Pax Christi South

Isaiah ( 58:9b-14) makes God’s message quite clear. Oppression, false accusation, malicious speech, and, more positively, bestowing bread on the hungry and satisfying the afflicted all bring the light of God. Gloom shall become like the brightness of midday.

On May 13, 1961, Merton wrote in his journal:

The great work of sunrise again today.

The aweful solemnity of it. The sacredness. Unbearable without prayer and worship. I mean unbearable if you really put everything aside and see what is happening! Many, no doubt, are vaguely aware that it is dawn, but they are protected from the solemnity of it by the neutralizing worship of their own society, their own world, in which the sun no longer rises and sets.

Sense of importance, the urgency of seeing, fully aware, experiencing what is here: not what is given by men, by society, but what is given by God and hidden by (even monastic) society. Clear realization that I must be with these first elements. (The Intimate Merton, 175-76)

Sunrise burns away the folly of the dark false self. When we let go of the folly of the false self, God’s light will shine in the dark, deep depths of our being. The false self leads us to complicity in oppression. Consumerism compels us to satisfy our every want regardless of the consequences for others. When we buy inexpensive goods produced in sweatshops, we are complicit in oppression and exploitation.

When we let go and let God, God will renew our strength. God will water us and nurture us like a garden. Out true self will grow and flourish in God’s love.

God also reminds us to let go and rest on the Sabbath. We are not to follow our own pursuits on the Sabbath. Do we engage in commerce on the Sabbath? If we honor God’s day, God promises to nourish us. God will give us what we need.

Luke (5:27-32) describes the call of Levi. Levi, the despised tax collector who was ripping off and oppressing his neighbors, responds instantaneously to the Gospel call. Jose Pagola (Jesus: An Historical Approximation) describes what Matthew was doing:

The village peasants sustained the country’s economy; they worked the land and produced enough to support the ruling minority. The cities didn’t produce; the elites needed the labor of the peasants. So they used different mechanisms to control the production of the rural areas [Galilee] and obtain maximum possible benefit from the peasants. This was done with tributes, fees, taxes and tithes. From the viewpoint of power, this policy of extraction and tribute was the peasants’ legitimate obligation to the elite who defended the country, protected their lands, and performed diverse administrative services. . . .Jesus knew ell the suffering of the peasants [who comprised the majority of the people] who, struggling to eke out as much as possible from their modest ;land, sowed in rocky soil, among thistles, and even in areas that were used as footpaths. (41, 43)

Levi was complicit in the oppression of the majority of the population. But, when Jesus called, he left everything and followed Jesus. Jesus had set him free. Levi was so grateful that he threw a banquet for Jesus. Enter the control freak greed mongers—the Pharisees and their scribes. Maybe they were upset because Levi abandoned his post and tax collections would be down. They complained because Jesus has liberated Levi. Jesus announced open table community. All are welcome at his table. It is an inclusive table. Jesus came to be with us, to heal us, to make us whole. As disciples we are to respond readily to Jesus’ invitation to be in solidarity with all our brothers and sisters.