Following is a speech given by Fr. Zabelka at Pax Christi about war. He was the priest who blessed the bombers who dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki. He soon after resigned from the military and became a staunch opponent of war. When he left the military he lived out his priesthood in Michigan.
Feel free to leave any comments you have on his speech. :)
Father Zabelka – August 1985
Speech at Pax Christi
“As a Catholic chaplain I watched as the Boxcar, piloted by a good Irish Catholic pilot, dropped the bomb on Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, the center of Catholicism in Japan.
I never preached a single sermon against killing civilians to the men who were doing it. It never entered my mind to protest publicly the consequences of these massive air raids. I was told it was necessary. Told openly by the military and told implicitly by my Church’s leadership.
I struggled. I argued. But yes, there it was in the Sermon on the Mount, very clear: “Love your enemies. Return good for evil.” I went through a crisis of faith. Either accept what Christ said, as unpassable and silly as it may seem, or deny him completely.
For the last 1700 years the church has not only been making war respectable: It has been inducing people to believe it is an honorable profession an honorable Christian profession. This is a lie.
For the 300 years immediately following Jesus’ resurrection, the Church universally saw Christ and his teachings as non-violent. Remember that the Church taught this ethic in the face of at least three serious attempts by the state to liquidate her. It was subject to horrendous and ongoing torture and death. If ever there was an occasion for justified retaliation and defensive slaughter, with in the form of a just war or a just revolution, this was it. The economic and political elite of the Roman state and their military had turned citizens of the state against Christians and were embarked on a murderous public policy of exterminating the Christian Community.
Yet, the Church, in the face of the heinous crimes committed against her members, insisted without reservation that when Christ disarmed Peter he disarmed all Christians.
Christians continued to believe that Christ was, to use the words of an ancient liturgy, their fortress, their refuge, and their strength, and that if Christ was all they needed for security and defense, then Christ was all they should have. Indeed, this was a new security ethic. Christians understood that if they would only follow Christ and his teaching, they couldn’t fail. When opportunities were given for Christians to appease the state by joining the fighting Roman army, these opportunities were rejected, because the early Church saw a complete and an obvious incompatibility between loving as Christ loved and killing. It was Christ, not Mars, who gave security and peace.
Today the world is on the brink of ruin because the church refuses to be the church, because we Christians have been deceiving ourselves and the non-Christian world about the truth of Christ. There is no way to follow Christ, to love as Christ loved, and simultaneously to kill other people. It is a lie to say that the Spirit that moves the trigger of a flame thrower is the Holy Spirit. It is a lie to say that learning to kill is learning to be Christ-like. It is a lie to say that learning to drive a bayonet into the heart of another is motivated from having put on the mind of Christ. Militarized Christianity is a lie. It is radically out of conformity with the teaching, life and spirit of Jesus.
Now brothers and sisters on the anniversary of this terrible atrocity carried out by Christians, I must be the first to say that I made a terrible mistake. I was had by the father of lies. I participated in the big ecumenical lie of the Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Churches. I wore the uniform. I was part of the system. When I said mass over there I put on those beautifull vestments over my uniform. When Fr. Dave Becker left the Tridant submarine base in 1982 and resigned as Catholic Chaplain there, he said “every time I went to mass in my uniform and put the vestments on over my uniform, I couldn’t help but think of the words of Christ applying to me; beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing.
As an air force chaplain I painted a machine gun in the loving hands of the non-violent Jesus, and then handed this perverse picture to the world as truth. I sang praise the Lord and passed ammunition. As a Catholic Chaplain for the 509th composite group, I was the final channel the communicated this fraudulent image of Christ to the crews of the Enola Gay and the Boxcar.
All I can say today is that I was wrong. Christ would not be the instrument to unleash such horror on his people. Therefore, no follower of Christ can legitimately unleash the horror of war on Gods people. Excuses and self justifying explanations are without merit. All I can say is; I was wrong! But, if that is all I can say this I must do, feeble as it is. For to do otherwise would be to bypass the first and absolutely essential step in the process of repentance and reconciliation; admission of error, admission of guilt.
