On that day, says the Lord, you will call me, ‘My husband’, and no longer will you call me, ‘My Baal’.* For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be mentioned by name no more. I will make for you* a covenant on that day with the wild animals, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will abolish* the bow, the sword, and war from the land; and I will make you lie down in safety.
On that day I will answer, says the Lord,
I will answer the heavens
and they shall answer the earth;
and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and they shall answer Jezreel;*
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Hosea’s message from God says, “I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land; and I will make you lie down in safety.” This message of peace and hope resonates with me at this time. However, as I consider peace there seems to be more needed then simply an absence of conflict.
In Stride Toward Freedom, Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, “True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.” Nearly five decades later, Nelson Mandela expanded, “Peace is not just the absence of conflict; peace is the creation of an environment where all can flourish regardless of race, color, creed, religion, gender, class, caste or any other social markers of difference.” Peace is closely linked to justice.
As our nation struggles to face our injustices and reconcile our brokenness, may we remember the words of Pedro Arrupe, SJ, “To be just, it is not enough to refrain from injustice. One must go further and refuse to play its game, substituting love for self-interest as the driving force of society.”
We are called to action. We are called to love. How will we answer the call to “the service of faith and the promotion of justice?”
—Julia Vargas is the director of the Center for Service Learning at Rockhurst University.
May Christ inflame the desires of all people to break through the barriers which divide them, to strengthen the bonds of mutual love, to learn to understand one another and to pardon those who have done them wrong. Through his power and inspiration, may all peoples welcome each other to their hearts as brothers and sisters, and may the peace they long for ever flower and ever reign among them.
—Pacem in Terris
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