Is 11, 1-10; Ps 125 Rm 15, 4-9; Mt 3, 1-12
My brothers and sisters, as we celebrate this Dominican Month of Peace, while our country Cameroon is still going through hours of uncertainty partly related to post-election tensions, growing inequalities, land conflicts that tear families apart, and to the ecological wounds visible even in our devastated forests and polluted rivers, to the armed crisis in the North-West and South-West regions, today’s readings take on the double meaning of a promise, and a firm call: God wants peace. God calls for peace. God demands peace.
The prophet Isaiah (Is 11:1) in this Sunday’s first reading describes an ideal world where the wolf lives with the lamb, where the child puts his hand in the cobra’s lair without fear, where justice blooms like a new dew. Far from being a naive poem, this vision carries a political, ecological, ethical and spiritual prophecy that reveals to us that peace always begins with a small beginning. Indeed, Isaiah tells us that peace has a root: God himself; peace has a face: that of the Messiah filled with the Spirit of wisdom, intelligence, advice, strength; peace has a requirement which is justice for the little ones, the right for the poor.
Brothers and sisters, in our Cameroonian context, Isaiah speaks to us directly. He speaks to our hearts. My brothers and sisters, a country has no peace when justice falters. A people has no peace when the poor are crushed. A nation has no peace when lands are unscrupulously taken away, when the forest burns, when rivers are polluted by waste, when the weakest are not protected. Isaiah thus teaches us that peace is never a political decoration; it is a spiritual and moral commitment that pushes us to build with an open heart and not with opposing camps.
Cameroon is emerging from a painful post-electoral period, where words have hurt, social networks have stoked hatred, where suspicion and fear have spread to families and neighborhoods. Saint Paul in the second reading (Rom 15:7) reminds us that division is contrary to the Gospel, and that Christ came to gather the nations, “Jews as well as Gentiles.”
Saint Paul offers us three pillars of peace. First, he talks about memory: “What was written has been for our instruction.” Therefore, he asks us not to repeat the mistakes, not to fuel resentments. Then, he offers patience in order to show us that peace cannot be decreed; it is woven over time. Finally, Saint Paul presents consolation which is an instrument of recovery and healing.
Dear brothers and sisters, in a context where everyone thinks that the solution will come from their political camp, their ethnic group, their regional bloc, Saint Paul then reminds us of a decisive truth: peace does not arise from camps; it arises from open hearts. These are truly hearts open to the Lord that can produce fruit that expresses your conversion (Mt 3:8). As we see in the Gospel, John the Baptist lays down the conditions of possibilities for a peace that necessarily begins with a radical conversion. John the Baptist does not have a soft tongue. He does not put makeup on the truth. He denounces without trembling what prevents peace: hypocrisy, hidden violence, economic injustices, corruption, religious manipulation, the exploitation of the poor.
The Words of John the Baptist are like a sentence: Do you want peace? Then convert. In other words, convert your words. Convert your relationships. Convert your way of managing the land, the forest, the common goods. Convert your way of treating the poor. Convert your relationship to power, to money, to truth.
My brothers and sisters, peace is a fruit. And a fruit has roots. If the roots are rotted by corruption, injustice, violence, discrimination, betrayal of truth, then the fruit will be bitter. As Christians, as citizens, we have a role to play: that of being bridges, not walls; seeking the truth without hatred; refusing manipulation; promoting a dignified debate. This involves facing situations of misery that very often ask us to share the bread, to refuse indifference, to denounce injustices and to be on the side of the forgotten. Therefore, one must dare; dare to promote transparency and mediation, respect for the common good and protection of the weak. Furthermore, in the sphere of ecological emergency, a call is made to us: plant, protect, reforest, raise awareness, educate. In short, do not destroy tomorrow to feed today.
If each of us lets this offspring of which Isaiah speaks germinate in his heart, if each of us welcomes the other as Christ welcomed him, if each of us produces a fruit of conversion, then our countries will be able to taste true hope: “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb. A small child will lead them.”
Fr. Wilfried SINDEU, OP
