What to make of the war in the Holy Land
Plus: A busy week for saint feasts
Good morning and happy Saturday. Today is the memorial of St. Callistus I who defended the importance of God’s mercy so vehemently, it caused others to go into schism. He was a strong early Church leader and was martyred in 222. You can read more about him from the Catholic News Agency.
This week:
This week we enter the twenty-eighth week in Ordinary Time. The readings at Mass tomorrow are Isaiah 25:6-10, Psalm 23:1-6, Phillipians 4:12-14, 19-20, and Matthew 22:1-14.
The Liturgy of the Hours is using Psalter Week IV this week and here are the upcoming memorials:
Monday, October 16 - Memorial St. Hedwig (optional) or Memorial of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (optional)
Tuesday, October 17 - Memorial of St. Ignatius of Antioch
Wednesday, October 18 - Feast of St. Luke
Thursday, October 19 - Memorial of Sts. John de Brebeuf and Isaac Jouges and companions*
Friday, October 20 - Memorial of St. Paul of the Cross (optional)**
In the Office of Readings we will be hearing from a wide range of scripture including the prophet Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, and the Acts of the Apostles.
*Sts. John de Brefeuf, Isaac Jouges, and Companions is an obligatory memorial in the United States.
**Moved in the United States due to the obligatory memorial on October 19.
In the news:
War in the Holy Land
Who has said what about the atrocities - The National Catholic Register
Who are all the players and why - Clemente Lisi at Religion Unplugged
Pope Francis condems Hamas and expresses concern for civilians in Gaza - The Catholic News Service
Francsicans continue to keep the doors open at holy sites - Catholic News Agency
Pope Francis phones pastor of sole Catholic church in Gaza - National Catholic Register
Fact check: Medieval Greek Orthodox church not bombed by IDF - Associated Press
Israel strikes Hezbollah; Iran theatens to join the war - Times of Israel
Around the Catholic Church
For those who need some blue: Poland’s newest cardinal says Pope Francis’ critics behave “completely unjustly” - America Magazine
Angolan bishop urges government to stimulate economic growth to cut down on crime - ACI Africa
500 young adults to attend Renew Toronto conference in November - The Catholic Register
For those who need some red: Doctrine is not up for dicussion say Synod participants - Crux
Synod document published on unsecure server - The Pillar
Around the United States
Don’t bother with The Excorcist: Believer - America Magazine
National Catholic Bioethics Center urges caution as FDA explores artificial wombs - Angelus News
Representative Steve Scalise bows out of speaker race; powers may be given to McHenry as war escalates in Israel and Gaza - The Hill
What am I reading this week?
I am still working my way through Ellis Peters’ second installment in the Chronicles of Brother Caedfael series called One Corpse Too Many. It is available for Kindle and in paperback.
Is a ground invasion just?
Last Saturday it was reported by multiple outlets that Hamas militants had invaded Israel and had kidnapped and murdered hundreds of civilians. We now know that number has climbed much higher. Israel has responded by launching rockets in to Gaza and preparing for possible occupation. With tensions and emotions running high from all sides, I began to think this week about just war.
I have written in the past on just war theory and its developement in the history of the Church and I’d like to rehash it a bit today under the current context.
Most political scientists and theologians will point to St. Augustine as the person who came up with a concrete just war theory. In his writings on the subject he had two distinct qualifications that made a war just: jus ad bellum and jus in bello. In brief, jus ad bellum reffers to a just cause or reason for the war and jus in bello reffers to just combat during the wars.
This has developed in different ways over the years and has been codified in the United Nations charter. War is only legal, in a sense, when it is in defense and it only remains legal when proper justice is being administered.
What does that mean to administer justice during a war? Well it means only killing soldiers and destroying weapons; it means preserving civilian life and resources.
In another modern context, the international community seems to have made it clear that the war in Ukraine is illegal. Russia invaded another country without provocation and has target civilians. I’ve written regularly on the effects Russian attacks on the Ukrainian healthcare system in other places.
So what do we make of Israel then? Well Israel has a right to defend itself; defense is in and of itself a just cause. It only remains just, however, if they continue to fight in a way that does not do damage to civilian infrastructure and harm civilians.
Admitedly, my knee jerk reaction is to support Israel. They have delt with Hamas’ terrorist acctives for years and the atrocities that they have comitted are reprehensable.
Ed. Condon at the Pillar yesterday:
You can have your own opinions on the proportionality and even morality of Israeli policies and actions in Gaza over the decades.
And you can pray, like me, that somehow the Israeli government and military might be dissuaded, even now, from visiting total and indiscriminate revenge on the people of Gaza.
But no one celebrates the deaths of civilians in Gaza. When a bomb claims the life of a Palestinian mother or child, crowds do not gather in the streets of Paris and Vienna to revel in their deaths. After the attacks last weekend, in which murder and rape and carnage were livestreamed on social media, no one demanded a worldwide “day of rage” to legitimize and support Israeli violence.
They do gather and celebrate and seek to legitimize it all, though, when Jews are killed. Not Israelis, Jews.
People who celebrate such things are not motivated by grievance, or a frustrated sense of justice, but by hatred — hatred not of a system, or a circumstance, or a government, or even a nation. It is hatred of a people.
It is a hatred so deep and fierce and bitter that it moves them to shout victory slogans at the violent desecration of women and the literal slaughter of actual infants.
And yet this goes largely excused among us - however much we might bluster about some things being supposedly “unacceptable.”
As I wrote in “The need for purple,” Catholics ought to be recognized by our unity in our faith and in Jesus. In a world that is being ravaged by war and attrocities, peace should be entered into that equation as well.
I worry that as we grow more divided in our country and church we will begin to hate our neighbor. As Ed. Condon wrote, hatred is one of the problems plaguing the situation in Israel and Gaza. If we’re not careful, our division and disagreements could could turn into a hatred too.
To the point where we will harm or kill our brothers? No probably not, not in the literal sense.
Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9). So, this week let us pray for peace.
Just before this, Jesus also said,
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied. (Matthew 5:4-6)
Since we trust in the Lord, we know that these will happen.
I want to close on Jesus’ last words here. Hunger and thirst are stronger than desires since they refer to food and drink; they are nencessary for survival. For those who need justice, they will get it.
Let me know what you think the comments or by emailing me.
Have a good weekend,
Matthew
Corrections were made after publication to fix broken links and typos.