All this movement can stand as a symbol of the restless energy we are conscious of every day as our world struggles towards its goal of perfect justice and peace for everyone. Fifty years ago the greatest meeting the planet has ever witnessed gathered in Rome. More than 2,000 people met for four years to write documents in which they struggled to explain in contemporary words their age-old message.
“The fundamental purpose,” they wrote, “of (economic activity) must not be the multiplication of products. It must not be profit or domination. Rather it must be the service of the person, and indeed of the whole person, viewed in terms of their material needs and the demands of their intellectual, moral, spiritual and religious life. And when we say person we mean every person whatsoever and every group of people, of whatever race and from whatever part of the world.” (Vatican Council II, The Church today, # 64, December 7, 1965).
The council expressed again and again in its 16 documents its belief that human kind is on a journey. It is a journey that began long ago in the evolution of the planet and of our species. Scientists have calculated the immense age of the universe and of our earth and finally the length of time we, humans, have been around. But in the ‘short’ time we have lived we have developed the world at an ever increasing speed. What is the goal of this journey? For the council, and for all those for whom the council spoke, there is only one answer; we are on a journey towards achieving perfect peace and justice for every person, the City of God.
The greatest boost we received on this journey was when God himself came to walk with us, he became one of us and shouldered the burdens of the journey with us. He carried our cross of inequality where the rich have more than they need while the poor suffer in destitution. He carried our cross of injustice where human rights are acknowledged in constitutions but ignored in practice. He carried our cross of division where people are discriminated against because of the group to which they belong or their party or their faith. And he carried all the other crosses that men and women and children carry sorrowfully along the way. He walks with us now and assures us of victory. We will get there. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But we will get there. This is the hope and the joy of Christmas.
Post published in: Opinions & Analysis