At the time of his fairly recent death, I wrote an inspirational piece on Daniel Berrigan. Certainly most middle-aged and older Catholics knew about Daniel Berrigan. And anyone else who was aware of the work for peace and justice were familiar with him. Law enforcement officers in various places knew Berrigan because they hauled him off to jail a few times! Berrigan was a modern-day prophet, which means his life and witness were a real challenge for me.
Whenever I am confronted by a person like Berrigan, I feel like my own faith pilgrimage has been fairly lightweight. Most of us know, it is far too easy to be a Christian---or Jew for that matter---in our contemporary American culture. In fact, these days it does not matter much whether you are a person of faith or not. It is no longer a big deal. But for Daniel Berrigan, it was a big deal.
Berrigan was ninety-four when he died. He was born in 192---a baby of the “Roarin’Twenties!” He lived his early adult years during WW II. He knew the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Desert Storm, Iraq, Afghanistan and the rest of our forays with war and violence. Berrigan joined the Jesuit Order right out of high school in 1939. He was an ordained Catholic priest. I first heard about Berrigan and his brother, Phil, in the 1960s. They had founded the Catholic Peace Fellowship to carry out their anti-Vietnam War protests. I never met him personally, but I know some fellow Quakers who did know him. Berrigan continued his work against poverty and violence until the very end of his life.
When one is involved in this kind of work---vocation really---it is easy for cynics to ask whether it makes any difference? Is there any proof that Berrigan did any good? He stopped no war. Poverty is still with us. It is easy to become dismayed and decide there is no use to do anything. But Berrigan never gave up.
A recent article on Berrigan gave me some new insights about him and his work. When confronted by these kinds of questions and quips, we are told Berrigan “…regularly responded that God calls us to faithfulness, not success.” That is a wonderful distinction, even if it is not what we most want to hear. Obviously, we would prefer to think that our actions could eliminate poverty and end all wars and stop all violence. But if we were able to do that, it would make us god---or maybe even, more than god!
Berrigan is right: we are called to faithfulness. The fancy word is fidelity. We hear that word used about relationships, but not always about our relationship with God. It is just as appropriate. God calls us to be faithful. That is exactly what Jesus modelled for us. It would be difficult to argue that Jesus was exactly successful. Naturally, when we read the gospel story to the end, we come to the resurrection. That seems like a success---and ultimately, it is. But it is God’s success. Jesus was faithful. And it cost him his life. Our own fidelity won’t necessarily cost our lives. But it will spare us from having to be successes!
It is easy to see that Berrigan got it. For example, he tells us, “One must understand redemption as a continuing and unfinished work.” This is an easy sentence to type, but not an easy theological place to take a stand. It is easy to understand why so many churches would want to make redemption a personal matter alone and to declare we “have been redeemed” based on belief alone. I don’t downplay theology here; any believer necessarily has a theology. But we are not saved---or redeemed---by theology alone. The Christian tradition---and other religious traditions---does countenance works, ministry, service, etc.
Redemption, like resurrection, comes as a gift. Our job is to be faithful to the one who calls us to the work of this world---as Berrigan was called. The rewards for him and, probably, for us will not be evident. But if we are driven by fidelity, we are not in it for the rewards. Rewards are too much like success. Our goal is peace, justice and mercy---not rewards.
At his funeral Mass, one of his friends in the ministry of resistance, John Schuchardt, described Daniel Berrigan with these words. “People would think of him as a leader.” Schuchardt said. “I would think of him as a follower. He was a follower of the Holy Spirit, and we were all seeking to follow the Holy Spirit, so this was incredible harmony. That’s what I remember.”
Those are words I would like to continue to try to incorporate into my life. But they are merely words. These words actually describe a life of action---a life of fidelity. We are called to be followers. We are to follow the Spirit’s lead in our lives. The Spirit will not lead us into temptation. Instead, the Spirit will lead us into those places where we will work for peace and for justice. We will be asked to aid our brothers and sisters whom the world has condemned in poverty. We are to redeem them.
