The readings were rich today at Mass. Luke’s Gospel proclaims Jesus returning to Nazareth and standing up reading from Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” Imagine if we really lived that way. Imagine if our country’s (USA) foreign policy really reflected those words. Imagine if every MBA and every student that graduated from college this year or any other actually started living that way. Just imagine what light we could bring into the world. I know it’s a dream, but just imagine if you will how much peace and justice would spring forth. Contrast this gospel message to the War in Iraq, the War on Terror and the host of other conflicts that exist in our world.
A friend sent me an email about a “pro-life” rally that is occurring soon in Washington, DC and he wondered if Nancy Pelosi would be attending. You know she’s “pro-choice” and that’s bad in some people’s eyes. Pro-choice is bad but pro-war is okay. I am reminded of a recent column that I blogged about written by Sr. Joan Chittister. There is a real disconnect here and elsewhere about what it means to be pro-life. All life is sacred. That includes the fetus, the newborn, the children without health care, the adults without health care. It includes Saddam Hussein, the two guys we executed in Iraq last week and the thousands of innocents we’ve killed in our War on Terror and the slaughter in Iraq. It includes Darfur. We, all of us are children of the living God. We matter whether we worship Allah, Jesus, Yahweh, Buddha, Krishna. We all matter and it all matters because it is all created by the creator of it all. We are all related. We are not us and them. We are us. All of us forever and ever.
Today, my daughter sent me a text message with the picture of the little girl that is at the top of this post. My daughter was doing her laundry at college in the local laundromat and that adorable little girl wondered if my daughter lived in her car. I wonder why she would ask such a thing. Could it be that the little girl’s family has to live in a car. Perhaps. As I looked at that adorable little girl I saw the face of Christ. I thought of the thousands of little girls and little boys that we’ve killed in our un-Godly wars. Look at her face. Look at the faces around you and demand an end to this war. Stand-up, shout from the top of your lungs and demand an end to the war. It is unholy and an abomination.