On the eve of Armistice Day/Veterans Day

On November 11^th, we will celebrate Armistice Day, or Veteran’s Day as we know it in the United States. On the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month, in a train car in Versailles, France, a peace treaty was signed between the Allies and Germany, Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire ending World War 1. This war was known as the “Great War” or the “War to end all wars.” This war introduced modern warfare with all of its horrors to the world. Chemical warfare, the modern machine gun, aerial warfare, the bombings from air of civilian targets in cities, the tank, the submarine, and all other weapons that eventually led to even more destructive weaponry was issued into the world through this war. 

The “Peace treaty” signed on November 11^th dismantled the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Russian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. The effects of that treaty led to the proliferation of communism throughout the world, the advancement of fascism in Spain, Italy, and Germany, contributed to the Great Depression, and led the world back into a war even more horrific in 1939. 

The artificial boundaries drawn up by the Allies for the Middle East, following the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire, established Arab kingdoms that never existed prior to the war, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Turkey. This ill thought out dismantling largely contributed to the rise of dictators in those countries, political unrest and persecution, religious sectarian conflicts and wars, and much of the violence from which all of recoil in horror today.

As we look back on history on this Armistice Day, we find that the victims following in the wake of the Versailles Peace treaty, far outnumbers the victims of World War 1. The War to End All Wars, only produced more warfare and does not appear to ever cease, at least in my lifetime.

Pope John Paul II proclaimed on the eve of the United States invasion of Iraq, “War is always a defeat for humanity!” Having lived through World War 1, World War 2, the communist occupation of his nation of Poland, and the Cold War, Pope John Paul II knew of what he spoke. In our arrogance and greed, the United States ignored what the Pope warned and has made the political unrest in the Middle East even more precarious with more lives lost, American and Iraqi, than we would have had, had we just left things alone.

Will there be no end to the circle of violence that seems to perpetuate and infect humanity from generation to generation? Must humanity continue to make the same mistakes over and over again? Must the carnage continue, bodies of the innocent piled into mass graves, the victims of the foolish and powerful? 

We are capable of ending the circle of violence that only continues to grow and spread in all of its ferocity. It is a matter of taking the words of Jesus seriously. It is very simple. Live the great commandment of Jesus. Let us honor all of the victims of war, the veterans, the families of veterans, the untold millions of innocent civilian men, women, and children by ceasing war altogether. Let us truly love God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and love our neighbor as ourselves. No matter what world religion one follows, all point to the same divine mandate. Serve God, and serve God in one another, end war.

A RELECTION ON THE FEAST OF THE DEDICATION OF THE BASILICA OF ST. JOHN LATERAN (2014)

I will confess forthright that I have trouble celebrating the feast of bricks and mortar. Buildings are buildings and for the most part are temporary at best. The huge cities and temples of the ancient world are quickly consumed and dominated by the forces of nature, a mere plant over time having the power to bring down thick walls that once repelled missiles from enemy forces. This feast reminds me of such feasts as “the Throne of Peter”, which I still rather humorously envision as the celebration of the Papal bathroom/water closet.

However, we must look beyond the façade of a building, ancient and historical as it may be, to that which lies behind the brick and the mortar. It is not a building we celebrate today, rather it is the community of faith that we celebrate. The true brick and mortar of any house of worship is the body and blood of the souls who constructed it, in short, we, the Body of Christ. It is we, the living and breathing Body of Christ, which we celebrate today. 

More than any building, sacred or otherwise, it is we who are really the brick and mortar of any church, the living stones, as scriptures tell us, who are the real Church. We build up and replenish the Church. We are the most visible signs of Jesus Christ alive and well in the world, greater than all the John Lateran’s and St. Peter Basilica’s in the world. Without us, the living and breathing Body of Jesus Christ, these buildings would be nothing but empty facades crumbling forgotten or only remembered as historical trivia in the dust of history.

These buildings hold no spiritual power other than that with which we give them. It is from these buildings that we go forth as the real Church to bring Jesus Christ to people everywhere. It is from these buildings that we go forth as Jesus Christ to compassionately listen to the woes inflicting the people of the world. It is from these buildings that we bring the loving touch and care of Jesus to the poor, the vulnerable and the elderly largely ignored or forgotten by the world. It is from these buildings that we go forth and feed the hungry, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, visit the imprisoned, love the prisoner, and give comfort to the dying.

These buildings are not and never have been the destination points of our lives. Rather, these buildings of brick and mortar are the starting points from which we set out to be Jesus Christ to the world.