By Leon Bent –
The message for the 53rd World Day of Peace on January 1st as Pope Francis declares it, is: “Peace as a Journey of Hope: Dialogue, Reconciliation and Ecological Conversion”.
“Peace is a great and precious value, the object of our hope and the aspiration of the entire human family. Hope is, thus, the virtue that inspires us and keeps us moving forward, even when obstacles seem insurmountable. Peace is a journey of listening based on memory, solidarity and fraternity. Peace is also a journey of reconciliation in fraternal communion. May the God of peace bless us and come to our aid.”
“May Mary, Mother of the Prince of Peace and Mother of all the peoples of the earth, accompany and sustain us at every step of our journey of reconciliation.”
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“May all men and women experience a life of peace, and develop, fully, the promise of life and love dwelling in their hearts.”
The Bible talks of a deeper and more intense form of peace; shalom, which means universal flourishing, wholeness and delight – a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed – a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder, as its Creator and Saviour opens doors, and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights. Shalom is a Hebrew word meaning peace, harmony, completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquillity – “nothing missing, nothing broken”.
The first example of peace in the Bible is the condition that existed in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were at peace with God and all He created. Their needs were supplied. They did not suffer hunger, disease or pain of any kind. Beauty surrounded them, so that, they could experience and enjoy it. They weren’t lonely, for they had each other, and more importantly, they had an intimate relationship with their Creator. If any people ever experienced peace, it was Adam and Eve.
India Context
It is perhaps a first in independent India’s political history. The protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019, has spread to almost every corner of the country. Some are protesting because the CAA allegedly violates the secular identity of the country, while others fear that it will endanger their linguistic and cultural identity. Yet others believe that while the CAA itself is innocuous, combined with the proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC), an exercise that has run into controversy in Assam, it will become a tool to exclude the Muslim population of the country.
According to the CAA, Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh and Parsi migrants who have entered India illegally-that is, without a visa-on or before December 31, 2014 from the Muslim-majority countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and have stayed in the country for five years, are eligible to apply for Indian citizenship.
The Church’s Social Vision: The primary way in which the Church contributes to the reconciliation of the human family is the Church’s own universality. Understanding itself as “a sacrament of intimate union with God and of the unity of mankind,” the Catholic Church takes the promotion of unity, and accordingly peace, “as belonging to the innermost nature of the Church.” For this reason it fosters solidarity among peoples, and calls peoples and nations to sacrifices of advantages of power and wealth, for the sake of solidarity of the human family. The Eucharist, which strengthens the bonds of charity, nourishes such solidarity. The Eucharist, in turn, is an expression of the charity which binds members of the community in Christ (1 Cor. 11:17-34).
Now, this gold nugget! Pope Francis hailed Thomas Merton as an American whose life exemplifies the aspirations and qualities that are needed in a great nation. He cited Merton’s autobiographical description of himself in “The Seven Storey Mountain”, as a man born in freedom, but a prisoner of his own selfishness and violence. Overcoming those contradictions —which every human being faces — he became a man of prayer and thought that, led to him becoming a voice for dialogue between religions and between enemy nations. The Pope, citing Merton’s example, said that it is his duty to build bridges. Thomas Merton’s writings and his witness to the work of meeting cultural and political crisis with a firm intellectual grasp, joined to an intuitive way of speaking to the contemplative quest at the heart of every human journey.
And, this final flourish! Real peace needs to be worked at, like a life-long relationship. It is built by those who direct their efforts to its establishment, day after day. Its pursuit means listening to the voice of the oppressed and being challenged to action. It means seeing all humanity as our brothers and sisters and honouring other people’s development, as well as our own. And it means building a future for the next generations, so that, they can know life in all its fullness and peace in its entirety.
Leon Bent is an ex-Seminarian and studied the Liberal Arts and Humanities, and Philosophy, from St. Pius X College, Mumbai. He holds Masters Degree in English Literature and Aesthetics. He has published three Books and have 20 on the anvil. He has two extensively “Researched” Volumes to his name: Hail Full of Grace and Matrimony: The Thousand Faces of Love. He won The Examiner, Silver Pen Award, 2000 for writing on Social Issues, the clincher being a Researched Article on Gypsies in India, published in an issue of the (worldwide circulation) Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection, New Delhi. On April, 28, 2018, Leon received the Cardinal Ivan Dias Award for a research paper in Mariology.