Leaflet given out to people on the journey from the National Shrine to the Archdiocese for Military Services

In this demented inn, where can the peace of Christ be embodied?

Walking from the National Shrine to the Archdiocese for Military Services, we process in the tradition of the Posada—the re-enactment of the search by Mary and Joseph for lodging prior to Jesus' birth. We walk as pilgrims who request lodging—in our instance, a place where Christ's message of peace and justice might be welcome.

We hope that Jesus' message of peace will be welcome at the Archdiocese for Military Services and that the priests there will declare that killing our Iraqi brothers and sisters is not what Jesus had in mind when he told us to “love our enemies.”

How can the Archdiocese for Military Services best serve those who serve? At the very least, they ought to be reminding our young men and women of their right to conscientious objection. Would they dare to speak the truth about the war in Iraq : A war whose primary motive is neither “anti-terrorism” nor the promotion of democracy, but the control of world oil supplies. A war whose brutality includes indefinite detention without charge of tens of thousands of prisoners and the use of torture. A war that is brazenly in violation of international law. Beyond the administrations disregard for the United Nations, the very weapons being used by US forces indiscriminately kill civilians, the unborn and the young.

Jesus does not merely counsel us to love one another, he commands us to do so. To follow him necessitates bearing witness to the truth, despite the possible consequences. Indeed, his most formal public address, the beatitudes, culminates in a call to non-violent action: Blessed are the peacemakers, immediately taking account of the persecution this may entail (Mt. 5:1-12). There is no room for military might in Jesus' teachings.

The poor of the world (the poor of Baltimore, the poor of Washington D.C. !) cry out for bread; the U.S. Empire gives them bombs and the promise of more violence. Let us make this Advent a time of dismantling walls that divide us one from another, and dismantling walls that divide us nation from nation.

December 10, 2007

For more information, call Dorothy Day Catholic Worker 202-882-9649 or
Jonah House 410-233-6238 (www.jonahhouse.org)