Gospel of Matthew, chapter 24:35

We are approaching the season dedicated to Jesus, the Prince of Peace who calls us to serve His dream; the vision of the possibility of peace on earth to men and women of good will. It is a very big dream when you consider the world we live in. Since the days of the struggle for dominance between our cro-magnon ancestors and their neanderthal cousins, we have known nothing but violence.

In our own nation, we struggled violently with the native Americans already present, even as they sought to decimate each other. Even our beginnings as a nation were bloody in the deadly struggle over a tax on tea that some felt to be unjust. Then the war of 1812, the Spanish American war, the Civil war with 600,000 deaths, World War 1, World War 11, the Korean war, the Vietnam war, and now its on to Iraq and Afghanistan. How about the possibility of Iran and North Korea? As the old Pete Seeger song queried, “When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn”? War seems to be what we are about.

Our Lord’s dream, His vision, was what he called the “Kingdom of Heaven”. It was His “nevertheless” to the “facts” on the ground that surrounded Him. It was a dream that said no matter what the evidence to the contrary, He knew there was a better way. Though His world was violent too and He saw the Roman boot everywhere around Him with life not worth a denarius, He would extend to all a new way of living, a world suitable for human habitation. He challenged those who would follow Him to work and pray with all their powers to build a place where the lion and the lamb could dwell together; a place where there would be no more war as a means of settling disputes; where there would be no more hunger or thirst or nakedness; where all needs would be met by our sharing with each other at the great Supper of the Lamb.

That is the world I labor for. That is the dream I seek to make my reality. That is my “nevertheless.” How about you?

A blessed Christmastide to all of you.

Pax.
Fr. Mike Cassell