Reply #27: A message from God to you and me [View All]

Yes this is about Jesus and the thought was repeated later:
Luke 3: 21-22

Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form as a dove, and a voice came from heaven, "Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased."

but it is also about us and that's why it's sent out a lot by Christians wanting peace. It's God saying that we're his chosen servants also, that his spirit is in us too.

Like Jesus, we've been "anointed" by God to work for peace and justice and this passage tells us that He'll be by our side as we do so. That's why you see frail little 80 year old nuns (along with other people pf good conscience) bravely protesting the missile silos in our country, spreading the liberation of the poor in the Third World ((Ever wonder why the US government is REALLY pissed off at the Catholic Church??)) They KNOW they are doing God's will.

Here is part of a sermon a friend of my family gave about this passage:

Clearly, Jesus put himself in solidarity with the people who had come to be baptized. This was a baptism for the forgiveness of sins, a baptism of repentance. Jesus, the Son of God, did not need such a baptism. Yet he wanted to identify with us sinners, so he took his place at the end of the line. He wanted so much to be one with us, to be in solidarity with us, that he accepted the role of a sinner. He accepted upon himself our own sinfulness.

One of the most important things we can do to bring justice and make peace happen is to be in solidarity with those who are oppressed, those who are poor, those who need to be lifted up, those who need healing.

I found it fascinating last week to see a picture in the paper of the president of Brazil. President Lula da Silva is his name. Brazil is the second largest country in our hemisphere. You might think the president of Brazil would ride around in a big limousine, protected by armed guards, secret service and all that. Not President Lula, as he is popularly called. He walks in the streets among the poorest of the poor.

The picture shows him embracing, as the caption says, "a scavenger." The president of the country is embracing a garbage picker. President Lula was elected by people who wanted to see change in Brazil, people who thought he could bring some justice to the poor. He can't change everything right away, but he lets the people know he understands their suffering, their hurt and their oppression. He lets them know he is one with them. Because of this, I am sure the people have great confidence that he will continue to help bring change so the revolution can take place and the poor will be raised up.

That's always the first step: trying to be in solidarity with the oppressed. People understand how healing that is. I experienced it myself just a few weeks ago when I was in Colombia. I was among very poor people, people who have been oppressed and treated with violence. Even now they live under threat of eviction from their land. Truthfully, there isn't much I can do, but I could for a short time be with them, and that means a lot. It helps them begin to understand that someone cares about them. Once you show you care, people can begin to be healed. That's what Jesus showed us as he walked with the sinners. He became one with them so that they could become one with him.

Now, listen again to those words of Isaiah and understand what God is saying about Jesus: "You are my servant; you are my chosen one; in you I take delight, because you will reject the way of violence and only bring gentleness, compassion, love and healing to liberate the people." As we hear God speaking about Jesus in this way, we can't help but contrast that with what we have been doing as a people.

If you have been following the news at all, you know that we went to war in Iraq under false pretenses. There are no weapons of mass destruction. This past week, Secretary of State Colin Powell said there never was any clear evidence connecting Iraq with al- Qaeda.

Just yesterday, the former secretary of the treasury, Paul O'Neil, said that the administration began planning a war in Iraq from the beginning of its term. The administration was intent on going to war even before Sept. 11, 2001. So, our nation was brought into violence, killing, suffering and death under false pretenses. This is contrary to the way of Jesus. It is a tragedy for us, because people throughout the world say they can no longer trust the leaders of the United States to tell the truth in public forums like the United Nations. It has broken down any possibility for trust and confidence among nations that could be the basis for peace.

We use violence and killing, and say we are liberating people. Jesus brought true liberation, true justice and true peace, but only through love. That is the way of Jesus. We might find it difficult to follow, but through our baptism, we have said we are his disciples. Every day, we must try to deepen our understanding of what that means, so that in every aspect of our lives we try to follow the way of Jesus.

Perhaps this morning as we renew our baptismal promises and as we listen to the eucharistic prayer proclaimed, we will begin to act as we pray: We will follow Jesus, we will work for peace and we will bring happiness to others. I invite each of you to reflect for a moment on your life, being mindful of how you can be more faithful in following the way of Jesus. Then I will invite all of us to stand and renew our baptismal promises. In doing this, we will recommit ourselves to being disciples of Jesus, servants of God, filled with the Holy Spirit and going into the world to bring true justice, true liberation and true peace to all peoples.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

January 11, 2004
Thomas J. Gumbleton
Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese
of Detroit, Michigan *

http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/peace/gumb011104.htm

((Permission to reprint and distribute granted))

"They were going to call it 'Operation Iraqi Liberation' — but then they realized that the acronym would be OIL."