"Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
John 15:13
Of Gods and Men tells the true story of 7 Cistercian monks who lived, prayed, worshiped and served together in a war-torn village in Algeria. They were truly in an anti-Catholic context--genetic, political and demonic hate for the Church abounded everywhere. I will attest to the fact that the way the movie portrays them is exceptionally authentic, having had first-hand encounters with Cistercians while studying under and worshiping with them during our short stay in Irving, TX.
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| Cistercian Abbey, Irving, TX |
Besides my personal, profound respect for the martyrs in Of Gods and Men, I was struck by how they overcame the hate that surrounded them. Here's what I learned:
I. Genetic hate is overcome through proximal love
In the movie, the monks are the only Christians in their community. The Muslims, some of whom are fundamentalists, have grown to respect the monks, even rely upon them. Ultimately, this points to the way in which the monks lived with the people. They were not Christ to them from a far off, a distant religious commentator on the state of affairs, peering down their proverbial nose at all those in dissent of the truth. Instead, the monks became Christ to those around them and lived out the Incarnational ministry of our Lord. They lived with a constant sense of awareness of the community's needs and were sensitive to the ways in which their actions might bring scandal to the community.
“The Incarnation, for us, is to allow the filial reality of Jesus to embody itself in our humanity. The mystery of Incarnation remains what we are going to live.” -Brother Christian
This particular theme in the movie convicted me. How often are we quick to "set right" those who throw stones at the Church? How often do we fail to consider their authentic human needs? Sure, we can point to ways in which certain Catholic apostolates act in our communities to reach out to those in dire straits; nonetheless, this does not abrogate our responsibility to act. The "little-way"--the way of prayer, penance and service--is our best method for extracting the pathogen of anti-Catholic poison injected into our society through the mirky waters of hereditary ignorance.During the Passion, our Lord bent down and washed the feet of his disciples. That act of humility, set the bar--in a twist--high for what it would take to reach the world. It also reinforced what our Lord taught about the good Samaritain. In the popular story, many times we over-focus on who acted justly. When we do this, we fail to notice something more subtle our Lord is teaching us.
Samaritains were hated, a displaced group, a "mixed-race"; so when Christ used the Samaritain as the good example, he was challenging his disciples' prejudices. As the disciples struggled to re-invision their view of Samaritains, Christ was teaching them the model of healing hate and overcoming prejudice. Only immanent love, in-your-business love can overcome generations of hereditary, uncritical hate for the Church. Moreover, we should remind ourselves that as Catholics we are many times the ones holding the blame for the perceptions others carry about us. Forget about sex-abuse scandal, living a nominal Catholic life, showing indifference to our Lord in the Eucharist and in the poor, or not knowing our faith are all good reasons why our brothers and sisters who do not profess our faith may justifiably reject Her claims.
Shame on me, for I must become like the Samaritain.
II. Political hate is wrought powerless through self-giving love
Catholicism has always lived between the two punitive charges of being "overly sympathetic" or "too dogmatic". In the movie the monks were a threat to both the fundamentalist right-wing and the fascist left-wing. We want health care so we are too left. We want health care for the unborn so we are too right.The monks live beyond these political pigeon holes, and through self-giving love make both the right and left leaning factions powerless to augment their mission. They don't acquiesce to the claim of stubbornness, but are resolved in the face of such a claim to show how self-less love always cares the least about the personal injury a conviction brings upon oneself. Nor do the monks acquiesce to the pressure to give up their care for those who had no right to it--the outsider, the foreigner--in the name of an ironic self-serving justice and equity.
This is what we must do as well as Catholics. Defeat anti-Catholicism with a healthy dose of resolve. We will not give up. In the face of extremism seeking to redefine reality or pretend that what is concealed in a womb isn't real, we must remind those who surround us that we will blow a trumpet until the walls fall down. The trumpet will be the unwavering gift of our lives to those in need of peace, healing and life, and will make friends of those are enemies claim to serve. In so doing, we will heap coles upon their heads and disarm their weapons, beating them--one act of love at a time--into plowshares.
III. Demonic hate is defeated by self-sacrificing love
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| "The disciple is never greater than his Master" |
In the end, as in real life, someone must die. That is the story of salvation and ultimately the true message of redemption, namely that when Christ was being led to the cross, and the devil rejoiced, the devil was wrong. We know that the devil roars about like a lion seeking whom he may devour, but that which consumes us cannot hold us. We should not seek out martyrdom, and the monks did not either yet simply resolved that as:
“Wildflowers don’t move to find the sun’s rays. God makes them fecund wherever they are.” -Brother Christian
Where can we find the place that God will make us fecund? How can we, like our beloved Cistercian friends, cry, "Je reste!" (I'm staying!). St. Paul reminds those that face the evil day to prepare themselves to "stand" (Eph 6:13). Are we ready? They were. The Church has always pushed back the gates of hell and enlarged her tent through martyrdom. Tertullian in his Apologeticus said that, "the blood of the martrys is the seed of the Church", and that still holds true today. We should not think that the "servant is greater than his master" (John 15:20) nor that the little-way is the easy-way.
I want to end this last section abruptly to open up the comboxes and get your thoughts. How can we die for our faith even when we are not called to martyrdom? How can we live so authentically committed to our call to love that we will die to everything else but that calling?
What can we do?
