Saint John Paul II
was fascinated with dates in history, and he found major anniversaries to be
marvelous opportunities to reflect on the workings of the eternal God, who
entered history. Most of you will
remember the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Jesus, which we celebrated as
the opening of the Third Christian Millennium.
But do you remember the 1988 celebration of a millennium of Ukrainian
Christianity, from the A.D. 988 conversion of Kievan Rus'? He always marked lesser dates as well, such
as the anniversaries of the great Polish Saint Hedwig, or Therese of Lisieux.
Perhaps I invoke this
precedent to justify my own preoccupation this week with the July 28 centenary
the declaration of war by the Austro-Hungarian Empire upon Serbia, and thus of
the beginning of World War I.
It was a beautiful
summer, by all accounts, brighter and more temperate than any summer in
memory. Most folks, especially those of
the capital cities of the major powers, were on vacation. Everyone was aware of the simmering crisis in
the Balkans, where terrorists had enraged the imperial power of Austria by the
assassination of the heir to the throne.
But everyone was convinced that this feud would be resolved, as had the
many that had filled the preceding decades.
You see, international commerce, communication, and cooperation were at an
all-time high, and organizations and processes existed to solve disputes
without resorting to military action. So
enlightened opinion everywhere just knew
that no powers would resort to war since it would disrupt everyone's prosperity
too much.
But something went
horribly wrong, and soon Russia, Germany, France, Belgium, and Great Britain joined Austria-Hungary and Serbia in launching their entire military might at one
another. Dozens of nations, including
ours, would be drawn into the conflagration.
Millions upon millions would be killed in the slaughter, and the world
would be changed forever. The course out
of this war would lead directly into the next World War as well as the Cold
War, and lay the foundation for the intractable conflict in the Middle East as
well as many other realities we "enjoy" to this day.
There are all sorts
of maxims we can quote about history, like: those who fail to learn from it are
doomed to repeat it; or, that history somehow repeats itself. However, I do not find those compelling. The former gives the false impression that
one can learn enough from history to avoid falling into history yourself; the
latter seems to imply that history is something that happens to you. More helpful is to remember is that we inhabit
history as much as our forebears ever did; history is now, and we are
responsible for it.
Unlike the simple self-exceptionalism
expressed most concisely a few decades back, after the Soviet empire fell, when
a scholar proclaimed “the end of history,” we do well not to think ourselves
exempt from history as either a process or as an external force. History is the frame of every human gift and
flaw, of every hope and failure – including and especially our own. This fabric unspools to reveal all that has
come before, and unites us with those who lived it.
History is where and
how we live; history the context of man’s existence, of every human life and
event. Because of that, the eternal,
unchanging God deigned not only to enter but also to submit himself to this experience
of history, to join us where and how we live. Therefore God takes flesh, is
born, dies, and rises, on such and such a day in history. It is hardly undue fascination; we do well to
mark the days whenever, wherever they recur.
Monsignor
Smith
