Pathway toward Peace
- Kathryn Yanik
- Sep 7
- 2 min read
At several points in the past few weeks, the Gospel passages have included references to the idea of separating oneself from their family. I always find these phrases disarming, and today’s Gospel feels especially harsh.
If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
This passage, in particular, brought me back to a brief essay by John Dear – which is included in the Foreword to Art Lafflin’s The Risk of the Cross (an excellent resource for any prayer groups looking to explore nonviolence and nuclear disarmament). Dear explains that, in taking up the cross of Jesus, we are not just offering up our own suffering. Rather, we are taking up the cross of resistance and rejecting the culture of violence represented by this instrument of torture.
The pursuit of peace, especially in the world today, is radical. And, contrary to so many of the notions expressed in popular culture, peace is not about spreading a message of joy and happiness, or even about avoiding conflict. The authentic pursuit of nonviolence requires conflict, but it also requires meaningful connection and dialogue through these disputes.
I am reminded that this Gospel is not about hating my parents, just as the Gospel from August 17 is not about how I should turn away from my mother-in-law. Instead, these passages remind me that the conflict we experience in our families and in our communities can help guide us on the path toward peace, provided that we continue to challenge one another in the right direction, and in the right ways. One generation should always challenge the next, to bring us closer to the Kingdom. Only through authentic dialogue and healthy disagreement can we begin to organize ourselves on the pathway toward peace.
Kathryn Yanik is the Director of Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation for the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, East-West Province. She has a BA in English and Theology from Georgetown University and a MA in Theology from the University of Notre Dame. She lives in Silver Spring, MD with her husband, Rob, and their daughter, Clare.
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