew 25 tells us that the “goats,” those condemned at the final judgement, are condemned simply for their failure to do the basic Works of Mercy. What, then, might the judgement be upon those who actively pursue Works Against Mercy? Those who burn crops and bomb shelters, who pollute the waters, who imprison, injure, and kill? These Works of War are incompatible with what Christ calls us to; to feed and shelter, to clothe and care for.
We think of War as something big, as nation rising against nation. But the battle between love and hate, between mercy and violence, between good and evil, begins within each and every human heart. That’s where the battle is won.