Sunday Gospel Comment
Alberic Jacovone OSB
YEAR C FIFTEENTH SUNDAY - 11.7.04: FEAST OF ST BENEDICT Benedict beyond wildest dreams A
messenger of peace. Exactly
40 years ago, in 1964, Pope Paul VI formulated a dream, in a letter which he
wrote to the world. Today, 40 years later this dream has been realized beyond
anyone’s wildest dreams. The dream was, that after the terrible destruction of
World War II, which caused the complete dismemberment of Europe, killing
millions & forcing millions to migrate to other continents, through the
prayer & inspiration of St. Benedict, ‘God might bless the efforts of all
who seek to draw the Nations of Europe together in the bonds of brotherhood’.
Who would ever thought that, today 40 years later, the nations of Europe would
achieve unity and cooperation to the point of abolishing boundaries among its
member nations, creating common Market, establishing a European Parliament &
circulating its own common currency, the ‘Euro’?. What happened is this.
After the devastation of WWII, some prominent Catholics felt the need to
re-establish a basic principle of human living: that unless different ethnic
people chose to live in harmony they will inevitably destroy one another through
retaliation & ethnic cleansing. This principle operated in the Hapsburg
Empire as indeed in the British Empire. And indeed it was the great lawyer Otto Von Hapsburg, nephew of Emperor Franz
Joseph, (the very last Emperor in the extinguished Hapsburg Dynasty), who
initiated the process. From the offices of United Nations, he approached the
presidents of Italy -De Gasperi-,
of Germany -Adenauer-, of France -De Gaulle- & Pope Paul VI at the Vatican.
To the Pope was left the task of proposing St. Benedict as Patron of Europe,
since it was Benedict who in centuries past, had moulded the European Nations
into unity of religion (Christian), of culture (Western), & of language
(Latin). And this had been achieved through the Cross
(the Law of Christ), the Book (love
for learning), the Plough
(cultivation and research). And this in turn had been aptly summed up in
Benedict’s Motto: Pray & Work,
which in Latin is: Ora (think
of Oratory)
et Labora (think of Laboratory).
Today, 40 years later, it is
unbelievable to see how the dream of United Europe has been achieved.
(Read the
Pope’s letter inserted in the Bulletin) Build peace brick upon brick. The dream that people may live united in the bonds of brotherhood, is incredibly relevant in Multicultural Australia. The ‘Hapsburg principle’ that unless diverse ethnic races choose to live in harmony, they will inevitably & forever annihilate one another in retaliation & ethnic cleansing, this principle must convince us Australians, both old settlers & new-comers, of the need to adopt it in our relationships. And since we live intermixes and next-door to one another, we run the risk of cutting one another up, just as it’s happened in Los Angeles & United States in racial intolerance. This principle applies & must be adopted to ensure harmony in our families. Jesus’ Beatitude: ‘Blessed are the peace-makers’ is not realized, when we intervene in situations of conflict, only to tell both sides, how to live or to die. Brotherhood is not achieved, imposing our: ‘shape up or ship out’. A true peace-maker is one who adopts the attitude of literally ‘building brick upon brick’ an environment of welcoming, who anticipates & alleviates differences & disagreements, way before they become a problem. Family bonding does not just happen: it takes a lifetime of nurturing: we choose & adopt a policy that, come what may, we will remain inclusive & never exclusive, conciliatory & never condemnatory, compassionate & forgiving, hurting with those who hurt, to the excess and depth, shown by Jesus in Mel Gibson’s “Passion”: Father, forgive, they do not know what they do. _____________________________________ |
