Month: January 2022

The capitalized words in the title are uttered by the prophet, Jeremiah (Jeremiah 20:7) There are times when we, who are in Church ministry, fully understand the sentiment that Jeremiah is uttering here.

Idealistic Perception of Church Ministry as Opposed to the Reality of Church Ministry

There is an idealistic perception of what it is to work in Church ministry by those not doing Church ministry that is diametrically opposed to the reality of actually doing Church ministry. This unrealistic idealism is similar to the story of an unmarried, newly ordained minister giving a sermon entitled, “How to raise kids.” Then he got married and had children, at which he changed the title of the sermon to “Suggestions as to how to raise children.” Then his kids got to be adolescents and he quit preaching on the subject altogether.

In my occasional rants about the shortcomings of Roman Catholicism as an institution, I can be justly criticized by some who say, “If it is so bad, why do you continue to stay? Nobody is making you stay.” This is a good and honest question. In short, the Roman Catholic Church is my religious family. It is dysfunctional contradiction of incredible blessings and incredible shortcomings. It can be a very loving mother and at the same time a real “mutha”. Yet, in spite of all this, the Church still remains my family, as dysfunctional as it is. In our relationships with those we love, we always want our loved ones to be the best they can be. In our relationship with them, we will also call them out when we think they are doing something incredibly unloving.

The Tragedy of Rejection

There is nothing more tragic in human relationships than the utter disregard and rejection of a loved one by another. This is just as horrifically tragic when an institution that purports itself to be the beloved of God, the “Bride of Christ”, utterly disregards, rejects, and condemns those within its community. A close inspection of how Christianity as religious institutions have so badly treated those who love it, (e.g. the burning at the stake of St Joan of Arc, the Spanish Inquistion, the 30 years war, the religious persecutions and atrocities, the treatment of the LGBTQ+ community, etc), all done purportedly in the name of God, reveals how Christianity, in all of its manifestations and denominations, has betrayed the mission and teaching of Jesus.

At its best, humanity is a sinful mess, and Jesus chose to immerse himself in the midst of that sinful human mess, inclusively welcoming them all, especially those who were messed up the most, into relationship with him. His own religious authorities hated him so much, they plotted with the Roman occupiers to torture him and execute him. Given the history of Christian denominations over history, we all are guilty of the same sin as Jesus’ own religious authorities.

So Why Are You Still Here?

So, back to if all Churches are as messed up and hypocritical as they are, why do you remain to continue to minister in them? Why don’t you just shuck it all and quit? After all, there is some truth to a saying of WC Fields, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again, then quit. No use being a damn fool about it.” I think my answer to not shucking it all is tied up in this passages of the prophet, Jeremiah, which shows up every other year in the daily readings of the Mass.

The Cynicism (and Realism) of Jeremiah

“You seduced me, LORD, and I let myself be seduced; you were too strong for me, and you prevailed. All day long I am an object of laughter; everyone mocks me. Whenever I speak, I must cry out, violence and outrage I proclaim; The word of the LORD has brought me reproach and derision all day long. I say I will not mention him, I will no longer speak in his name. But then it is as if fire is burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones; I grow weary holding back, I cannot!”  (Jeremiah 20:7-9)

The word “seduce” has been translated differently from Bible translation to Bible translation. In the original translation of the New American Bible, the word “seduce” was translated as the word, “duped.” “You duped me LORD, and I allowed myself to be duped.” In some other translations, the word is “enticed” or “deceived”. I think the words seduced or enticed are too mild. I prefer the word dupe or deceived because it more accurately states the fact. Why?

There are times, like Jeremiah, when those in Church ministry are so miserable that they think, “Just what was I thinking when I decided to become a priest, or a deacon, a minister, a religious sister or brother?” I know that in some marriages, the same question can arise, as well.  If we are so miserable, why do we stay? Are we incapable of doing something else? Are we all sado-masochists who get some kind of kinky high from the physical, emotional, and spiritual exhaustion and pain of ministry?

