"We're Here To Change The World"

What would it be like to loose someone you love dearly, someone like a brother or a sister, a parent or a grandparent? We probably would associate words like grief, pain, hurt, longing, and loss in our response. We are right to do so because most of us have lost someone dear to us: a grandparent, a parent, an aunt, or a sibling and it hurts. Perhaps you are currently experiencing this very loss and grief as you read this article. We all know that memories of the loved one remain years after the person is gone. Such memories can be triggered at a moment's notice--the smell of perfume, a drive by a special park, a beloved song. For many of us such memories impel us to live differently: To live in such a way that honors the lives of those we love, both living and dead.

Twenty-four years ago a woman named Cindy Sheehan gave birth to a son. She named him Casey. In 2004 Casey was killed while serving with the United States military in Iraq. Now Cindy Sheehan is experiencing the grief and pain of just such a loss. It is a pain that words cannot describe.

Several weeks ago Cindy Sheehan made a decision to structure her life in such a way that honors her son's life. Beginning 6 August she decided to camp out on the road leading to President George W. Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. She requested an appointment to meet with the President--who is on a month-long visit to his ranch--and has vowed to continue her vigil until the meeting takes place. Several hundred family members who are also grieving the loss of loved ones in Iraq joined her.

Ms. Sheehan is not afraid of speaking her mind when it comes to the United States involvement in Iraq. She recently was quoted in the Associated Press, "Who knew that the beginning of the end of the occupation in Iraq was going to start...in Crawford Texas?" And again, speaking of the purpose of the action in Crawford, Ms. Sheehan had this to say: "We're here to change the world."

We are here to change the world. Plain and simple.

Christians--those of us trying to live in ways that honor the crucified Jesus--ought to sit up and take note of Cindy Sheehan. Precisely because she seeks to honor her son's life, Ms. Sheehan decided to stand up and make a public declaration of her grief and her desire to bring about radical, system-wide, change in our society. This is truly a radical witness.

We Christians ought to be more like Cindy Sheehan. Every time we gather together for liturgy we learn to sit with pain and loss of Jesus' death. With the death of the Lord deep in our hearts, we ought to move out into the world to bring about its transformation. And, lest we forget, we ought to always remember that at each and every moment of this journey we are empowered by God's grace in the gift of the Holy Spirit, in the sacraments, and through the church.

Catholic Connections

As Catholics we hear Jesus' words echoing down through the centuries, "Do this in memory of me." According to one theologian, Johannes Metz, Catholics are a people of memory in so far as we become "the people of God" in and through the act of remembrance. In other words, as we respond to Jesus' mandate, "Do this in memory of me," we become ever more thoroughly God's people. Not only do we remember and celebrate how Jesus loved us in his death, but we also begin to live differently, to think differently, and to speak differently. Our lives, and thereby our world, are altered through or remembrance of Jesus' death.

Reflection Questions

In what ways have you sought to honor the memory of someone you lost through your lifestyle choices?

Join us in our Forum to discuss these questions!