Monday of the Fifteenth Week In Ordinary Time
Jesus said to his Apostles: “Do
not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the
sword. …Whoever loves father or mother
more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than
me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after
me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds
his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Peace and a Sword? Do not think that I have come to bring peace
upon the earth. I have come to bring not
peace but the sword. I think we all know
what Christ meant by the word “peace.”
But do we all know what He meant by the word “sword?” Probably not.
The sword is the word of
God. St. Paul uses the sword beautifully
in his letter to the Ephesians where he writes:
“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against
the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle
not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against
the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places.
Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to
withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about
with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod
with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of
faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”
(Eph 3:11-17).
The Christian is, in essence,
another Christ. He is, like Christ, a
soldier who fights not against man but for man.
His enemy is not man but all that entraps and engulfs the human heart. His defense (breastplate) are his virtues. His shield is his faith, hope and love. His sword is simply the Word of God, the
truth. The sword, like the truth has the
capability of dividing and uniting, of surrendering or resisting. We can see that in the Zimmerman case where
some people refuse to accept the forensic evidence (scientific data), eye-witness
testimonies (subjective data) and the historical facts (reality).
In life, not everything can be “proven”
beyond a doubt. And yet, there are
protestors outside today who are willing to say that Zimmerman is guilty beyond
a shadow of a doubt! These same people
are willing to sentence a man to prison for the same reason Zimmerman shot a man
to death: out of pure ignorance.
Yes, the sword, like the truth,
has the ability to divide families and anger men. But it also has the potential of opening
wounds to heal them. When the angel
Gabriel spoke of a sword piercing the heart of Mary, did he mean it literally? No. The
word of God would come into her heart, pierce her heart and relieve her heart.
No wonder why Mary kept “all these things in her heart” (Lk
2:19). We should too.
Monday's Picks. Check them out. Watch an incredibly hilarious video
Monday's Picks. Check them out. Watch an incredibly hilarious video
Very interesting you point out the Zimmerman case in this meditation. I was not at all surprised the gentleman was found not guilty. The media and so called people demanding racial equality have created a "viral" sensation...And all for what? Just sharpening "the sword" in order to fuel a war of pure racial sensationalism? Why can't these protesters just accept the fact that a jury of their peers found this man not-guilty? Move on and protest more important issues! Protest capital punishment. Protest abortion. Protest human rights violations. Protest for the benefit of society and not the detriment of one man who's ignorance stirred up controversy. Ignorance breeding more ignorance. Let Christ be the final judge of Zimmerman if "doubt" still prevails.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
-Jennifer
Well, I can not keep quiet on Zimmerman. He belonged to CRIME WATCH, this is where you patrol your neighborhood and report any suspicious activity to the police. This kid bought candy, was walking home. You say Zimmerman was ignorant, maybe so, but if my son died due to someone else's ignorance, failure to do his job correctly, I would want to see that man do some serious jail time. They are not willing to sentence Zimmerman to jail out of ignorance. But because he committed manslaughter, plain and simple. He should have called the police, the young man would be alive today.
ReplyDeleteWhat is a travesty of justice is when popular opinion or biased opinions win the day in a day in court.
ReplyDelete"He should have called the police, the young man would be alive today."
Are you sure that Zimmerman did not call the police???
IF so, then you just convicted a man out of ignorance.
He did call the police. He called 911, which is the most common way of calling the police today, especially in an emergency.
Father with all due respect, and I sincerely mean that. Crime Watch is set up for people to observe only. They are not supposed to follow, pursue, or make contact of any kind. They are supposed to keep their distance, call the police and let the police handle it. All he had to do is call 911 and say I see a suspicious looking young man one Elm street, describe his clothing and let the police stop the young man and see why he is walking on the street with candy in his hand.
ReplyDeleteWhen I said he should have called the police, I should have injected that he should have called them immediately and not continued the pursuit on foot. Let the police take over and let the trained officers do their job and figure out if the young man is up to something criminal or not.
Again I think of the reason a neighborhood has a CRIME WATCH program,it is to deter crime not solve it.
Dear Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteWith all due respect always, you ASSUME he pursued him when the dispatcher told him not to. Did you not follow the court proceedings? There was no evidence at all that he actually pursued this teenager.
Six people (all women) sat and listened to testimony on both sides of the issue. They agreed (I believe unanimously) that he was not guilty of either murder or even manslaughter.
Of course you can have your own personal opinion. But not only did the neighborhood have a Crime Watch program but the city also had a stand your ground law.
My meditation points to the problem: the law. And I think that is where the problem will be solved.