{"id":2228,"date":"2017-08-08T19:12:27","date_gmt":"2017-08-08T23:12:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=2228"},"modified":"2017-08-08T19:14:21","modified_gmt":"2017-08-08T23:14:21","slug":"conflict-and-the-joy-of-the-gospel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/conflict-and-the-joy-of-the-gospel\/","title":{"rendered":"Conflict and the “Joy of the Gospel”"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have been reading Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel)<\/em> for the last couple of weeks (I read slowly as I reflect over the text).\u00a0 I just read paragraph 227 and was deeply struck by it.\u00a0 I think it is very relevant<\/em> today as we watch conflicts between individuals, political parties, nations, and religions.\u00a0 So, I want to share it and some of my thoughts on it.<\/p>\n

Before doing so, I think I need to set a context.\u00a0 In paragraph 221 Pope Francis writes<\/p>\n

Progress in building a people in peace, justice and fraternity depends on four principles related constant tensions present in every social reality.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In paragraphs 222-225 he lays out the first principle, \u201cTime is greater than space.\u201d\u00a0 I should be honest with you and tell you that I don\u2019t quite understand this phrase.\u00a0 The best way that I might explain here is that \u201ctime\u201d is looking at the big picture (as Pope Francis writes \u201cprocesses) as we deal with things.\u00a0 \u201cPlace\u201d is looking at only the here and now. \u00a0In paragraph he names the second principle as \u201cUnity prevails over conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, now I offer you the full text of paragraph 227<\/p>\n

227. When conflict arises, some people simply look at it and go their way as if nothing happened; they wash their hands of it and get on with their lives. Others embrace it in such a way that they become its prisoners; they lose their bearings, project onto institutions their own confusion and dissatisfaction and thus make unity impossible. But there is also a third way, and it is the best way to deal with conflict. It is the willingness to face conflict head on, to resolve it and to make it a link in the chain of a new process. \u201cBlessed are the peacemakers!\u201d (Mt\u00a0<\/em>5:9). (http:\/\/w2.vatican.va\/content\/francesco\/en\/apost_exhortations\/documents\/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html<\/a>, access date August 8, 2017)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I see Pope Francis describing three approaches to dealing with conflict.\u00a0 The first is found in the first sentence.\u00a0 You could sum it up in the word \u201cignore\u201d or \u201cdenial.\u201d\u00a0 Some people simply want to avoid conflict so they ignore<\/em> the issue, hoping that it will go away on its own.\u00a0 Even priests like to avoid conflict.\u00a0 So, it can seem easier to ignore the problem.\u00a0 Others might deny there is a problem or that it affects them.\u00a0 There is conflict over health care in our nation.\u00a0 Some might refuse to see the problem, thinking their own health care is fine or denying it affects them and people just need to work harder to get health care for themselves.\u00a0 Here, some people try to deny that problems in other parts of the world like the Middle East, Korea, or Russia as having any effect on them because it is on the other side of the world.<\/p>\n

The second approach Pope Francis describes to dealing with conflict refers to those who \u201cembrace it in such a way that they become its prisoners.\u201d\u00a0 Here\u2019s where I want to refer back to Pope Francis\u2019 phrase \u201cTime is greater than space.\u201d\u00a0 I think the people Pope Francis is referring as becoming the \u2018prisoners of conflict\u2019 come from those who focus on only the here and now (\u201cspace\u201d) as they focus on winning the specific conflict while losing touch with the big picture (\u201ctime\u201d).\u00a0 Here, I think of conflicts between political parties or national leaders.\u00a0 These people are more concerned about \u201cgetting their way\u201d or \u201cproving themselves right\u201d that they totally lose sight of the big picture.\u00a0 In the Church, I see the two poles as \u201cdoctrine\u201d and \u201cpastoral\u201d approaches.\u00a0 In reality \u201cdoctrine\u201d is very, very, important.\u00a0 We need to know what our faith teaches but we also need to be \u201cpastoral\u201d in how we offer the teachings in a way that shows we want to help the people rather than judging them.<\/p>\n

The third approach is to \u201cface conflict head on.\u201d\u00a0 I number myself among those who do not like conflict.\u00a0 At times I hope \u201cproblems\u201d will \u201cgo away on their own.\u201d\u00a0 Sometimes it is better to just let the little<\/em><\/strong> things go.\u00a0 We don\u2019t want to make a mountain out of a mole hill.\u00a0 However, especially when the conflict keeps returning, often the best thing we can do with is deal with the conflict.\u00a0 We need to ask ourselves what is really important.\u00a0 Are we truly looking at details where comprise is possible or are we facing differences in principle that we need to work on how to explain our beliefs better?\u00a0 To \u201cface conflict head on\u201d we need to ask God to give us wisdom to know what to say and the strength and courage to actually say it.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not about winning the conflict.\u00a0 It is about building up the Kingdom of God.<\/p>\n

Peace,<\/p>\n

Fr. Jeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have been reading Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel) for the last couple of weeks (I read slowly as I reflect over the text).\u00a0 I just read paragraph 227 and was deeply struck by it.\u00a0 I think it is very relevant today as we watch conflicts between individuals, political parties, nations, and religions.\u00a0 …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Conflict and the “Joy of the Gospel”’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[220,9,10,112],"tags":[325,326],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-zW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2228"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2228"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2230,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2228\/revisions\/2230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}