Perhaps, our decision is described, as Bill Murray, in the movie “Stripes”, says to his fellow enlistees about enlisting in the army, “But there is one thing that we all have in common. We were all stupid enough to enlist in the Army. We’re mutants.” I concede that prior to ordination, religious profession, to ministering in the Church, there is some idealistic fairy tale musings about ministry. I also concede that in religious formation there is an element of “duping” happening. Otherwise, why would we jump through all the hoops academically and institutionally to work in ministry? However, I think that in Church ministry it is more than just being mutants who are too stupid to know into what we are getting ourselves.

The Great Commandment

For me, it all boils down to trying my utmost to love God with all my mind, all my heart, and all my strength; and, loving my neighbor as myself.  I didn’t get ordained to wear the fancy vestments when assisting at Mass, nor to preach, nor to be able to baptize, marry, and bury. Nor, did I get ordained to impress and to rise within the ranks of the hierarchy of the Archdiocese of St Paul and Minneapolis. Nor, did I get ordained to please the Archbishop. I didn’t know the cost that ministry would have in my life, on my health, and the impact it would have on my family.  Rather, I got ordained in order to serve God and to serve the people God placed in my life. This remains the reason why I continue to serve in ministry. Without this innate desire to love and serve God and neighbor, then our ministry is nothing more than “noisy gong and a clanging cymbal” that the apostle Paul describes in First Corinthians. (1 Corinthians: 1).

The Church, in all its incarnations and denominations, remains a very messy, sinful, hypocritical, and, at times, unloving environment in which to serve. As my wife, Ruthie, continues to love me and live with me, in spite of my own messiness and flaws, so too, I still love the human mess that is the Roman Catholic Church. I remain and at times complain because I love it and know that it can rise to something that could be so much better, so more loving, so more like Christ who instituted it. Jesus did not pick the best when he chose his disciples, but somehow, as flawed and messed up as they were, God worked through them anyway. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus continues the pattern of not always calling the best to ministry, yet in spite of ourselves, the Church remains and the work of Christ continues.

Hope in Acknowledging We Are ALL Sheep

Pope Francis has called the clergy to not live above and apart from the “sheep” whom we served, but to live and smell like the sheep we serve. Pope Francis is so spot on. What is going to be required is that all who serve in Church ministry, especially the hierarchy, learn that we are not only to smell like the sheep we serve, but we live in solidarity with the sheep that we serve, and acknowledge that we are ALL sheep, with all the same smell, with all the same messiness, and with all the same need for conversion. There is only ONE Shepherd, and we are NOT the Shepherd. When we acknowledge and live in solidarity with the communities we love and serve, then, the Church will begin to live more faithfully the world changing mandate of Jesus to “Love as I have loved you.”

I remember, as a junior high student, reading the book, “Deliver Us From Evil,” written by Dr. Tom Dooley. The book was an account of Dooley’s ministry as a naval doctor to the refugees fleeing the Communists of North Vietnam. Within the book, Dooley cited numerous atrocities committed by Communists upon Catholic Vietnamese. Dooley left the Navy and later created medical clinics in the nation of Laos, teaching hygiene and treating the many illnesses and injuries suffered by the people of Laos. He almost died from malaria on four occasions, and suffered from a variety of intestinal parasites. He threw himself into his work as a doctor and dangerously lost over 60 pounds (from 180 pounds to 120 pounds) in his zealous work as a physician. He wrote two more books about his ministry as a physician to the Laotian people before being diagnosed with melanoma, later succumbing to that cancer at the age of 31 years in 1961.

John F Kennedy based his creation of the Peace Corps on the work of Dr Tom Dooley, and posthumously bestowed the Congressional Gold Medal upon Dooley.

