Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Peace in the Family


Paraphrased from Father's homily this morning: St Paul's Letter to the Ephesians, Ch 2, brings us hope... hope for unity in the Body of Christ. But we need to start with our families. If we can bring peace in our families, we can bring peace in our world. We need to start where we are, in our homes and families, to bring about change.

I am talking on the topic of Christian Community at our parish's CRHP retreat next month. I touch on some of the same ideas in my talk. Change -- real change, not just the political promises of the presidential campaigns -- happens from the bottom up. It is regular people, making choices to affect their families, communities, cities, and states that make the real change in this world.

Pastor and I had a conversation about this a few weeks ago. In a very rare moment where he had time to talk, and no one else was around, we got into politics. He and I both are less than thrilled by the choices we have this year. We are both pro-life. We have similar positions on other political issues. But the choice for me is one between moral idealism and political realities. I told him that I believed neither man would profoundly change the world for the better. It seems that political leaders never do. When you look at those who've changed the world for the better, it is always, nearly always, simple people, in simple ways. As Blessed Teresa of Calcutta said, "Do small things with great Love."

If we all did that -- even just for today -- imagine the difference in the world.

No comments:

Post a Comment