Week of Nonviolence 2024

January 14-20, 2024 marks the Church of St. Timothy's fourth annual Week of Nonviolence. This week invites as followers of the Prince of Peace to pray and reflect on how we are called to create a more just, peaceful, and compassionate world.

This years's theme is "Speaking and Listening with Love." Pope Francis has challenged us to become a "listening Church" and to listen for the echoes of God's voice in the voices of others. Communication is related to community which is related to communion. As disciples of Jesus who strive to be in communion with others, good communication is a crucial component. Especially at this polarized time in our church, our nation, and our world, the skills of thoughtful, prayerful speaking and deep, engaged listening can increase the peace in our families, parish, nation, and world. 

Check back on this page every day this week for daily reflections. 

As Catholic Christians, we recognize that we are loved sinners who are called to practice forgiveness and reconciliation, and to honor the human dignity of all. We claim that God is Trinity – Father, Son, and Spirit – as we are created in the Trinitarian image to participate in communities of love. Building on these beliefs, we come to the virtue of solidarity Pope St. John Paul II said that “solidarity is an authentic moral virtue, not a ‘feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress as the misfortunes of so many people, near and far.’” As followers of the Prince of Peace living in a globalized world, we are connected to human beings around the globe. The choices we make – the products we buy, the organizations we support, the resources we consume or preserve – have impacts on people around the world and on generations yet to come. We recognize that we are one human family – in spite of differences of nationality, ethnicity, race, language, religion, gender, or any other identity marker – called to live in right relationship with one another.

Whenever we make the Sign of the Cross as Catholics, we are acting out in a physical way the truth of God as Trinity:  Father, Son, and Spirit. Trinitarian theology can seem abstract, academic, and difficult to grasp. What difference does it make that God is a communion of persons? If we profess to believe that we are made in God’s image and likeness, that means we are made in the image of this communion of persons. We are not meant to go through the world as rugged individualists. Rather, we are made for communion with God and with one another. "Man becomes the image of God not so much in the moment of solitude as in the moment of communion," wrote Pope St. John Paul II. Working for peace means seeking to participate in and build up healthy, life-giving communities – in families, in parishes, in social groups – that strive to mirror the love and self-gift that is at the heart of the Trinity.   

Early on in his papacy, Pope Francis was asked about his identity during an interview with a journalist. “I am a sinner who is loved by God,” he responded. All of us could make this statement since all of us are imperfect and fall short yet we are all loved and forgiven by our merciful Creator. Repeatedly in the Scripture, believers are challenged to remember God’s kindness and forgiveness towards us so that we will likewise extend kindness and forgiveness to others. Part of the work of building peace and embracing active nonviolence is valuing forgiveness and working for reconciliation. This doesn’t mean allowing someone to do harm or being a doormat; healthy boundaries are necessary in human relationships. But it does mean that we are called to work to let go of resentment and honor the human dignity of others, even others who have harmed us or act out of beliefs that are very different from our own.

The bedrock of Catholic Social Teaching is the belief that the human person is creating in God’s image and likeness and has an inalienable dignity and worth. Regardless of another’s race, ethnicity, age, gender, political persuasion, religion, or any other identity marker, as Catholic Christians we believe that person is a unique and beloved creation of our Heavenly Father. As such, we must resist dehumanization and seek to create a culture of life that affirms the dignity of each and every human person. Take some time today to reflect on the messages in our world that separate people into “us” and “them,” that create polarization and add to dehumanization. Pray for the grace to recognize and resist these false messages and instead to recognize that all people are bearers of God’s image.

“A lie can go halfway around the world while truth is struggling to put on its boots,” according to an old saying. Digital communication and social media have made this even more true. It’s easy to share content without fact checking first and tempting to jump to conclusions after reading a “click bait” headline or a quotation taken out of context rather than taking the time to understand the whole story. As followers of Jesus, we must reverence the truth. This means discerning well the information that we take in and thinking about the ideas and information we share. Part of being a peacebuilding is resisting the temptation to believe everything we read or hear, and recognizing when messaging is intended to stir in us fear, anger, outrage, or self-righteousness. Pray for the grace today to discern well the truth amid the many messages that you receive through media channels.

The ladder of assumption (also called the ladder of inference) is a model proposed by organizational psychologist Chris Argyris. It describes the thinking process a person goes through, sometimes very quickly and often without realizing it, when processing information and making decisions. The bottom of the ladder is a fact – perhaps another person said something or did something. We observe that person’s words or actions based on our past experiences of them, filtering out things that don’t fit with our assumptions. Then we interpret what the person’s words or actions mean, reach a conclusion, develop a belief, and act based on that belief. By becoming aware when we are climbing the ladder of assumptions, we can more quickly recognize when we may have jumped to a conclusion and misjudged another’s words or actions. Using tool and asking what you are thinking and why with each step of the ladder can improve interactions between family members, coworkers, spouses and reduce conflict. Pray for the grace today to be more aware of your own thinking and judgment in your communication with others so you can be follow Jesus, the Prince of Peace, more closely.  


 

Today we begin St. Timothy’s fourth annual Week of Nonviolence. Pope Francis has called for us to become “a listening Church” and has convened a global gathering in the Church, the Synod on Synodality, based on listening. What does listening have to do with nonviolence and peacemaking? Being able to listen and seek to understand the perspective of those with whom we disagree is an important – and difficult! – step in creating or restoring relationships. Listening to another doesn’t mean endorsing or agreeing with their perspective, but seeking to hear both their words and the emotions behind them. This is a discipline of peacemaking. Spend some time in prayer today asking God for the grace to listen with patience and compassion.