A Cause for Canonization to Sainthood that Soured Over Time

Following his death, people were quick to take up his cause for canonization as a saint in the Catholic Church (Dooley was a devout Catholic). However, as year passed and more information about Dooley surfaced, that cause was abandoned.

As government records became declassified, it was revealed that in addition to his work as a doctor, Dooley was also an agent of the Central Intelligence Agency, who made frequent reports about the activity and movement of Communists in Laos and Vietnam. It was also revealed that some of the atrocities Dooley cited about Communist treatment of North Vietnam Catholics and Laotians in his book, were largely fabricated by the CIA. The CIA used the stories of Dooley to influence the federal government to step up its involvement in the politics of South East Asia that led to the United States being mired in the Vietnam War for many years at a great cost of life not only to Americans but to the Vietnamese.

It was also revealed that Dooley left his commission as a Naval doctor because he was a homosexual. Some of his homosexual liaisons with people, reportedly including celebrities like Rock Hudson and Jim Nabors, got back to his superiors in the Navy. Rather than disgracing Dooley by dishonorable discharging him from the Navy, to preserve his honor and their own, they allowed him to resign his naval commission.

Why I Celebrate This Day as his Feast Day

So often in the Catholic Calendar, the Church officially assigns feast days of Saints. In the early Church, persecuted by the Roman Empire, Mass was often celebrated in secret in the Catacombs of Rome upon the sarcophagus of dead Christians. The early intent about remembering dead Christians, many of them martyrs, was to prevent them from haunting those Christians still alive. However, that rather primitive and superstitious intent was replaced with that of honoring those who gave their lives in love and service to God and to others.

I have long created my own “Calendar of Saints” that may include those officially recognized by the Catholic Church, but often includes many who would never pass the rigorous and, I believe, corrupted process to official status of Saint in Roman Catholicism (I am sure much money passed hands and influenced the canonization of such people as Pius IX, Pius X, and most recently John Paul II), while many other people more deserving the title of Saint have been passed over. My calendar of saints include Dr Martin Luther King Jr, Mahatma Gandhi, Dorothy Day, Brother Roger Shutz (who created the religious community of Taize), many of my friends, colleagues, and, of course, my family members.

Saints are Incredibly Flawed People

We often think of saints as people whose lives were never flawed, people who lived perfect lives. When we really look at the lives of saints, we find many of them extremely flawed human beings who struggled with their own set of weaknesses. Lets face it, St Paul of Tarsus, was a religious zealot who engineered a religious genocide of Christians before his own conversion to Christianity. Francis of Assisi, whose image occupies many a garden, was a bit of a sexual reprobate prior to his conversion. Ignatius of Loyola was a soldier of fortune whose morality was incredibly flawed prior to his conversion. Lets not even begin to broach the subject of Augustine of Hippos sexual addiction and perversity prior to his conversion. It is rare for an official canonized saint to NOT have a dark side in his or her life.

The Power of God’s Love, Compassion, and Mercy

In each life of a saint, the power, the love and the compassion of God exerts change in the life of a saint. It is not like that after a saint’s conversion, his or her dark side disappeared never to assault them again. Far from it. St Paul complains and begs God in his Second Letter to the Corinthians to remove the thorn in his side that plagues him daily. God responds to Paul that God’s grace is enough to save him, for that thorn, that acknowledgement of his weakness and vulnerability allows God to grow all the more in his life. In short, God’s lover, mercy, and strength overwhelms the weaknesses and the sins in our lives.

Saint Judas Iscariot?

One of the most reviled people in the history of Christianity is Judas Iscariot, whose betrayal led to the torture and execution of Jesus of Nazareth. The Florentine poet, Dante, reviled him so greatly that he places Judas Iscariot on the lowest and most horrific level of Hell, with a three faced Satan gnawing on the body of Judas for eternity. Yet, could the mercy, the compassion, and love of Jesus not even save the eternal life of his own betrayer. If we believe what Jesus taught in the Gospels, we would have to answer, yes.

