There has been much celebration in the past days. The coming of the Prince of Peace, Emmanuel, God-with-us, transforms the world before us. As we celebrate the beginning of a new year — a Jubilee Year, no less! — we also call to mind the need for that peace to reign in our world. Beginning with Pope St. Paul VI in 1967, the World Day of Peace each Jan. 1 serves as a reminder to work to further the great fruit of the Spirit.
This Jan. 1, there are plenty of areas that need God’s peace. With conflicts in the Holy Land, Ukraine and elsewhere, the Gospel call to make peace remains a significant challenge.
For Sr. Magdalit Bolduc, C.B., Jewish-Christian liaison for the Archdiocese of Denver, the conflict in the Holy Land is particularly heart-rending.
After the Oct. 7, 2023 attack, the war between Hamas and Israel has decimated the region. “There were massive losses that day on the Israeli side, but everybody suffered after really quickly on both sides,” Sr. Bolduc explained. “It doesn’t justify at all the horror of what happened, but reasonable people come to the conclusion that it has to stop. There is a desire, a deep desire of ceasing the war, ceasing the horror of revenge on both sides.”
Sr. Bolduc noted that only extremist populations want to continue the war, while most individuals on both sides are caught in its trauma. As both sides engage in dialogue and express deep needs, she hopes that a solution may be found to bring about lasting peace in the region, one that “will respect both sides’ needs.”
She said she was especially struck listening to a conference hosted by two peacemakers, one Jewish and one Muslim. Both had horrifically lost loved ones because of the war but had committed to working for peace despite the pain, anger, grief and desire for revenge.
“I was amazed by what I heard. And what I heard was not naïve, kitsch, salon kind of peace talk. No, it was two men who make a lot of sense, who are deeply angry and full of hate, but they decide every morning, and multiple times a day, to transform their violence, that energy, into wishing no one to have to live that again.”
After a pivotal dream, Maoz Inon, the Jewish peacemaker at the conference, awoke with the realization that he was called to transform his hatred into something positive and life-giving.
“He said he realized that if he stayed in hatred, he would give birth to more hatred. So, he had to forgive because if he weren’t forgiving, he would give into hatred and a desire for revenge. Then he said, ‘It’s my sacrifice,’” Sr. Bolduc recalled. “I immediately saw Jesus! And I thought, ‘Wow, the image of God is incredible. This is not human made. He’s capable of using the hatred he wakes up to every morning and decides no. He’s sacrificing the deepest emotional reactions.’”
Aziz Abu Sarah, the Muslim peacemaker at the conference, agreed. Sr. Bolduc remembered his beautiful moment of clarity when he said, “If I choose hatred and vengeance, I become a slave to the one who killed my brother.”
As the two seek greater healing, especially through listening and understanding the other’s point of view, reconciliation and forgiveness as a pathway to peace, they realize that the division at work lies not in their race, nationality or religion but between “people that are actually courageous enough to have the strength to act in such a way that they will be peacemakers and people who are not ready for that and want hatred and vengeance,” Sr. Bolduc recounted.
The transformation of hatred and anger into compassionate care, even for one’s purported enemy, moved Sr. Bolduc to tears. Now, in her capacity as Jewish-Christian liaison and with her deep love for the Holy Land, she seeks to share the message of peace by inviting others to work alongside Inon and Abu Sarah.
“Christmas, Advent, is a preparation first for the birth of Christ and the mystery of the Incarnation, God coming into this world. But why is God coming into this world? To free us from sin, to free us from death,” Sr. Bolduc said. “So, it’s clear that God knows it won’t go away by itself and with human effort,” she said. “We need a savior. This Christmas, we receive the Savior who saves us from death and sin. But then what’s left is to welcome that gratuitous gift.”
Welcoming Emmanuel, God-with-us, into our lives and allowing his grace to transform us into alter Christus, another Christ, is the first step towards working for peace, Sr. Bolduc shared. “The second step is to listen, to force ourselves to hear the opposite side of what is natural to us and to ask questions,” she said.
“I think the challenge of being an instrument of peace — the beautiful prayer of St. Francis — is beautiful in words, but impossible in action without the grace of God,” she said, calling the faithful to growth in genuine compassion, or suffering with.
With that compassion, Sr. Bolduc continued, “Our hearts expand to the horizon of Jesus. Then, we become a more Christlike person. It’s the price to model, to be transformed by grace. It’s an acceptance of suffering. It’s the movement of the Incarnation.”
Through our interior work to become more like Christ, to suffer with others, and to exercise the divine gifts of wisdom, discernment and self-control, we become instruments of peace. Through this work and our exterior work for peace in our own lives, families and communities, we contribute to the global effort for peace.
“It’s the classic imagery of Mother Teresa. If everybody lights a match at the same time, it will light the world,” Sr. Bolduc said.
“I think what people need is to ask for and receive the grace of having the charism of self-control, knowing that each word, thought or said, does have an impact in their family, and then as waves in their milieu, their circle of friends. If everyone chooses not to foment violence and hatred, of course, it makes a difference,” she concluded.
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