“In the hearts of people today there is a deep longing for peace.
When the spirit of peace is thoroughly dominant,
it becomes an inner experience.”
(Barach Spinoza)
Habakkuk was one of the minor Prophets who lived in the 7th Century BC, when the Babylonians were in power. He was deeply disturbed and angry by the violence of these people, the destruction and misery they inflicted. So deeply affected was he by the horrible events all around him, he was driven to go to the only person whom he felt could help – the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! When he did approach God it was not with trembling knees or with faint heart but rather with great boldness of spirit. He ranted and raved at God letting Him know in no uncertain terms what he should and could do given the power that He had. Why was God simply looking on while violence and tyranny flourished?
He demanded, ”How long Lord am I to cry for help while You will not listen; to cry ‘oppression’ in your ear and You will not save? Why do you set injustice before me; why do you look on while there is tyranny? Outrage and violence, this is all I see; all is contention and discord flourishes!’
Habakkuk’s anger and prophetic boldness of spirit indicates a deep inner faith that is rooted in God and in His power. The prophet is angry, certainly, but at the same time he believes and is convinced, that God will do something to remedy the situation. This is the trusting faith that God loves. This is the kind of faith that can move mountains!
‘Wasn’t it Archimedes who said,
“Give me a lever and a place to put it on and I will move the world!”
There is such a lever and it is called Faith; there is a place to put it on and it is called God; and there is a power that can swing that lever and it is called man or woman.’ (Richard M Steiner)
If Habakkuk were to look down upon our world today, would he find that things have changed at all? If anything, the world is in a worse state now than in the 7th Century. Certainly the weapons of war and destruction are more sophisticated and deadly. How many millions of innocent people are dying and suffering intensely each day because of the inhumane and barbaric treatment of those who wield the power?
For my part, perhaps I can become immune to the distressing pictures I see unfolding daily on the TV screens and feel far removed from it all. I might even ask myself, ‘what can I possibly do in the face of such evil?’ Habakkuk, was only one man, but he was not willing to let his world sink further into the abyss of evil. He went, in faith, to the only one who could help – God. He yelled at God because he felt so deeply the plight of his people and his world at that time. God listened and acted.
I, as a Sister of Our Lady of the Missions, am a woman of the world and for the world. Like Habakkuk I too, no doubt, feel deeply the plight of those caught up in the tyranny that exists in the world. I also believe in the power of God but I need perhaps, to find that boldness of spirit that is born of deep seated faith. I need to come before the Lord not in a Spirit of timidity but in a spirit that is fired with the desire for true justice and peace for all. I need to challenge the Holy one and cry out forcefully and with trust for that peace which the world cannot give; confident He will act – willing Him to act!
The season of Lent is fast approaching! ‘Why not,’ I ask myself, ‘make these six weeks a Crusade for peace in the world?’ Six weeks of prayer, penance, and alms-giving, to whatever degree, would certainly lend weight to the bold pleas I make before God and help me ‘swing that lever’ in favour of the poor and the downtrodden of the world. My faith, which is rooted in God, can and will make an awesome difference with God’s powerful help!
Let us pray:
“Give us O Lord the vision to see thy love in the world in spite of human failure. Give us the faith, the trust, the goodness in spite of our ignorance and weakness. Give us the knowledge that we may continue to pray with understanding hearts and show us what each one of us can do to set forth the coming of the day of universal peace.”
(Written by Frank Bormann – Apollo 8 on Christmas Eve 1968)
Sister Louise Shields, RNDM