Reflection on John 14:23-29
The late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, will be remembered for many things. Most of, all, he will probably be remembered as an Apostle of Peace. That is because of so many unprecedented steps he took in the interest of world peace. During a trip to Syria, the Pope did the unthinkable: he took off his shoes, walked into a mosque in Damascus, the capital of Syria, to pray at the tomb of St John the Baptist. He was accompanied by the grand Mufti, the highest ranking Islamic cleric in Syria. While it is true that the Pope went to pray at the tomb of St John the Baptist, it is equally true that his gesture was a powerful statement on behalf of peace between two of the world's great religions, Christianity and Islam. Both religions have a history of hostility going back at least ten centuries, to the time of the Crusades.
While in Syria, the Pope made a passionate appeal for a cessation of hostilities between the Jews and Arabs in the Middle East. Both groups have been locked in violent conflict that has claimed thousands of lives over the years.
In all his efforts for world peace the Pope was only following in the footsteps of his Master, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Peace was one thing that must have been dear to the heart of Jesus because, time and time again, he wished peace for his followers. He did so before his passion, as we read in our Gospel passage today. He did the same in the evening of the very day that he rose from the dead (John 20:20-21). When he sent out seventy-two disciples, Jesus instructed them thus; "Whatever house you enter, let your first words be, 'Peace to this house!' " (Luke 10:5). One of the eight beatitudes pronounced by Jesus was "Blessed are the peacemakers: they shall be called children of God" (Matthew 5:9).
If peace meant so much to our Lord, then we can understand why the Pope, his Vicar on earth, should take it upon himself to be an Apostle of Universal Peace in our time. The Church as a whole is being challenged to follow the leadership of the Holy Father in this regard. Every son and daughter of the Church must share in the passion of Jesus and the Pope for peace in our world. None should be indifferent simply because we are not engaged in open warfare within our own country or with -outsiders. The painful reality staring us in the face is that many countries in our world today do not know any peace.
Several of those countries are in Africa. The men and women and children who are daily losing their lives or limbs or property in those countries are our kith and kin, our own flesh and blood. Their suffering is our suffering, their pain is our pain. We should be concerned about them. We may not be in a position to do anything physically about ending the conflicts i1i those lands. But we can pray the God of Peace to restore peace to them, and quickly. If that is all we do for the cause of peace in the Congo, Sudan, the Middle East, it will already be much.
Can it even be said that we are at peace here in Nigeria? Not really; not with all the recurrent incidents of violence arising from ethnic, political and especially religious differences. The memories of the religious clashes in Jos in the not-too-distant past are still fresh in our minds. We are already being treated to threats of war and bloodshed during the next national elections in 2011. Those threats should not be taken lightly. These are more reasons why we should join the Pope in his crusade for world peace by doing everything we can to promote peace in whatever way we can, beginning right where we are: in our family, our community and our country at large.
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