This month the Pope asks us to pray “that in the face of a spreading culture of violence the Church may promote with courage the culture of life. Fr Kevin O’Higgins SJ explains.
There is a wonderful video circulating on the Internet of an Italian priest named Cesare Bonizzi, who, at sixty-two years of age, has taken to the stage, singing ‘heavy metal’ rock music. He attended his first rock concert about fifteen years ago, and was immediately impressed by the amazing energy generated by the music. He explains that, although he is a priest and a firm Christian believer, his aim in performing is not to attract young people back to religion, but rather to life itself.
The comments posted by some young viewers at the YouTube web-site appear to confirm Fr. Cesare’s contention that the path to God cannot but coincide with the path to life itself. Several of the respondents to the video mention that they had searched for God in religion, but were disillusioned by seeing so many grim faces at church services.
Of course, it is not a matter of pretending to be trendy or ‘with it’ in order to entice people to God. God certainly doesn’t need any play-acting on our part in order to attract people and, anyhow, such pretence soon wears thin and fails to convince. The wonderful thing about Fr. Cesare’s rock performances is that they genuinely come from the heart. The music makes him feel more alive, and he can therefore transmit his love of life to others.
Sadly, not everyone loves life. We are all too familiar with a daily diet of news stories about killing and every imaginable type of violence. The headlines speak of war and famine, drug dealing and human trafficking. The onslaught is so relentless that we are in danger of becoming inoculated against the terrible suffering behind each news story.
When we are surrounded by a culture of violence, it becomes monotonously familiar. The people who deliver the news on television can calmly relate one horror after another, and then, with a smile, move on to the sports headlines or a break for commercials. Unless we are very careful, we may well find ourselves doing likewise.
It is not sufficient to express constant condemnation of violence. Some people spend so much time and energy lamenting the state of the world that they too, become a force against life. A merely condemnatory reaction can leave us feeling hopeless and drained.
A healthy acceptance of the challenge awaiting us should fill us with energy and determination to take positive, life-promoting steps. At the beginning of St. John’s Gospel, we read: ‘A light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never extinguished it.’ In the perennial battle between good and evil, our mission is to be the light that refuses to yield to absolute darkness.
Living in the midst of an all-pervading culture of violence, we Christians must be like countless breathing spaces, where the supreme value of life is reaffirmed relentlessly. We can champion the cause of life only if we genuinely love it. It is pointless reforming structures and rituals unless we first reform our own hearts. We need to fall in love with life itself. Otherwise, even the religion we preach may end up belonging to the culture of death.
The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche is notorious for proclaiming that ‘God is dead’. Frequently, it is forgotten that he also lamented the fact that Christians were the primary culprits in banishing God from modern culture. By portraying God as a killjoy enemy of life and by living in accordance with a worldly logic of power, prestige and greed, Christians can become agents of violence and death. As Nietzsche points out, we can easily convert our churches into God’s tombs.
The urgent need to promote a life-enhancing culture makes missionaries of each one of us. In our families and neighbourhoods, in our workplaces and shopping malls, and even in our places of worship, the cause of life needs to be nurtured. Jesus summed up his own earthly mission in the words: ‘I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.’ That same mission is now entrusted to us, his followers, his Church.
On a practical level, we must defend the supreme value of life against the many forces ranged against it. We cannot remain silent or neutral when it comes to issues like war, abortion, drug dealing or other well-publicized manifestations of the culture of death. However, we do a great disservice to the cause of life if we limit our focus to the headline issues and ignore the minor details of our day-to-day lives.
Whenever we witness corruption, bullying or abuse of any kind, we should be the first to speak out and act in defence of life. We should never allow ourselves to be portrayed as mere reactionaries. Our opposition to violence and death must be accompanied by a positive promotion of credible alternatives.
Our option for life, which is sometimes described as a struggle for justice, is not an optional add-on to our faith. On the contrary, our willingness and determination to risk all in the cause of life is a measure of authentic Christian discipleship. Let us recall those words of Jesus: ‘I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.’
This article first appeared in The Messenger (December 2008), a publication of the Irish Jesuits.
