Thinking Anew:EUROPE has enjoyed relative peace since the second World War. After two devastating wars we have held our peace, stunned by what we are capable of.
Not since the 18th century have we known a time when the great nations of Europe put down their swords and left each other alone (though not so for the unfortunate inhabitants of their colonies). The age of Enlightenment, the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Discovery heralded an era of European world hegemony; the relative peace was shattered by the revolution in France.
Those days are echoed in our own. When riots break out in far-away lands we pray for their success. We relish the fall of oppressive regimes and delight in the people seizing power. We call it democracy; as long as it doesn’t happen on our own doorsteps, that is! When it happens closer to home, it’s criminal behaviour. Call a spade a spade; there has been no war for a long time. Previous generations simply dispatched their fringe populations to death in the trenches. Just as in 1789, we are in a situation where that has not happened in almost a century. And another parallel can be drawn with the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots today. The recent riots and the protagonists should have come as a surprise to nobody.
When night falls and the television crews, teachers, gardaí and community workers have all gone home, life continues on the edge of western society.
Only the clergy and religious remain in these communities and few are bothered by their opinions. For the past 40 years calls have been made to address the growing inequality and alienation within society. The response is usually a declaration that we have a generous welfare system – but a family breadwinner on the minimum wage takes home €17,000 a year. Just like any unequal society life is harsh for a lot of people.
Isolation is not the exclusive realm of the unemployed.
The question that Jesus asked in the Gospel; what does it profit us to gain the whole world and to lose our soul? The answer lies is the situation that is unfolding slowly before us. The soul of Europe is relentlessly dragged to the temples of wealth and utility. There is little sign of a soul captivated by beauty, love, justice and integrity.
Although Europe is probably the homeland of Christianity it is certainly not true to say that it is Christian. Nor was it ever! St Paul tells us, in tomorrow’s epistle, that the one who loves fulfils the law. But fulfilling the law is often more of a compliance with its written word. Christ’s command of love is notably absent from the clever manipulation of words that characterises our jurisprudence. The tombs are painted white but there is sadness, injustice and violence in its pit. But even a free press and occasional elections and referendums do not guarantee a just society. They are only truly useful if the individual people of the society have souls that love goodness and right. These woolly concepts are difficult to cultivate in a climate or greed, exclusion and recrimination.
But stripped of these comfort-blankets the soul will always be restless. We all know this. That is why we are unsurprised when the disenfranchised of the developing world arise. We are acutely aware of the lack of respect for basic rights in other parts of the world but blind to some basic exclusions in our own backyards.
Good law must be founded on the virtues of faith, hope and love as expounded by Christ – unjust law needs a heavy hand to enforce its diktats; it’s easy to tell the difference!
– FERGAL Mac EOINÍN