Swords into Plowshares

Swords into Plowshares

Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, Priest

He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. Isaiah 2:4

"Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. Matthew 8:8

Piety

O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD!  (Isaiah 2:5)

Study

Words and deeds are our lessons today – study and action.

The prophet in the Hebrew Bible explains that “once the nations acknowledge God as sovereign, they go up to Jerusalem to settle their disputes, rather than having recourse to war.”  Actions speak mightier than words.

However, with Jesus, his action is enhanced by his words.  As a military commander, the centurion is well acquainted with the force of a command.  That may be why he expresses such faith in the power of Jesus’ mere word.  He knows that if Jesus speaks, his words are the truth.

Also, it becomes apparent that God’s love pours forth on the Jew, the Gentile, and the Roman. in the speech of Peter: “God shows no partiality…whoever fears him and acts righteously is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34–35)

Action

The Plowshares movement is an anti-nuclear weapon and Christian pacifist movement that advocates active resistance to war. The group often practices a form of symbolic protest that involves the damaging of weapons and military property. The movement gained notoriety in the early 1980s when several members damaged nuclear warhead nose cones and were subsequently convicted. The name "plowshares" refers to the text of prophet Isaiah that is quoted in today’s first reading. 

After thirty years, today’s reading comes one day after the anniversary of the martyrdom of four American churchwomen in Central America.  Dec. 2 was the 38^th anniversary of the death of four North American churchwomen, killed in El Salvador in 1980 by American-trained death squads. "Four churchwomen killed in El Salvador." Their bodies had been found in a shallow grave in a barren region some 15 miles from the San Salvador airport.

Three were nuns: Sr. Ita Ford of Maryknoll had spent years in Chile; Sr. Maura Clarke also of Maryknoll had spent years in Nicaragua; and Sr. Dorothy Kazel, an Ursuline nun from Cleveland worked in El Salvador. The fourth, a young laywoman, Jean Donovan, had volunteered to go to El Salvador through a church mission program.

Maura, Ita, Dorothy, Jean, pray for us.

This reading also comes just days after the anniversary of the natural death of Servant of God Dorothy Day, (1897-1980), who was an American Catholic activist and founded the Catholic Worker movement, establishing houses of hospitality and advocating pacifism.

Dorothy Day, pray for us.

These women lived the ideal of swords into plowshares even those their action predated the movement. May they inspire our following of the Good News. May they show us the way so we can pray with the sincerity of the centurion: Come. Let us walk in the light of the LORD.