Go into the Whole World

Go into the Whole World

Saturday in the Octave of Easter

But later, as the Eleven were at table, he appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised. He said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” Mark 9:14-15

Piety

So, they called them back and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. Peter and John, however, said to them in reply, “Whether it is right in the sight of God for us to obey you rather than God, you be the judges. It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:18-20

Study

When you get to a certain point in the Rocky Mountains, you reach a location called the Continental Divide or Milner Pass if you happen to be driving in Colorado.  On the East, land slopes downward to the Mississippi River, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.  To the West, the land slopes down to the Pacific Ocean.  Gravity pulls water in either one direction or the other. 

Today, we see the disciples at a Cultural Divide.  Jesus gives them one instruction. “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” 

The Sanhedrin gives them a different instruction. “What are we to do with these men? Everyone living in Jerusalem knows that a remarkable sign was done through them, and we cannot deny it. But so that it may not be spread any further among the people, let us give them a stern warning never again to speak to anyone in this name.” (Acts 4:16-17)

Faith is the gravity that will pull them in one direction or the other.  Abundant faith will draw them toward Jesus.  “It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.”

Action

We are players in this cultural tug-of-war daily.  Popular opinion says one thing.  Our faith calls us to profess something different. Such a battle is playing out on both on the southern US border this week and in a Georgia jailhouse.

Catholic News Service (CNS) has tracked how bishops from Texas to California have objected to the decision to deploy the National Guard to the US Mexico border.

 

San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller said the move was a "senseless action and a disgrace on the administration." He also said the decision to send troops to the border demonstrated "repression, fear, a perception that everyone is an enemy, and a very clear message: We don't care about anybody else. This is not the American spirit."

At the same time, seven Catholic peace activists in Georgia have been denied bail after entering the ironically named “King’s Bay” Trident submarine base on the anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Calling themselves the Kings Bay Plowshares, seven Catholic peacemakers chose to act on the 50th anniversary of the martyrdom of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to make real the biblical command to "beat swords into plowshares."

The Kings Bay Plowshares
Clare Grady, Patrick O’Neill, Liz McAlister,
Steve Kelly SJ, Martha Hennessy, Mark Colville
and Carmen Trotta (L-R)

Carrying hammers and baby bottles of their blood, they entered the Naval base, which is homeport to six Trident nuclear submarines, attempting to convert weapons of mass destruction. According to the group's indictment, the six Trident's maintained at Kings Bay can cause the devastation of 3600 Hiroshima-scale attacks.

In their action statement, the group declared:

We come in peace on this sorrowful anniversary of the martyrdom of a great prophet, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Fifty years ago today, April 4, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee as a reaction to his efforts to address “the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism.” We come to Kings Bay to answer the call of the prophet Isaiah (2:4) to “beat swords into plowshares” by disarming the world’s deadliest nuclear weapon, the Trident submarine…

Nuclear weapons eviscerate the rule of law, enforce white supremacy, perpetuate endless war and environmental destruction and ensure impunity for all manner of crimes against humanity. Dr. King said, “The ultimate logic of racism is genocide.” We say, “The ultimate logic of Trident is omnicide.” A just and peaceful world is possible when we join prayers with action. Swords into Plowshares!

Jesus did not ask us to preach in church.  He asked us to go out into the whole world. 

Upon what Cultural Divide are you torn by your faith and your culture?  How can you choose faith?  How can you not choose faith?  “It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.”