14th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A
First Reading: Zec 9:9-10
Second Reading: Rom 8:9, 11-13
Gospel Reading: Mt 11:25-30
“Lo, your King comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey!”
Normally, triumphant kings, especially those victorious in war, would ride in horse-drawn chariots. All through the Old Testament, Israel was tempted to rely on horses, symbols of worldly power, instead of on God.
However, this King rejects worldly power. Not only will he “cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem;” even “the warrior’s bow shall be cut off.”
Jesus identified himself with this King when he entered Jerusalem riding a donkey on Palm Sunday. Four days later, he said to his apostles, “Peace is my farewell to you; my peace is my gift to you.” However, he added, “I do not give it to you as the world gives peace.”
The world seeks peace through violence: the stockpiling of nuclear arms to maintain a balance of power, or the invasion of neighbouring countries. However, Jesus found peace by renouncing violence and accepting suffering.
He offers us the same peace. “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest,” he says. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am meek and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
“Peace is not merely the absence of war,” says the Catechism of the Catholic Church. “It is not limited to maintaining a balance of powers between adversaries.”
“Peace cannot be attained on earth without safeguarding the goods of persons, free communication among men, respect for the dignity of persons and peoples, and the assiduous practice of fraternity. Peace is the tranquillity of order.”
“Because of the evils and injustices that accompany all war, the Church insistently urges everyone to prayer and to action so that the divine goodness may free us from the ancient bondage of war,” the Catechism says.
In our individual lives, hatred, revenge, and the deliberate desire to kill or wound a neighbour are all crimes against peace. If we live according to the flesh, we will die, St. Paul assures us; but if by the Spirit we put to death the deeds of the body, we will live.
In public life, “injustice, excessive economic or social inequalities, envy, distrust, and pride raging among men and nations constantly threaten peace and cause wars. Everything done to overcome these disorders contributes to building up peace and avoiding war.”
“All citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war,” the Catechism stresses. “However, as long as the danger of war persists and there is no international authority with the necessary competence and power, governments cannot be denied the right of lawful self-defence, once all peace efforts have failed.”
“The Church and human reason both assert the permanent validity of the moral law during armed conflict,” it notes. “The mere fact that war has regrettably broken out does not mean that everything becomes licit between the warring parties.”
In particular, “every act of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crime against God and man, which merits firm and unequivocal condemnation,” the Catechism says, noting that “a danger of modern warfare is that it provides the opportunity to those who possess modern scientific weapons, especially atomic, biological, or chemical weapons, to commit such crimes.”
Insofar as we are sinners, “the threat of war” hangs over us “and will so continue until Christ comes again,” the Catechism says. However, insofar as we can “vanquish sin by coming together in charity, violence itself will be vanquished and these words will be fulfilled: ‘They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.’”
Father Hawkswell has now finished teaching The Catholic Faith in Plain English. The whole course is available on YouTube in both written and audio form at beholdvancouver.org/catholic-faith-course, and will remain available until the end of August. Father will teach the whole course again, with new insights, starting August 30.
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