I\u2019ve outlined the teaching of the Catechism on \u201cjust war\u201d<\/a>; I\u2019ve presented the pacifist case, represented by Dorothy Day<\/a> and effectively endorsed by CCC 2304\u20132306. I\u2019d like to return to a homily by St. John Chrysostom<\/a> that I quoted on Thanksgiving Day, while throwing a bouquet to a man who combined aggression and pacifism in a historic way, St. Bernard of Clairvaux (pictured here).<\/p>\n
Sheep over wolf? I get that. Blessed are the poor, the meek, the mournful, the peacemakers, and those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. According to St. John, the shepherd (Jesus) tells us,<\/p>\n Do not be upset that, as I send you out among the wolves, I bid you be as sheep and doves. I could have managed things quite differently and sent you, not to suffer evil nor to yield like sheep to the wolves, but to be fiercer than lions. But the way I have chosen is right. It will bring you greater praise and at the same time manifest my power.<\/i><\/p>\n If Jesus had wanted us to be wolves, He would have told us so. Wolves show off their own power (as our government and most other governments often do); but He wants us to \u201cmanifest\u201d His power. Yep, he\u2019s asking us to be martyrs, and martyrdom is not in the contemporary code of conduct of our culture. But it is what He asks for. <\/p>\n Then He asks for something else. He wants us to \u201ccontribute something,\u201d according to the early Church Father, \u201clest everything seem to be the work of grace . . . \u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n Therefore he adds: <\/i>You must be clever as snakes and innocent as doves. . . . What cleverness is the Lord requiring here? The cleverness of a snake. A snake will surrender everything and will put up no great resistance even if its body is being cut in pieces, provided it can save its head. So you, the Lord is saying, must surrender everything but your faith: money, body, even life itself. <\/i><\/p>\n A snake was the Original bad animal, the serpent in the garden. A snake can be deadly. But a snake is also clever, cagey, sly. A snake waits and calculates the moment for striking. It may \u201csurrender everything\u201d but it is also capable of delivering a lethal blow suddenly and with chilling efficiency. The Navy motto \u201cDon\u2019t Tread on Me,\u201d featuring a coiled snake, originated in the American Revolution<\/a> as a symbol of the Colonies\u2019 willingness to resist aggression. The coiled snake takes a defensive <\/i>posture, but will go on the offensive if provoked, and woe to the aggressor.<\/p>\n In this rich symbol, as in the model of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, I think I see another example of the Church taking a position not of either\/or but of both\/and. Under St. Bernard the Cistercians (later \u201cTrappists\u201d), a reformed order of Benedictines and ideally as peaceful as they come, emerged as a growing, vibrant force in the High Middle Ages. Yet, Bernard also preached the Second Crusade, inciting Christian knights to take back the Holy Lands. (For my knowledge of St. Bernard I am indebted to Frank, as well as Wikipedia. My knowledge runs deep!<\/i>)<\/p>\n <\/a>While I was on retreat a few weeks back, Father Matthew, our retreat director, cited St. Bernard as a conundrum: How could he have been a monk, a general, and a saint\u2014all in one? I guess I prefigured an answer to that question with the title of my post about the retreat: Because Monks Are Just Soldiers in Awkward Clothes<\/a>. Remember this about St. Bernard next time you think about just war and pacifism: He was a monk, he was a general (though he stayed home in his bunker), and he was a saint. <\/i>Is there a lesson in that?<\/p>\n Posted by WebsterI\u2019ve outlined the teaching of the Catechism on \u201cjust war\u201d; I\u2019ve presented the pacifist case, represented by Dorothy Day and effectively endorsed by CCC 2304\u20132306. I\u2019d like to return to a homily by St. John Chrysostom that I quoted on Thanksgiving Day, while throwing a bouquet to a man who combined aggression and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n![](\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_dmDaLWNETzg\/SxXDrZVMjZI\/AAAAAAAAAlg\/xh5M3PkenXw\/s200\/Bernard\")
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