For the last few months I have been slowly reading “Gandhi,” an autobiography, what he calls “the story of my experiments with truth.”  It is interesting and inspiring to read the development of Gandhi’s thoughts on how to bring about justice and peace. Gandhi is an Indian, born into a nation where there is a caste system.  He was of the highest caste, but saw that judging and treating people because of the family into which they are born is a rejection of their rights.  He experienced the prejudice against the people of his nation in South Africa and in England. There was also the rejection of his way and thoughts by those who did not want to change the caste system.  Continuously he strove to respect the rights of all people and saw the equality of all human beings.  Even though he was treated unjustly, he did not retaliate with violence, but spoke the truth with love and nonviolence.  In time he was recognized as a man of great goodness, love and conviction.  His life was not easy, but his contribution to the people of India and to all people of the world is a tremendous gift.

In today’s gospel Jesus asks his disciples two questions: “Who do people say that I am?”  and “Who do you say that I am?”  When Peter says, “You are the Christ,” he is saying that he recognizes that Jesus is the one sent by God to redeem and save us from all that separates us from God and one another.  Even though Peter made this profession of faith, he still had a long way to go to really understand who Jesus is.  It was not until after the resurrection appearances and Jesus continued love and trust in him that he not only lived fully in the light of God’s truth, but also brought that light and truth to others. Peter went far beyond repenting his denials of Jesus during the passion, to speaking boldly and courageously about Jesus and inviting all who would listen to become followers of Jesus with him.  His efforts bore much fruit and led him to a martyr’s death.  The messenger was killed, but the message became louder and louder throughout the course of history since then. God’s love for him and trust in him enabled Peter to do great things.

We too are loved by God and trusted by God as Peter was. We do not go about proclaiming the good news as he did, but we are bearers of Jesus’ Good News through our words and actions.  As I finished that last chapter in the meditation book I have been using the past month, “Christ in a Grain of Sand,” points were cited from the theologian Monica Hellwig.  They are a good summary to think about as we seek to live as the followers of Jesus in our everyday lives.  The first point cited said we need grounding of everything in profound gratitude and reverence.  All is a gift beginning with life itself.  At times we replace gratitude and reverence with a sense of entitlement and protection.  We do not see other people and the world around us as gifts, but as a means to make our lives better before all else.  This limits our vision and closes our minds and hearts to the goodness and love of others.  In the fourth eucharistic prayer at Mass we pray: You formed us in your own likeness and set us over the whole world to serve you, our creator and to rule over all creatures. Created in the image and likeness of God we have been blessed with life and the world we live in and have been given the privilege and responsibility of living in the world God created.  Not only do we live in the world, we have been given the charge and responsibility by him to do what he would do to make our world a better place for all of us and for those who will come after us

Those running for president of our nation want us to think they will make our nation better than the current administration. hopefully that is true and will become a reality.  Which candidate will do that best?  Neither one can do it perfectly, for like you and me, they are human.  They too have limitations.  One of the issues where we are disregarding God’s trust in us with creation is the continued practice of abortion in our nation.  Any candidate who openly promotes abortion is not a trustworthy steward of creation and is not living up to the trust God has put in us.  It was very disturbing to read the following in a recent article I saw: “Last year, presidential candidate Sen.  Barack Obama, D-Ill., made a promise to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund: The first thing I’d do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act.  The Freedom of Choice Act would wipe away every state law limiting abortion, undoing decades of legal work, research and educational successes.” It is an awful thought that a man would first use his power as president of our nation to make sure we will be able to continue to end the lives of the most innocent and dependent among us.  What a terrible and sinful sense of priorities.  It surely does not offer the right message and hope for our nation now and in the years to come.

Father Walden