Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter

Lectionary: 300​

I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one,

as you, Father, are in me and I in you,

that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.

On this day, seventy-five years ago the Allied Forces of the "United Nations" began the largest amphibious invasion in history, storming the beaches of Normandy to drive the German army out of France, back to Germany and into history. If it was the beginning of the end of World War II, an enormous struggle, much grief and deep anguish had yet to follow. The joy of accomplishment and the ecstasy of victory would be tempered by tragedy.

Today's gospel presents Jesus' prayer for  the future, "for those who will believe in me through their word..."

The coincidence of D-Day and John 17 impresses me with an awareness of God's plan, a divine force, which moves throughout human and universal history. If your first thought this morning was of that epic event, the memory must be re-envisioned by Jesus' prayer, so many years before. He prayed for the soldiers on that evening before he died, as he was praying for you and me. 

Although science, technology, politics, academia, entertainment, and the arts had moved into a post-Christian era, many of the D-Day combatants on both sides of the conflict considered themselves believers in their word. If some leaders paid lip service to Christian traditions they could not meet as enemies around an altar to ponder their differences and discover their common purposes. Witnessing their conflict no one would "believe that you sent me."

Historians will discuss for many centuries to come the root and causes of the twentieth centuries two great wars. But today we have to notice the racism that inspired the German Nazis, the Japanese, and the British. All three agreed that their respective nations should rule certain inferior peoples in Africa, the Pacific, India, and Ireland. As Rudyard Kipling described them, "the white man's burden." 

If we thought the Allied victories of 1945 signaled the end of nationalism and the eventual demise of racism, and a new era of recognition of the dignity of every person, recent demonstrations in Europe and the United States prove otherwise. The "original sin" of America, incorporated into our Constitution with its disregard of women, Native Americans and African Americans, is as strong as ever. It is still taught in many homes and practiced in many churches. 

June 6 must be a day of penance and prayer for us. If we honor those who died seventy-five years ago, we must also resume the struggle with thoughtful discussions and acts of mercy. There can be no peace in our world, nor security, until our acts Amen! his prayer.