Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and Jesus was alone on the land. Then he saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night Jesus came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by. And when they saw Jesus walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost and cried out; for they all saw him and were troubled. But immediately Jesus talked with them and said to them, “Take courage. It is I; do not be afraid.” Then he went up into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. – Mark 6:47-50
Upon visiting Coventry in England, a town once leveled by bombings, Pope John Paul II taught, “Peace is not just the absence of war…. Like a cathedral, peace must be constructed patiently and with unshakable faith.”
As Epiphany-tide unfolds in 2026 — with the seizures and strikes against ships and a U.S. military operation in Venezuela as well as the shooting of a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis — there is a call for each of us individually and all of us collectively to reflect on Jesus’ words “Blessed are the peace-makers.”
Christian teaching on war and peace is a long and complex tradition reaching from the Sermon on the Mount to statements by faith leaders this week. Peace-making is not an option for Christians and we each must find our own place in the construction of peace per our own convictions.
This week, while meeting about other matters, Father Jere Hinson, Priest at St. Paul’s, Leavenworth & Diocesan Church Planter, and I also spent time discussing the U.S. actions in Venezuela. Long-time colleagues from seminary days, we have deep respect for each other’s views even when they diverge. We share below our brief reflections. Jere’s are informed by his decades of service in the navy and mine from my decades of creation care ministry.
+Cathleen: For me, over the last year I see the Cathedral of Peace being disassembled instead of constructed. When surveying history, conflict and war have so often emerged over natural resources. I am extremely disheartened by the turn from innovative, regenerative energy back to fossil fuel dependence. While I am zealous about the need to protect our people from the ravages of drug addiction, I believe that the quest for oil and nuclear power are likely central factors in the tragic geo-political conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, and now Venezuela. Recent energy policies exhibit a denial about the many severe manifestations of climate change that are causing suffering at home and around the world. Also, instead of nurturing global respect and interdependence — which I believe is inherently Christian since the time of Pentecost – the acts of nations are increasingly marked by competitive nationalism and aggression. I believe that armed federal officers in our domestic cities are bringing harm –like the death in Minneapolis yesterday — and not peace. Peace, like the Kingdom of God itself, is both a divine gift and a human work. In a democracy there are measures that citizens can take to both call for and initiate limiting the use of force. Our voices, our votes, our dollars, our time. All of the Holy Currencies recently studied in our diocese are available to us for the building of peace.
Jere+: For some people of faith the use of force, violence, and deadly force is permitted and perhaps even required. As Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple observed in 1940 a pacifist must take responsibility for their renunciation of the use of force. Those of us who seek to understand how force can be used to create peace, we follow what is known as the just war tradition or perhaps better stated justifiable war tradition. This tradition reflects thinking about how a person of faith ethically understands military force. I think it important to note that both pacifism and just war tradition arguments can be highly nuanced. People of faith even within those traditions disagree on what ought to be done in any given context. A raid such as that carried out by United States forces is one option in the spectrum of justifiable use of force. I have been deeply moved by statements of Los Angeles Bishop-elect Antonio Gallardo, a native Venezuelan, and the news videos from Caracas and Venezuela expatriates globally. It appears to me there is now, when there wasn’t before, a great opportunity for the U.S.A., Venezuela, the Western Hemisphere, and the cause of responsible democratic self-governance. I don’t know if the right people are in the right place to take advantage of this opportunity in a positive way, but…
We conclude these reflections with words from Jere+ which we prayed together:
We need to pray for peace, that in the swirling maelstrom of events that seek to overwhelm people and toss them alone into the chaos of the deep, that we need to hear the voice of Jesus stilling the waters, giving us a place to stand, and embracing us with love.
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