The American poet, James Wright, wrote a most moving poem, he entitled, “Saint Judas.” Here is the poem in its entirety.

“When I went out to kill myself, I caught
A pack of hoodlums beating up a man.
Running to spare his suffering, I forgot
My name, my number, how my day began,
How soldiers milled around the garden stone
And sang amusing songs; how all that day
Their javelins measured crowds; how I alone
Bargained the proper coins, and slipped away.

Banished from heaven, I found this victim beaten,
Stripped kneed, and left to cry. Dropping my rope
Aside, I ran, ignored the uniforms:
Then I remembered bread my flesh had eaten,
The kiss that ate my flesh. Flayed without hope,
I held the man for nothing in my arms.”

Saint Tom Dooley

And, so, we return to the subject of Dr Tom Dooley as a saint. It is true that Tom Dooley had an immense ego. It is true that Tom Dooley self-promoted and initially exaggerated what he did for his own gain. It is true that Tom Dooley, along with the CIA, fabricated Communist atrocities to push a political agenda that engaged the United States into a war in Vietnam in which the United States would eventually be defeated. It is true that Tom Dooley was a homosexual but, in my mind and the belief that God created him a homosexual, that is anything but sinful. What God creates cannot be sinful, for God only creates that which is only good, including our gay brothers and lesbian sisters and all in the LGBTQ+ community. This is a pillar of faith.

What stands out for me in the life of Dr Tom Dooley, is that in spite of all the facts that would cast doubt on his being a saint, his work and his ministry to improve the lives and the health of Vietnamese refugees and Laotians overwhelmed his false ego. What arose in his life was a driving desire to sacrifice himself and his own health in order to serve the needs of others. Whatever might have been his initial incentive to do the work he did in Laos, self-promotion, being a tool of the CIA etc, he ended up being driven to continue to serve the people of Laos until he was no longer able to medically treat them because of the failure of his own health.

And, so, in my calendar of Saints, today is the feast day of Saint Tom Dooley. He enters the number of so many saints that have walked this earth. I figure that if James the Greater and John, who were willing to throw all the other apostles “under the bus” in order to sit at Jesus’ right and left hand, are still honored and revered as saints, Tom Dooley is right there to be honored and revered as a saint. And, if Tom Dooley can be saint, perhaps, I might have a chance to be a saint, too.

In the Catholic Church, we entered into what is known liturgically as “Ordinary Time”  the day after the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Yesterday, was the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. One of the Gospel readings we often hear on this Sunday is the very familiar story of the Wedding at Cana from John’s Gospel. In this Gospel story Jesus initiates his Messianic mission. In the Jewish theology and imagery of Jesus’ time, the afterlife with God is often described as a Wedding feast to which many are invited to sit around the table of God and join in a feast in what all human needs and wants are satisfied. In the theology of John’s Gospel, it is significant that Jesus begins his Messianic mission at a wedding feast.

The Wedding of Cana Facetiously

I am sure that the following is neither supported by scriptural exegesis or academic theology, however I have often reflected with some amusement that one of the reasons the bride and groom ran out of wine is that Jesus and his disciples crashed the party. Mary, his mother, may have been invited to the feast, but when Jesus and his friends tagged along with Mary, they helped to consume wine that had been reserved only for a specific number of people. Now, I don’t know that that is the reasoning that Mary used to compel Jesus to turn vast jars of water into wine, but it would be one heckuva good reason for Mary’s command. Jesus may have been the Son of God, but he was also the Son of Mary, and if he knew what was good for him, he was not going to ignore his mom.

The Wedding of Cana and Its Impact on Our Lives

When we take the Gospel story of the Wedding of Cana and combine it with the other two readings for the day, namely, Isaiah 62:1-5 and 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, we begin to reflect on that to which God is calling us this new Ordinary Time in our lives.

