As Catholic Christians we are called to be a people of irrepressible hope. The word “irrepressible” is important and requires precise understanding.

It is not intended to be a compliment to our unshakable personal strength or the depth of our acquired wisdom. Rather, it is an indication that the basis of our strength and wisdom is Jesus, the Prince of Peace and the Lord of History. 

Our responsibility as a people of irrepressible hope is to accept Jesus as teacher and then, through study and reflection, to allow his truth to take root in our lives and to guide our ministry.

The level of violence and brutal death in the world is so common that people have become numb to this form of evil. In many ways, we no longer appreciate how violence and the danger of violent death influences the way we live our lives.

Looking at the widespread violence in the world and in the nation and the length of time it has been present can be discouraging for believing and caring people. That is why the basis of our irrepressibility as Catholic Christians must be reaffirmed in our lives continually.

We approach this enormous challenge of contributing to peace not alone but in union with Jesus. We approach it with an eschatological patience. While we think big along with the Church, our pastoral interventions must always begin small.

No matter what obstacles we encounter or how often we encounter them, we never give up because, in Christ, we are a people of irrepressible hope.

The insight of theology

Humanity is so used to war in its many forms that it tends to define peace as the absence of war. Understandable, but not correct!

The Second Vatican Council in the Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, (Paragraphs 77-93) looks at the issue of peace from a theological viewpoint. It states:
“Peace is more than the absence of war: it cannot be reduced to the maintenance of a balance of power nor does it arise out of despotic dominion but is appropriately called ‘the effect of righteousness.’ It is the fruit of that right ordering of things with which the divine founder has invested human society and which must be actualised by the human community thirsting after an even more perfect reign of justice.”

There are two significant elements in the teaching of Vatican Council II:
1) Peace is based on the creative plan of God which must be identified, analysed and applied through a careful studying of Scripture and Tradition;
2) The human community must find a way in respectful dialogue to make peace happen.

 The international community cannot be dispensed from the obligation to make peace happen.

Through dialogue, the people of the world must share the treasures of their minds and talents. The dialogue must be accompanied by a firm determination to respect the dignity of other people and to practice mutual love.

These criteria for dialogue and interaction are very important because all knowledgeable people understand that during the dialogue and interaction there will be attempts at manipulation due to different agendas and also deliberate acts of violence to undermine the process.

The development of mutual trust is a very challenging endeavour. It can only happen over time through acts of justice and love no matter how many failures we experience.

Should we become discouraged by the enormity of the challenge? No! The reason why we are not discouraged is because, in Christ, we are a people of irrepressible hope.

A complicated agenda

It would be naïve to underestimate the complexity of the agenda for peace which is made up of many interrelated causes. Many of these causes are historic in nature.

Allow me to list some of the major causes of conflict: injustice, systemic economic inequality, corruption, racial and ethnic hatred, a desire for power, disrespect for the rights and even the lives of people.

These causes exist not only within people, they also exist among nations. Unfortunately, there are incidents in which the international organisations that came into being to address these causes scandalize the human community by becoming involved in same process of manipulation and corruption they were designed to solve.

Should we become discouraged by the enormity of the challenge? No! The reason why we should not become discouraged is because, in Christ, we are a people of irrepressible hope.

Encouragement and specificity

Every year for the celebration of World Day of Peace, the Holy Father, the Vicar of Christ, publishes a message on peace for the world. Note it is not issued just for the Catholic or Christian communities, it is issued for the entire world.

These messages become part of the Catholic contribution to world peace. They are joined to and become part of the significant Social Justice Tradition of the Church – a tradition that is continually articulated at the international organisations designed to serve people and to try to build a more just and loving world.

Each year, the Vicar of Christ also encourages the People of God to become involved in the process of peacemaking and defending the dignity and inalienable rights of the human person.

Each year the Holy Father offers a catechesis on peace. Pope Benedict XVI has followed that tradition in his message for 2007. I shall use the Holy Father’s Message as the theme of the Holy Hour I shall preach in Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church on New Year’s Eve.

Conclusion

While I understand that many people are not readers, I also understand that each year thousands of graduates from the universities of the world move out into international society.

These people certainly have the capacity to become familiar with, study and analyse “heavy but important reading material.” Because they will become the leadership of the future, they have a responsibility to develop their capacity for leadership and their capacity to think ethically.

I invite them, the university faculties that taught them and the readers of my column to find the time during the first month of the New Year to reflect on:
1) The Message of Pope Benedict XVI for World Day of Peace (It can be downloaded from the Vatican website);
2) Chapter V of Vatican Council II’s, Constitution on The Church in the Modern World;
3) The sections of the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church on the issue of peace.

I invite all to commit themselves to be peacemakers in 2007 - peacemakers in your hearts, in your families and homes, in your social contacts, in the nation and, depending on your opportunities, in the world.  

Should we become discouraged by the enormity of the challenge? No! The reason why we should not become discouraged is because, in Christ, we are a people of irrepressible hope.