INTERNATIONAL DAY OF NON VIOLENCE
October 2nd is the date that the UN has marked as the International Day dedicated to nonviolence. What does it say to us? Is it an anniversary to remember rituals, such as the anniversary of the dead, or rather as the date that calls on our consciences and our bodies with all their sensitivity, to live differently? In the last century some prophets unveiled to the world the new name for peace: Nonviolence. For Tolstoy living the Christian law of love affirms the universal non-resistance to evil by violence and objection of conscience. That was his response to military spending and challenged the states and members of Churches to take an option to follow God’s command “Thou shalt not kill”. Then Gandhi stated that non-violence was as old as the mountains, showing that it declined in our time and assumed the power of God for the liberation of peoples for independence. He said that the policy of nonviolence was more effective and powerful than nuclear bomb. In Italy, the pedagogy of nonviolence was advocated by Capitini when he began to entrench democracy in the constitution and to enlarge it with the power of all. Only the daily practice of nonviolence in all areas: religious, economic, social and political arena may prevent dictatorships, he said. There have been other people in history who gave their testimony that nonviolence is the new name for peace. People like Martin Luther King Jr., Oscar Romero, Nelson Mandela and others.
We are motivated by the Blood of Christ shed on the cross to pray and work for a world free of violence. Jesus goes to his death rejecting violence, loving enemies, calling all who come to him to forgive their enemies, returning good for evil. The Eucharist is the sacrament of nonviolence and Christ offering his body and blood for our nourishment is the one who can show how we can build a society without shedding of blood.