God, through Isaiah, tells Israel that no longer will Israel be perceived as forsaken by God. Rather, within Israel, the glory of God will shine forth for all the nations to see. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians speaks about how the Spirit of God dwells within all members of the early Christian community. While all these gifts were incorporated in the one person of Jesus, through the Spirit of God, those gifts are distributed among the entirety of the Baptized.  Corporately, we are the living and breathing One Body  need.

The Spirit of God has given each member a specific gift or mission to do on behalf of Christ present in the community. Paul tells us that we receive those gifts from the Spirit of God that are specific to our individual mission. The messianic mission of Jesus the Christ did not end with the Ascension of Jesus to Heaven, but rather, the Body of Christ, that is, those baptized in Jesus, are called to carry on Christ’s messianic mission to bring Good News to the world.  

What the Wedding of Cana is Not

During this new Ordinary Time of Jesus in 2022, we don’t recall the Gospel story of the Wedding of Cana to rehash old, tired, and moldy jokes based on that story (e.g. the priest who is pulled over by a cop for DWI and stating that all he had to drink was water … however, as one who has at times had to consume leftover holy communion wine, in spite of Catholic Church teaching about the “accidents” of the Blood of Christ, the Blood of Christ retains its alcoholic content. If you consume enough Eucharistic wine, you can get drunk on the Blood of Christ, but I digress). Nor do we tell the Wedding of Cana to reflect on this marvelous miracle that happened to the unwitting bride and groom and wedding guests at that wedding feast. It is a time, however, that we must reflect on what gifts and mission the Spirit of God has for us this new year of 2022.

A Time to Discern our Spirit Given Gifts and our Mission

This is absolutely necessary each new year of our lives. As we age and circumstances in our lives change, we must continually discern as to how we use the gifts the Spirit of God has given in service to God and to neighbor. This discernment may take a while.

Using myself, as an example, during the first year of my retirement from active ministry, my mission was to recover from four surgeries and an infection. Having finally accomplished that, my second year was spent trying to discern the mission God had for me during the first deadly surge of this Covid pandemic. Now, within the third year of retirement, I have had to discern how to continue some of what I had done, e.g. facilitating and co-facilitating needed support groups, and as to what mission God is calling me presently.

In the song, “It’s alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding,” Bob Dylan penned the words, ”Those not being born are busy dying.” Life never stands still but is always evolving. When life quits evolving, life dies. We must continue to discern the mission to which God is calling us. Our mission will evolve and change from year to year. Where or to what is God calling us this new year?

My friends,

I wish to express my great thanks for all your prayers. They have been a great comfort and assist in yet another surgery. Having surgery at a major hospital in the midst of a pandemic surge is challenging. Ruthie and I got to the hospital at 8:30 am. She was allowed to only be there for a short time and then was required to leave. From about 9:45 am to when I left post-op, she basically sat in the car until she was called to pick me up. Because we live so far away from the hospital, it did not make sense for her to go home. The fact that the temperature was sub-zero, made things all the more difficult for her. The surgery lasted about 90 minutes. Ruthie and I got home around 2 pm. Our daughter, Meg, had to work that day, but set up the portable ramp into the house. Our son, Andy, and our grandson, Aidan, were on hand to wheel me into the house, thank God. With the bitter cold and snow, it was more of a challenge than it would have been in warmer months.

While I am unable to put full weight on my right foot, because of the location of the incisions, I am able to put weight on the point of the heel of my right foot. That is a great assist as I transfer to and from my chair, commode, and bed to my knee scooter. Trying to negotiate our cracker box 1930’s house in a knee scooter is a challenge and frustrating, but not impossible. I think I used up all the profane words the Benedictines taught me in high school within the first day and a half, and then decided instead of calling upon Almighty God to damn all the obstacles, chose to take a deep breath and think of how to negotiate the obstacles. I now reserve those words the Benedictines monks taught me in high school for the conservative majority of the Supreme Court and most of those in the political party of trump, and traditionalists and restorationist clergy and bishops who are in opposition to Pope Francis in the Catholic Church.

