Culture of Vengeance & Violence
A culture of vengeance and violence is not a Christian culture. Some of you have heard me speak of the “Culture of God.” This was suggested as another way to refer to the Kingdom of God/heaven. For most people culture has more significance than kingdom.
In “God’s culture” there must be love, peace, forgiveness, unity, compassion, reconciliation, generosity, mutual respect, and hospitality, etc. Such characteristics are shared by the people who claim this culture. God has claimed us by virtue of creating us. Then we, by our commitment in Baptism, have agreed to live according to God’s love. We have been welcomed INTO God’s culture and committed to promote that culture. We ratify our membership by creed, Sacrament, and morality.
Sometimes, our own culture is hard to see and know. It is only when we encounter another culture that we recognize our own dominant culture. For instance, when I encounter domestic violence between spouses, or between parents and children, I know that “my” culture does not permit such violence.
Harming one’s own family is unthinkable. Or, in another case, I have heard of Christians who publically announced their forgiveness of a person who caused them great harm. Remember the Amish in the state of Pennsylvania who forgave the man who killed several children in their school? They forgave him and consoled the shooter’s family in their grief. They did not deny their own grief, but saw the needs of others in the midst of their pain. Radical forgiveness is a part of the culture of God. Remember, Jesus request from the cross: “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing”? Jesus was saying that, “they do not know YOUR culture, O God.”
There are people who claim to belong to a culture, but they do not live according to the norms of that culture. For example, my ancestors are Irish. I like to say, “I am Irish!” But, I cannot claim Irish culture as my own. I do not speak the language (Celtic), do not know Irish history very well, do not possess Irish music, or cook Irish food, nor think like an Irishman might think. I am not culturally, Irish. I LIKE Irish music, drink, stories, and movies. Such interests do not constitute my culture, and probably, I will not invest myself in owning that culture.
So, my question to my community of Catholic Christians is whether we will live according to the cultural norms of God’s culture? Will we continue to invest in the distinctive and admirable values for which God’s culture is known? Will we adapt the other “cultures” to which we belong to conform to God’s culture? Can we avoid participating in the culture of violence of our time?
Peace, Fr. Andy