If God is with us...

Fr. Livio Tonello, director

In our Western world, which seems to be becoming increasingly indifferent to religion, God’s name is invoked very often. People defend themselves, take action and fight in the name of God. It is a story as old as the world. In the Bible, the chosen people claimed rights to the land, feeling strong in the name of a promise made by Yahweh. Nowadays, someone feels saved, arrogantly claiming to realise a divine project. But in the name of which God? The Christian God is not in our image or likeness. He does not play favourites and he does not condemn others.

In the Bible, we read the words of the prophet Isaiah: “On that day, Israel shall be a third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land. When the LORD of Hosts blesses it: ‘Blessed be my people Egypt, and the work of my hands Assyria, and my inheritance Israel’ ”(Isaiah 19:24-25). God is for all of us. If we read the Gospel attentively, we will understand that Jesus revealed a face of God that is very different from the one shown off nowadays. He prefers sinners (“it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick”), the little ones (“let the little children come to me”), peacemakers and the merciful, whom he calls “blessed”.

We cannot use God’s name for our own purposes. Nazi German soldiers wore the slogan Got mit uns (God is with us) on their belt buckles. This slogan has been used for centuries, from the Book of Judith to the Roman Empire and up to the present day. Can we still stand for all this? This is populism, a political approach that uses religion for its own purposes. Many politicians swear upon the Book and ask for blessings, making themselves heralds of the divine will. However, leading with the Holy Book and the sword is not authentic religiosity; it is the old theocracy that still exists in many countries worldwide.

The One who “makes his sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust” does not take sides in human matters. Rather, he asks us to act in his name for the good of all.