Today is the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
We hear a lot these days about people who are radicalized. That term has been in use for a long time but we especially hear it when someone does something terrible that might not be expected of them. For example, the guy in Chicago (Plainfield in Will County to be exact) who stabbed and killed a six year old Palestinian boy and stabbed his mother. The victims were living in a house owned by the assailant. The assailant, who is reported to be Catholic, apparently was upset about the attack by Hamas on the Israeli people on Oct 7th. We all should be upset about that, of course, but we shouldn’t take action against innocent people. We could surmise that the assailant had been radicalized at some point.
One of the things I find most troublesome when thinking about people who have been radicalized is that frequently they describe themselves as Christians. To be sure there are Jewish radicals, Palestinian radicals, Islamic radicals and many other groups, some of whose members become radicalized for the wrong things. I’m more concerned at the moment with violent radicals who identify as Christian.
As Christians we are called to radicalization of the things Jesus commanded us. Things like love, forgiveness, and service, but not violence.
If we are radicalized by the Gospel we put love of God and neighbor above all else. That love calls us to serve others as well. It also calls us to forgive others who trespass against us, difficult as that might be.
When I was leading RCIA I would sometimes talk about the Two Great Commandments and suggest that love of others calls us to even love people like Isis fighters. That was kind of the then current version of the Samaritans in Jesus day, who he used as the “good guys” in His parable of the Good Samaritan in Lk 10. Some people would take exception to my assertion that you have to love even those who would do you harm. I found that typically the objection melted away once we had a common understanding of what Christians mean by the word “love”. It simply means “willing the good of the other” as St. Thomas Aquinas defined it. https://www.wordonfire.org/videos/sermons/the-strange-path-of-love/?queryID=c6716bbd883451adf988fce604290887
That means that sometimes you have to put that love into action by praying for that person, or group without any other action. Other times we can demonstrate our Agape (self-emptying) type of love through other actions in addition to prayer and fasting. Like I said about forgiveness a couple of weeks ago, we’re called to act, but not to put our safety in jeopardy.
So, my point today is that we should make sure if we’re being radicalized that the source is Jesus and the Gospels, not something of this world. There are plenty of things of this world that will lead us astray, even if aspects of those things are good, but Jesus and the Gospels never will lead us astray. If we ever find ourselves thinking violence is the right response to the Gospel message we need to step away and spend more time in prayer with Jesus and the Gospels writings.
I see that Pope Francis has designated next Friday (10/27) as a day of fasting and prayer for peace. I’m not sure if there are any special activities planned by the Church in Springfield as that is the eve of the Eucharistic Congress there. Whether there is something formal on the 27th or not I encourage you to join with fellow Catholics around the world in supporting Pope Francis’ request (below).
“I have decided to declare Friday, 27 October, a day of fasting, penance and prayer for #peace. I invite the various Christian confessions, members of other religious, and all who hold the cause of peace in the world at heart to participate.“
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading.
I hope you have a great week.
Peace, Bob
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