We are all Brothers and Sisters
Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
In the last Newsletter article I wrote, on 18th October, I mentioned Pope Francis’ new encyclical “Frateli tutti, On Fraternity And Social Friendship” [FT]. As with Pope Francis’ encyclical on “Care For Our Common Home, Laudato si”, the first words are a quotation from St Francis of Assisi. They are meant to be inclusive. The theme of the encyclical is that we are all brothers and sisters, whoever we are. Pope Francis goes on to explore the personal and political implications of this reality in detail. It is quite a long document, but it is worth reading. As we do so we can examine our own attitudes and reflect on how we might be called to respond. The encyclical can be found on the Vatican website:-
The encyclical was written in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and by the time you are reading this article we will be in another lockdown, public Masses will be suspended and our Masses will only be live streamed. Pope Francis notes the way in which the pandemic revived a sense that we are a global community and asks that we may learn from this [FT 32].
It is particularly poignant that this encyclical should have been published just over a month before this Remembrance Sunday. We may not be able to do by joining together physically this year, but we still look back at the wars of the twentieth century in which nations and peoples were set against each other in bloody conflict. In that long history of conflict, which included not only the two World Wars but many more local conflicts, the Holocaust stands out as perhaps the greatest example of the depths to which the division of people into “us” and “them” can take humanity. This too, Pope Francis addresses in his encyclical [FT 247].
Today we look back and remember those who died in the two World Wars in particular. We pray for them, we remember their sacrifice, we pray for peace. In the year when we remembered the 75th anniversary of VJ Day, the end of the war with Japan, there is a danger this day will simply be an occasion for remembering a history rapidly fading from living memory. However, over the last 75 years this memory has helped sustain the desire for peace, unity and common humanity. There is a danger the fading of this memory, or its transformation into nationalistic myths, may further that rise of the nationalism and intolerance which we can see in various places around the world today. As Pope Francis says, “We can never move forward without remembering the past” [FT 249].
One of the centrepieces of Pope Francis encyclical is the parable of the Good Samaritan, the foreigner who shows himself a neighbour to the man left for dead on the road [FT 56]. As we remember today we might listen to what Pope Francis has to say and respond to the call to work for peace, justice and reconciliation, to see every person as our brother or sister and to reach out to those most in need.
Pope Francis ends his encyclical with a prayer:-
Lord, Father of our human family,
you created all human beings equal in dignity:
pour forth into our hearts a fraternal spirit
and inspire in us a dream of renewed encounter,
dialogue, justice and peace.
us to create healthier societies
and a more dignified world,
a world without, hunger, poverty, violence and war.
May our hearts be open
to all the peoples and nations of the earth.
May we recognise the goodness and beauty
that you have sown in each of us,
and thus forge bonds of unity, common projects,
and shared dreams. Amen.
Fr Chris Pedley SJ