By Father Casey

Several years ago I watched a movie called Of Gods and Men.[1] It dramatically portrays the true story of a group of nine French Trappist monks living in Algeria in the 1990s. These monks peacefully coexisted with their mainly Muslim neighbors, building relationships of friendship and understanding over many years. But in 1996, the Algerian Civil War escalated and an armed guerilla group began kidnapping and executing foreigners. The local villagers, who were devoted to the tiny monastery, urged the brothers to retreat to safety, at least for a while. But after much prayer, the monks came to see their witness to peaceful coexistence as too sacred to give up. In obedience to Christ, they remained committed to bearing witness to love, even in the face of brutality and hate. So they stayed.

In a climactic scene near the end of the movie, the brothers share a meal with obvious echoes of Jesus’ Last Supper. The mood hanging over the monastery is heavy, as the armed militant group could storm in at any time. But then one of the aged monks pulls out two bottles of wine and turns on the music of Swan Lake. As the music plays, they silently sip the wine and gaze into one another’s tear-streaked eyes, and there is a profound sense that they are abiding in divine love (John 15:9). There is also joy on their faces – real, genuine joy, just as Jesus said there would be when you abide in his love. Fear has lost its grip, as the love in which they abide overwhelms it.

Abiding in love is more than sweet sentiment. It is more than something nice we say at church, and then go on about our lives. Those who abide in Christ’s love live and act differently. They are less susceptible to fear, and the twin offspring that fear so often begets in us: cruelty and cowardice. Those who abide in love reach out to the world with open arms, even in times of risk and danger, in emulation of how Jesus embodied love.

Sadly, our world remains dangerously motivated by fear, which was on display yet again this past week in the advancement of a bill that will add more guns to our already dangerously weaponized society.[2] Fear is what leads us to fixate on self-protection and safety at all costs, even when it defies logic or common sense. It makes us short-sighted, choosing things that may make us feel safer in the short-term, but degrades our ability to experience joy in the long-term. And most importantly for us, neither safety nor self-preservation are what Jesus calls us to. He calls us – no, he commands us – to love. And as anyone who has ever loved can attest, love is not safe. Love means making ourselves unbelievably vulnerable. Love is risky and exacts a cost. But Jesus also says it is also the only way to experience the overwhelming joy of God (John 15:11).

As we slowly emerge from this pandemic and begin the work of recreating our communities – at Transfiguration, in the neighborhoods where we live, in our state, country, and around the world – I pray that we will abide in love. It must be the orienting principle of our lives, so that we might live and act differently. By abiding in love, we will be less susceptible to fear, and we will make no peace with cruelty or cowardice. We will reach out to the world with open arms, even in times of risk and danger, in emulation of how Jesus embodied love. And in so doing, we will know the joy of God.

[1]Of Gods and Men”, based on the book The Monks of Tibhirine by John W. Kiser.

[2]Permitless carry of a handgun in Texas nearly law, after Senate OKs bill,” Texas Tribune, May 5, 2021.