Thank God I am able to stand here today and speak out against war, all war. The province of the old testament spoke out against all false Gods of gold, silver, and metal. Today we are worshiping the gods of medal. The Bomb. We are putting our trust in physical power, militarism and nationalism. The Bomb, not god, is our security and our strength. The prophets of the old testament said simply; do not put your trust in chariots and weapons, but put your trust in God. Their message was simple and so is mine.
We must all become prophets. I really mean that. We must all do something for peace. We must stop this insanity of worshiping the Gods of metal. We must take a stand against evil and idolatry. This is our destiny at the most critical time of human history. But it is also the greatest opportunity ever offered to any group of people in the history of the world- to save our world from complete annihilation.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Staff Reflection: Jordan is in Love
“If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.” – 1 Corinthians 13:2-3
Over the last two years I have sought to reduce all my possessions down to one bag. I have given my life to the service of others. I have spent my time praying and searching for all wisdom in Gods Word and I have tried to practice in my life what it is that Jesus preaches about. Thanks to the power of God, I have been successful in all things.
When I look back at my life, my successes and my failures, my dreams and my realities, my faith and lack thereof; I can not help but marvel at the brilliance and wisdom of God. My God is a loving god, a forgiving God and a providing God. He has blessed me with a strong and close family who is always there for one-another. He has blessed me with friends who support me in all my dreams, seek with me all answers to this sometimes confusing life and most importantly are (and always will be) there for me when I just need company. Lastly, he has provided me with a new family in Christ which has been built in my travels. Those who have offered me rides, places to rest, and food to eat. There are many I keep in touch with and to this day I consider them a part of my life.
In all these things I find love. Whether everyone knows it or not, it is in them that I find the beautiful and loving face of God. Today I spent time reflecting on my future with Jessie Wambold (my fiance) who also is here serving with me at Nazareth Farm. Almost a year ago I asked Jessie to marry me. Expressing that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.
I met Jess in AmeriCorps (National Civilian Community Corps), day one. We were assigned to the same “pod” (temporary groups before we were put in teams). She immediately caught my attention with her stories about traveling the world on her own. Who wouldn’t be impressed by a cute girl, 5 foot tall who, when she was 18 literally traveled around the world on her own. Confidence, happiness and love were beaming from her face and enthusiastic attitude. We remained friends through the first 3-4 months of AmeriCorps. It was in Vermont that we were put on the same team and began reading the bible together that we began to grow closer together. Both of us spent each night reading the New Testament starting with Matthew, in search for God knows what. I being raised Catholic and her Evangelical Free, allowed for good conversations about our understanding of Christ.
The deeper we read into the bible, the closer we became spiritually. With her I felt a bond that I never felt before. With her I felt the Holy Spirit alive, not only in her but in myself. Vermont came and went, and soon we were put back on our first teams. However, the thousands of miles did not break our communication. We continued reading the bible each night and discussing our thoughts about what we were reading on the telephone. We were both attending different Sunday Services but sharing what we learned and experienced. Our relationship seemed to be growing at a constant pace and our understanding of Christ seemed to be growing at a faster pace.
It was towards the end of our third round in AmeriCorps that we decided we wanted to continue our service of those in need, but this time we were going to do it under the authority and dependency of Jesus Christ, not Uncle Sam. One thing about Jess that is most attractive and similar to myself is her ability to dream; her ability to have a vision and work towards that vision with all faith and determination that it will become a reality.
After AmeriCorps we began the next phase of our life (AmeriCorps calls it our “life after AmeriCorps). Entering the program we both had different visions of our separate future, after the program we were on one accord with our dreams, we were on one accord with our God and we were on one accord with making our dream a reality. That dream of serving took us through Hattiesburg, Mississippi and landed us here at Nazareth Farm.
