One love
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should
One life
With
each other
Sisters
Brothers
Sisters
Brothers
One
life
But we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other
But we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other
One
Some of you
may recognize these as song lyrics. They
are. They were written by a person some
have called a modern day prophet; others call him a flashy, loud Irishman.
But this
rock star in question does profess to be a disciple of Christ and most of his
lyrics try to raise our collective consciousness to the needs of the world.
St. Paul
uses the word "One" repeatedly in today's second reading to serve as
a reminder of the Christian community's interconnectedness in the early years
of struggle against a world that persecuted it, condemned it and tried to
destroy it.
How
different is that from today's world?
I think the
lyrics from the song help us to see we Christians are all One and we have to "carry
each other."
This is what
John's Gospel is all about. The Kingdom of
God is something we can bring about by our own actions, but we also need God's
help.
The person
who wrote those song lyrics is Paul Hewson.
Most people know him simply as Bono of the rock group U2.
In 1985,
Bono took a trip to Africa with his wife Ali to work for a month in an
orphanage in Ethiopia.
The people
of Ethiopia were being devastated by one of the worst famines in human history. It impacted eight million Africans and killed
over a million people -- mostly children.
Bono and his
wife were horrified by what they witnessed in Africa. Some called it "a biblical famine in the
20th century" and "the closest thing to hell on
Earth."
At the end
of their journey Bono had an experience that would change him forever. As they were about to leave the orphanage, a
man ran up to with a young child and tried to hand the boy to Bono. The African man said, "Sir, will you
take my son home with you?"
Both men
knew if the boy stayed in Ethiopia he would likely die from hunger, but if he
left Ethiopia he would live.
What to do?
With tears welling up in his eyes, Bono's said
he could not take the boy with him.
The
conversation shook his soul to the core and changed the path of his life forever.
In that
moment, God planted a Mustard Seed in his heart for the people of Africa.
It also
inspired one of U2's most powerful and beautiful songs: Where The Streets Have No Names. That song is a metaphor for his African
experience. And a metaphor for heaven.
Since then, Bono
founded the One Campaign – The Campaign To Make Poverty History in Africa.
Bono is
still talking about Africa today -- over 25 years after that moving experience.
Pope John
Paul the Second was a big supporter of Bono's efforts in Africa and even wore the
rock star's signature sunglasses for an infamous photograph that I'm sure
created quite a stir around the Vatican.
Bono was one
of the key activists who helped The Pope with his Jubilee 2000 effort by
inspiring a "Drop The Debt" campaign designed have First World (rich)
nations forgive the debt of Third World (poor) nations. This is reminiscent of the biblical jubilee
of the Old Testament.
As Bono put it at the 2006 National Prayer
Breakfast in Washington DC, "This is not about charity. It's about justice."
He added, ''Where
you live in the world shouldn't determine whether you live... God is watching how we respond to
Africa."
Like the
Prophet Elisha in the first reading who encouraged pious Israelites NOT to give
their "first fruits" food just to the prophets and religious, but to share
it with everybody so all could eat, God wants to work through each of us to
make sure ALL in this world have their basic needs met. So people don't starve and have access to drugs
for treatable diseases.
"You
see, all faiths agree: God is with the vulnerable and the poor. God is in the slums... God is in the silence of a mother who has
infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of
war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity
and lives. And God is with us, if we are
with them." Bono spoke these
eloquent words at the National Prayer Breakfast as an invitee of President
George Bush.
Catholic
Social Teaching has been leading the way on these issues for well over a
century in our world, but Catholic Social Teaching isn't just something someone
else does. Catholic Social Teaching
calls each of us to action.
The events
of our lives are God calling us to pay attention to some need, pick up our own
cross and start helping build the Kingdom.
Christ sends
people like Bono into our world to remind us we are all in this together. We all have to look out for each other and
take care of each other.
That's what
our Gospel message is really all about today.
But human initiative always needs God's help to succeed.
As we heard,
Jesus sees a massive crowd and realizes this tired hungry group needs to
eat. The disciples don't know what to do
and are starting to panic.
John's
Gospel tells of how Jesus concern for the people inspires a young boy's
generosity that eventually would lead to a miracle that allows over 5-thousand
people to get their fill. But it started
with a single act of human kindness.
Then God did the rest.
As we heard,
there are leftovers from this feast.
In our privileged
American experience, we have leftovers... leftovers of our time, our talent and
our treasure. These leftovers can be
shared with others in our communities, in our nation, and in our world.
It's amazing
the difference one person can make in this world. If only we see ourselves as one People of God.
What is God
calling you to do?
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