I am extremely blessed to be married to one of the greatest nurses on this planet. Ruthie takes such good care of me. I try to fend for myself as much as I am able, but still rely upon her to bring breakfast and supper to me. Every night, Ruthie changes the surgical dressings. So far everything is looking good. There is very little discharge from the two incisions (one long one on the top of the foot and one on the side of the foot in which screws were inserted), and no sign of infection thus far (thank God!). The pain block lasted a good 24 hours after surgery and began to wear off at around 2 am Wednesday morning. That was the first time I took any pain medication, with the exception of extra strength Tylenol, to take the edge off the pain (about a 7 on the pain scale). I took another pain med at 5 pm Wednesday and took my last pain med at 10:30 pm that same day. Since then, I have very little pain.

I will be seeing my surgeon January 28th to get the stitches out and get x-rays (hopefully everything is healing the way it is suppose to). Though it is a few days past the normal two week period, my surgeon is down in New Prague that day making it a lot easier for Ruthie and I. If everything looks good, I will be able to begin putting full weight on my right foot again by the last Friday in February.

With occasional journeys to the bathroom, or to the kitchen to get an apple or fill up my water thermos, I spend most of my time in the chair with my feet elevated. Time is spent petting the dog (a lot), listening to podcasts or books, watching television, paying bills, working a little on income tax, and the occasional nap. It has been six months since I have composed music, so I will return to composing another song cycle of music based on the Canticle of the Creatures (Canticle of the Sun and Moon) written by Francis of Assisi. With the exception of reading the Star Trib every morning, I try to abstain from watching the news on cable television, a near occasion of sin for me, opting to focus my attention on something else when Ruthie watches her news programs in the morning and afternoon.

Because I am expending very little energy, I monitor what I eat and how much I eat. Of course, prayer remains major pillars in my day. I remember all of you in prayer in the morning, and remember many who have gone before me in life, in the evening. All in all, while I had not included in my plans for this winter and new year a broken foot, a Covid infection, and surgery, I still have so very little about which to complain. I was largely asymptomatic during the Covid infection, thanks to the vaccinations and booster. I was utterly surprised to find that I tested negative a week ago for Covid, understanding that following a Covid infection, most people continue to test positive up to 90 days following the infection (due to the shedding of dead virus). The care and love I receive at home by my family is extraordinary.

It is easy to look over all the hospitalizations and surgeries I have had during my life and be bitter and shake my fist to the heavens in anger at God. What I have learned from all those hospitalizations and surgeries is that as hard as they are when being experienced, they have been moments from which I have grown as a person and as a deacon. They also have been moments in which I find myself not set a part from a suffering humanity, but in solidarity with a suffering humanity. I have come to a far greater understanding of words written by a woman who suffered from a chronic illness. She wrote, “The words that I hate to hear people say is, ‘There by the grace of God go I.’ These words are a mean spirited condemnation by those who look down on others who are different from themselves because of illness, injury, addiction, or sexual orientation. After years of suffering from my chronic illness, I prefer the words, “Here by the grace of God I AM!'”

So, week One is now past, week Two has begun, and a week from this Friday, I will know whether the surgery remains successful. I pray that when the first day of March arrives, I will be able to get out and walk, perhaps with a walker, and see you all. In the meantime, I will pray for you as you continue to pray for me.

Peace,

Bob Wagner

One cartoon strip I follow in the Star Trib is Pickles. It features an elderly couple. In yesterday’s strip, the old man joins his wife on the couch. As he lies down on the couch and places his feet on his wife’s lap, he states, “I didn’t think I was going to make it to 2022.” His wife looks at his feet on her lap and responds, “Don’t be too sure of that.”