What Paul states in the passage above is important. One can know all things on this earth, have all faith in God and give all their possessions even their life to others, but without love there is nothing. Without getting to know the inner-soul of another human being we miss out on what life is all about. Whether it be a friend, family member or partner in life we are called to love one another. Not just be kind to one another, but to actually love them. We are called to be patient and kind. We are called not to be jealous, a braggart or arrogant. We are to act proper and not degrade ourselves or seek things for ourselves. We should not be provoked by others or count the times we are wronged. We should give no credit to that which is unjust and we are to rejoice and live in all truth. And finally, we are called to believe that anything is possible, be willing to handle anything that comes our way, always remember that Christ has filled us with all hope and use his strength to endure all challenges that may come our way. When we abide in love, we will never fail. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
-Welcome Home
Jordan
Over the last two years I have sought to reduce all my possessions down to one bag. I have given my life to the service of others. I have spent my time praying and searching for all wisdom in Gods Word and I have tried to practice in my life what it is that Jesus preaches about. Thanks to the power of God, I have been successful in all things.
When I look back at my life, my successes and my failures, my dreams and my realities, my faith and lack thereof; I can not help but marvel at the brilliance and wisdom of God. My God is a loving god, a forgiving God and a providing God. He has blessed me with a strong and close family who is always there for one-another. He has blessed me with friends who support me in all my dreams, seek with me all answers to this sometimes confusing life and most importantly are (and always will be) there for me when I just need company. Lastly, he has provided me with a new family in Christ which has been built in my travels. Those who have offered me rides, places to rest, and food to eat. There are many I keep in touch with and to this day I consider them a part of my life.
In all these things I find love. Whether everyone knows it or not, it is in them that I find the beautiful and loving face of God. Today I spent time reflecting on my future with Jessie Wambold (my fiance) who also is here serving with me at Nazareth Farm. Almost a year ago I asked Jessie to marry me. Expressing that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.
I met Jess in AmeriCorps (National Civilian Community Corps), day one. We were assigned to the same “pod” (temporary groups before we were put in teams). She immediately caught my attention with her stories about traveling the world on her own. Who wouldn’t be impressed by a cute girl, 5 foot tall who, when she was 18 literally traveled around the world on her own. Confidence, happiness and love were beaming from her face and enthusiastic attitude. We remained friends through the first 3-4 months of AmeriCorps. It was in Vermont that we were put on the same team and began reading the bible together that we began to grow closer together. Both of us spent each night reading the New Testament starting with Matthew, in search for God knows what. I being raised Catholic and her Evangelical Free, allowed for good conversations about our understanding of Christ.
The deeper we read into the bible, the closer we became spiritually. With her I felt a bond that I never felt before. With her I felt the Holy Spirit alive, not only in her but in myself. Vermont came and went, and soon we were put back on our first teams. However, the thousands of miles did not break our communication. We continued reading the bible each night and discussing our thoughts about what we were reading on the telephone. We were both attending different Sunday Services but sharing what we learned and experienced. Our relationship seemed to be growing at a constant pace and our understanding of Christ seemed to be growing at a faster pace.
It was towards the end of our third round in AmeriCorps that we decided we wanted to continue our service of those in need, but this time we were going to do it under the authority and dependency of Jesus Christ, not Uncle Sam. One thing about Jess that is most attractive and similar to myself is her ability to dream; her ability to have a vision and work towards that vision with all faith and determination that it will become a reality.
After AmeriCorps we began the next phase of our life (AmeriCorps calls it our “life after AmeriCorps). Entering the program we both had different visions of our separate future, after the program we were on one accord with our dreams, we were on one accord with our God and we were on one accord with making our dream a reality. That dream of serving took us through Hattiesburg, Mississippi and landed us here at Nazareth Farm.
What Paul states in the passage above is important. One can know all things on this earth, have all faith in God and give all their possessions even their life to others, but without love there is nothing. Without getting to know the inner-soul of another human being we miss out on what life is all about. Whether it be a friend, family member or partner in life we are called to love one another. Not just be kind to one another, but to actually love them. We are called to be patient and kind. We are called not to be jealous, a braggart or arrogant. We are to act proper and not degrade ourselves or seek things for ourselves. We should not be provoked by others or count the times we are wronged. We should give no credit to that which is unjust and we are to rejoice and live in all truth. And finally, we are called to believe that anything is possible, be willing to handle anything that comes our way, always remember that Christ has filled us with all hope and use his strength to endure all challenges that may come our way. When we abide in love, we will never fail. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
-Welcome Home
Jordan
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