Thinking Anew: For over four weeks now the watching world has made newly aware of the terrors of war as the Israeli Army and Hizbullah fight it out. The victims on both sides are mostly civilians - woman and children, the old and the poor. At the same time Iraq is moving closer to civil war while US and British soldiers are being killed again in Afghanistan.
Over 90 years ago the first World War was said to be the war to end all wars. How wrong can a political assessment be? And in our own society we are seeing an increase in all forms of violent behaviour. Murder in Ireland is no longer an item of extraordinary news and in recent weeks prisoners have been been attacked and one has been murdered.
It is all such a far cry from the sentiments expressed in the second reading in tomorrow's liturgy: "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God who has marked you with his seal for you to be set free when the day comes. Never have grudges against others, or lose your temper, or raise your voice to anybody, or call each other names, or allow any sort of spitefulness. Be friends with one another, and kind, forgiving each other as readily as God forgave you in Christ." (Ephesians 4:30-32.)
Fine sentiments indeed, one might be inclined to say; pie-in-the-sky aspirations. Is it possible to follow such a code? The Christian response is clear. No, not on our own, but yes, with the help and grace of God.
It is the invitation we have been offered through the life and death of Jesus Christ whom we believe is God. The purpose of the Last Supper, Crucifixion and Resurrection is to free us from slavery and bring us back into the fold of the living God.
It is not a "special offer" on behalf an exclusive club. God calls all mankind to embrace his offer and be part of his kingdom.
In his letter to the Ephesians St Paul clearly tells us to be gentle and kind to all people. There are no special groups, there are no outsiders. This message is reinforced in tomorrow's Gospel, in which St John tells us that Jesus offers us eternal life, a life that is made possible through faith: "I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever, and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world." (St John 6:51.)
Surely this has to be the key to our overcoming the violence and hatred that we experience in the world. As Christians we believe that our faith, our love for God and one another is made possible through the Bread of Life.
The Eucharist offers us the possibility of growing in our love for God, a love which is impossible to experience unless we also love and respect our fellow human beings. It is impossible to be at war and support violence on the one hand, and on the other hand expressing pious words about Christ and the Eucharist.
All reality is part of the one great whole. Any attempt to separate our Christian belief from our daily lives makes our faith into some sort of cliché, some sort of "extra add-on", which turns it into religious humbug.
Christianity is not a political ideology, but it certainly offers an ethic to all people of good will to help them in managing their day-to-day lives.
M.C.