Today, we enter the season of Advent, a time of longing, watchfulness, and hope. The readings place us right at the threshold: God is coming. We are invited to prepare, not by fear or anxiety, but by opening our eyes, our hearts, and our world to the transforming presence of Christ.
Isaiah stands before us today with a breathtaking vision that is as urgent now as it was thousands of years ago:
All nations shall I stream toward it they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
Isaiah sees nations streaming toward God together. Nations…not divided by walls, not separated by status, not policed by fear or suspicion, but walking side-by-side toward the mountain of the Lord. He envisions a world where weapons are dismantled and repurposed into tools that nourish and sustain life. That is God's dream.
For the past eight years the Dominican Order has dedicated December as a month of peace for a country affected by violent conflict and human rights violations, hoping to draw the attention of the Dominican family to the challenges faced by our sisters and brothers serving in these countries. These countries included Columbia, Venezuela, the Ukraine and Haiti. The month of peace begins on the 1st Sunday of Advent and continues until the Epiphany; this year the month of peace will focus on Cameroon.
In our direction statement we call ourselves to be a peaceful presence and to recognize ourselves as members of a global sisterhood, members of the worldwide Dominican Family.
I don’t know about you, but I knew very, very little about this small country in central west Africa. This is what I have learned. Cameroon is a legacy that dates to the division between British and French colonial powers which created and continues to create the political dominance of the French Cameroon majority over the English minority a continuous tension and division resulting in economic instability, marginalization artistic and cultural differences between the language groups. These tensions erupted into armed conflict in 2016 and that continues today and the result is widespread human rights abuses. including killings, abductions, attacks on schools and other public institutions and private properties by both government forces and separatist groups
Many have been forced to flee seeking refuge in neighboring nations
The people of Cameroon face overlapping crises especially in the English zone: displacement of families from their homes, increasing poverty and hunger, and on-going violence by paramilitary groups. There is really no functioning government in the English section of this country. It is the women and children who suffer the most. Sounds familiar doesn’t it as we continue to learn about Haiti.
The reading that we've heard today focuses on a vision of peace and unity everything in that vision anticipates a time when nations recognize their common journey a time when people can beat swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks never again to take up the weapons of war against each other We know that peace does not come through violence or bloodshed but rather a commitment to non-violence. We are the blessed by this marvelous vision. This tumultuous time of global crisis division calls us to hope that one day all communities will live inharmony and peace. As we are preparing for chapter, we are reminded to be preachers of hope even when that is more than difficult; we are called to be preachers to incarnate preaching by our very lives ;this is our mission; our being,
Cameroon is home to members of all the branches of the Dominican family and along with the people of Cameroon our Dominican brothers and sisters face struggles in a country very divided. Our Dominican nuns and members of the Dominican lady live within the volatile separate region; we have members of the Dominican family serving on both sides of the separation.
We have been called to focus on a monastery of nine Dominican nuns whose monastery has become the site for internally displaced persons who are fleeing the violence The monastery is a place of safety, of peace. The sisters provide a warm and safe welcome. We will be learning more about Cameroon and our Dominican Family in the weeks ahead.
I offer quote from the reflection for this Sunday from Give Us This Day:
“These days as we look at the systems that are falling apart around us, we are invited to let Christ lead us into remaking the old order- the order of swords and violence into a new order of plowshares, peace and prophetic witness. To do so we need the tools of the Carpenter; the hammer to build and modify the old and the tools of love, mercy and humble service to call forth the new.”
If we want peace we must work for justice. Perhaps then the vision of Isaiah will be realized
In the days to come,
the mountain of the LORD's house
shall be established as the highest mountain
All nations shall stream toward it;
many peoples shall come and say:
"Come, let us climb the LORD's mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may instruct us in his ways,
and we may walk in his paths.
Our brother, Greg Heile, OP reminds us that climbing the mountain of peace will be strenuous work, but the common good of our world requires it. As people are torn from their families and lose their lives, and as homes and dreams are destroyed, God’s little ones suffer a litany of scandalous and unnecessary deprivation. The weapons and systems of war consume precious resources needed to preserve the dignity of life and the integrity of creation. We must, in the name of God, find ways to respond.
On this first Sunday of Advent, God invites us in concrete acts of discipleship to align ourselves with the scriptural promise of peace. God of Advent and Prince of Peace surprise our world and send us as prophets of peace. Please Click Here to learn more about the Dominican Month for Peace focus on Cameroon.
– Sister Eileen Gannon, OP
Sister Eileen serves as the Justice Promoter for the Sparkill Dominicans.