By Father Teo
During the 1960’s
I was a professor in a private high school in Bolivia. Our students
were sons and daughters of those with power in government and wealth.
It was these future leaders of Bolivia that we wanted to be aware of
the Social Justice teachings of the Catholic Church. Not only
ourselves, but also those who taught in the other private high
schools did an excellent job.
During my time there
I lived through 7 revolutions, 7 different attempts to change and
better the country, but with no success. I was sometime during the
last month of my stay that one of my former students invited me to
his home for dinner. Before, during and after dinner the two of us
had a wonderful conversation. He confidentially told me that he was
the commandante of the guerrilla movement living in the semi jungles
of Bolivia and they were about ready to begin the revolution that
Bolivia needed to restore social justice and Christian love for one
another, two virtues that were missing.
As I listened, I
begin to notice that something wasn’t correct. He had relayed to me
exactly all the teachings on social justice. It was all being done
for the glory of God and the betterment of our fellow brothers and
sisters, especially the poor and indigenous. After taking control of
the government and the country, they would immediately establish that
longed for Christian society of brotherly love.
I asked Roberto a
question. “Tell me. How are you going to change overnight the
country into such a loving just country? To win the revolution you
are putting guns in the hands of people, commanding them to kill if
necessary in order to take control. We can’t put those feelings
into people one day, and then the next day replace that with
brotherly love.” He replied, “Oh, yes we can because we are doing
it right.”
That was the moment
that I realized that I had spent my many years forming and teaching
the youth how to change society, and never once did anything to help
them change their hearts first. I had wasted my time. Unless the
heart is changed with love first, there is no way to change society.
The revolution failed. Most of the guerrillas were killed.
This happened in the
early days of Liberation Theology, the theology of social justice
that was being taught throughout South and Central America. It was an
attempt to rid the hemisphere of all the terrible social evils that
had existed for centuries. And it was now able to be done with a
clear conscious. It was a part of the Church’s theology. It proved
the justification of warfare as a last resort, which really became
the first resort. This is what we taught our students.
It was only at that
dinner engagement with Roberto that I saw for the first time that war
does not solve problems because even though it changes leaders of
government it does not change anyone’s heart. Unless the heart is
changed with love, the same evil will again appear. All will be the
same.
Fortunately, it was the following year that the Liberation
Theologians realized the same thing, and their teaching was changed.
It became based the realization that only those people who had
experienced our Heavenly Father’s love were able to share that
love, a love that changes and heals hearts of hurts and hatred. That
love does not and cannot use force nor warfare as a means to
accomplish its end.
Recently, I attended
a lecture given by Dr. C.T. Vivian, a minister who knew Dr. Martin
Luther King. In the lecture he stated how hard Dr. King insisted that
all their demonstrations had to be done from a spiritual non-violent
attitude. Adding the spiritual element was adding love for the one
who was the cause of their suffering and lack of justice. I realized
that Dr. King in choosing in a sense Liberation Theology had
correctly based it on one’s experience of the Father’s Love. As a
result, his “revolution” was successful. There was and has
remained change!
February 26, 2016
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