I hope I can become more faithful, as I think more on Daniel Berrigan.
Whenever I am confronted by a person like Berrigan, I feel like my own faith pilgrimage has been fairly lightweight. Most of us know, it is far too easy to be a Christian---or Jew for that matter---in our contemporary American culture. In fact, these days it does not matter much whether you are a person of faith or not. It is no longer a big deal. But for Daniel Berrigan, it was a big deal.
Berrigan was ninety-four when he died. He was born in 192---a baby of the “Roarin’Twenties!” He lived his early adult years during WW II. He knew the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Desert Storm, Iraq, Afghanistan and the rest of our forays with war and violence. Berrigan joined the Jesuit Order right out of high school in 1939. He was an ordained Catholic priest. I first heard about Berrigan and his brother, Phil, in the 1960s. They had founded the Catholic Peace Fellowship to carry out their anti-Vietnam War protests. I never met him personally, but I know some fellow Quakers who did know him. Berrigan continued his work against poverty and violence until the very end of his life.
When one is involved in this kind of work---vocation really---it is easy for cynics to ask whether it makes any difference? Is there any proof that Berrigan did any good? He stopped no war. Poverty is still with us. It is easy to become dismayed and decide there is no use to do anything. But Berrigan never gave up.
A recent article on Berrigan gave me some new insights about him and his work. When confronted by these kinds of questions and quips, we are told Berrigan “…regularly responded that God calls us to faithfulness, not success.” That is a wonderful distinction, even if it is not what we most want to hear. Obviously, we would prefer to think that our actions could eliminate poverty and end all wars and stop all violence. But if we were able to do that, it would make us god---or maybe even, more than god!
Berrigan is right: we are called to faithfulness. The fancy word is fidelity. We hear that word used about relationships, but not always about our relationship with God. It is just as appropriate. God calls us to be faithful. That is exactly what Jesus modelled for us. It would be difficult to argue that Jesus was exactly successful. Naturally, when we read the gospel story to the end, we come to the resurrection. That seems like a success---and ultimately, it is. But it is God’s success. Jesus was faithful. And it cost him his life. Our own fidelity won’t necessarily cost our lives. But it will spare us from having to be successes!
It is easy to see that Berrigan got it. For example, he tells us, “One must understand redemption as a continuing and unfinished work.” This is an easy sentence to type, but not an easy theological place to take a stand. It is easy to understand why so many churches would want to make redemption a personal matter alone and to declare we “have been redeemed” based on belief alone. I don’t downplay theology here; any believer necessarily has a theology. But we are not saved---or redeemed---by theology alone. The Christian tradition---and other religious traditions---does countenance works, ministry, service, etc.
Redemption, like resurrection, comes as a gift. Our job is to be faithful to the one who calls us to the work of this world---as Berrigan was called. The rewards for him and, probably, for us will not be evident. But if we are driven by fidelity, we are not in it for the rewards. Rewards are too much like success. Our goal is peace, justice and mercy---not rewards.
At his funeral Mass, one of his friends in the ministry of resistance, John Schuchardt, described Daniel Berrigan with these words. “People would think of him as a leader.” Schuchardt said. “I would think of him as a follower. He was a follower of the Holy Spirit, and we were all seeking to follow the Holy Spirit, so this was incredible harmony. That’s what I remember.”
Those are words I would like to continue to try to incorporate into my life. But they are merely words. These words actually describe a life of action---a life of fidelity. We are called to be followers. We are to follow the Spirit’s lead in our lives. The Spirit will not lead us into temptation. Instead, the Spirit will lead us into those places where we will work for peace and for justice. We will be asked to aid our brothers and sisters whom the world has condemned in poverty. We are to redeem them.
I hope I can become more faithful, as I think more on Daniel Berrigan.
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