New Year Trepidation

I think that strip reflects a sentiment shared by many of us the past several years, especially so during this prolonged pandemic. We approach each new year with a great deal of apprehension and uncertainty, tinged with hope that it will not be as bad as the year we had just survived. I have found by experience, that entering a new year is a lot like carefully testing the ice before walking on a frozen lake. It is done very carefully with some trepidation and a plan if the ice does not support your weight.

The Carefree New Years of Youth

Now look at the picture above. That picture was taken 4 days after Ruthie and I got married in 1974. Ruthie’s BFF is Cheryl DuCharme. When we were younger, Rob and Cheryl and Ruth and I use to play 500, usually accompanied with a lot of rum and coke. On this December 31st, Rob and Cheryl were over at our apartment on Larpenteur Ave and we played 500 far into the night. We were both newly married couples and were eagerly anticipating long and happy lives with our spouses far into the future. There was no trepidation or apprehension about entering another new year. Totally unaware of the challenges that awaited us in the future, without any hesitation we jumped feet first into the waters of the New Year.

What did the future provide for us in the New Year of 1975? For Ruthie, it was a little bit of a hangover from the rum and coke she had consumed. For me, it was leading the music for the morning Masses at Maternity of Mary on Dale Street, St Paul (about six blocks away … I made sure not to drink a whole lot at our 500 games, knowing full well that I had to be up early to do music at the Masses). By February, Ruthie would be pregnant with our first child, Andy. I would get a K-12 vocal/general music teaching position in two forgotten town on the Southwestern Minnesota prairie, with Ruthie working in a small little hospital. Rob and Cheryl would continue to live their lives in the Midway area of St Paul, Rob learning to cope with his gradual visual degeneration. We would learn that not all adventures were going to be exciting and wanted, but some were very unwanted and very challenging.

January 1, the Holy Day

For the longest time, January 1 was a holy day of obligation in the Catholic Church, It was the Feast of the Circumcision of Jesus, albeit, not a very pleasant experience for the infant Jesus … curious why it was celebrated all those years. After Vatican II, Pope Paul VI called the holy day, World Peace Day. Then Pope John Paul II renamed it Mary, Mother of God (as if Mary needed any more feast days in the calendar year. I think her feast days outnumber those of Jesus … I will have to count to make sure).

As I wrote yesterday in a video card sent to friends, this year, I will put aside the Mary, Mother of God designation of the Day and return to that of World Day for Peace. The very first reading for this day is that wonderful blessing from the Book of Numbers, “May God bless you and keep you. May God’s face shine upon you …” Even the Gospel account for today from Luke’s infant narrative of the worship of the shepherds, and Mary reflecting on the events that transpired at the birth of Jesus is filled with a sense of peace.

We must remember that Judea was a war torn land, occupied by a Roman army. Judeans were coerced by the Roman Emperor to travel to their places of birth to register for a Roman census. Joseph and Mary had to navigate some pretty hostile land to make it from Nazareth to Bethlehem, at a time when Mary was 9 months pregnant. Judea was not a place of peace at the time of Jesus’ birth. And, as Matthew’s infant narrative will relate, King Herod, a puppet king of Rome, would send his military into Bethlehem to slaughter all male children, a slaughter that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph narrowly escaped, followed by another dangerous journey to Egypt as war refugees.

The Psalmist of Psalm 23 does not tell us that we will be without violence in our lives, or be without great hardships. He states very clearly that we all will walk through the Valley of Death and darkness. But the Psalmist also assures us that we will not make that journey alone. God will travel by our side as we make that journey, guiding us and loving us along the way.

2022 January 1st, A World Day of Peace

So it is with this assurance that I enter the year 2022. As the Number’s reading reminds me, I am very loved and blessed by God. As Psalm 23 states, I will not make this journey alone. God will accompany me through 2022. And, as the Gospel passage for today states so very clearly in Mary reflecting on all these things in her hear, that even if violence and uncertainty rages around me, the in-dwelling, innate peace of God rests within me to calm me and reassure me.