Why is our world so full of
divisiveness?
We hear the many pleas for
brotherhood, working together, unity.
We look for teamwork, team spirit,
And
instead see Jonathan Papelbon clutching Bryce Harper—by the throat.
We can envision the peace and
beauty of everyone getting along,
Working together for the common good.
That’s been a goal and a dream,
often eloquently and cleverly stated throughout history.
Benjamin Franklin urged his
fellow signers of the Declaration of Independence to unity.
We must indeed
all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.
Of course, beyond that circle
of supporters, the Declaration itself was an act of divisiveness.
Declaring our separation from
England.
Pope Francis stood in that same
Independence Square in Philadelphia a few days ago.
Wrapping up his inspiring visit
to our country.
A visit where he encouraged us toward
a more universal world unity, and an end to divisiveness.
Our Scripture readings on this
Feast of the Archangels give us a story on divisiveness.
Long before we had division in
the world, there was division between the angels in Heaven.
Such bitter division that it
resulted in war.
And Satan and his followers
were cast out of Heaven and thrown down to Earth.
Where he continues to deceive
and accuse.
In our Gospel, Jesus praises
Nathanael as one without duplicity—without
deceitfulness.
He has the qualities of a
peacemaker.
He has none of that
deceitfulness that stirs up animosity and divisiveness.
Unfortunately, today, we see
that deceitfulness everywhere.
We see it in politics and the
media and in our polarized society.
In public debate, there’s
little regard for truth or fairness or civility.
Each side wildly exaggerates
the other’s position to make it seem totally unreasonable.
The Internet is rife with this
kind of intentional deceitfulness.
As an example, with the Pope’s
visit just ended, there are already articles trying to discredit him.
One used a headline that claimed
to be a quote from Francis, but was totally fabricated.
That deceitful headline drew
over a thousand comments condemning the Pope’s meddling.
So what are we to do about all
this?
Well, we can remember that
Jesus said, Blessed are the Peacemakers.
We can be careful that we
ourselves don’t contribute to the divisive deceit and exaggeration.
We might have to pass up the
opportunity for a clever jab at the other side.
Or a chance to vent about
something the other side has done.
Actually, despite the millions
of bad examples out there,
There are also millions of good examples.
We can continue to add to those
good unifying acts and examples.
And when we see others stoking
the divisiveness, we can gently try to soften them.
Maybe with a story of how we
too were once caught up in the fight.
Bringing peace on earth may be
an unachievable goal for us.
But it’s the task we’re called
to.
When we get discouraged we can call
on the angels for help.
And we can remember the refrain
from that simple little Christmas song.
Let there be
peace on earth and let it begin with me.
Tuesday 26th Week Ordinary Time
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