Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippian 4:4-7, NRSV)
This blessing of St Paul to the Philippian community was written during a time of great duress. Paul was in prison when he wrote these words to the Philippian community. Christianity was experiencing persecution, as a religion by Imperial Rome, as a sect within Judaism, and, also experiencing great division within itself. Though both Peter and Paul had largely settled their differences by the time this letter was written, the conservative Jewish Christian church of Jerusalem was still a very divisive element in the early Christian Church, so much so, that the great scripture scholar Raymond Brown found written evidence that it was James’ Christian community in Jerusalem that alerted the Roman authorities of the presence of Peter in Rome at the time of the first Roman persecution.[1] Even within the Christian community of Philippi there were factions vying against one another.
Yet, in the midst of all this unrest, outside and within the Christian community, Paul insists that the Philippian community must not be consumed by worry, but to rather be joyful. They are to do what they can, and leave everything else up to God, who ultimately will resolve all conflict. In doing what is humanly possible, they must trust God to do that which only divine intervention can accomplish. In their trust of God to reconcile all things, they will find peace.
As I read these words, I was reminded of another time of great unrest in our world. In the Autumn of 1938, Nazi Germany invaded Sudentenland. Totalitarianism ruled a great deal of the world; Hitler in Germany, Mussolini in Italy, Franco in Spain, Stalin in the Soviet Union, and Hirohito in Japan. The United States was just recovering from the Great Depression in which many Americans were displaced and unemployed, and many family farms destroyed by drought resulting in the Dustbowl. Fascism and Communism was seeking its hold within the nation as Franklin D Roosevelt began The New Deal.
It was during this time that the film You Can’t Take It With You was released. The film directed by Frank Capra, is, in my opinion, a cinematic metaphor of this blessing from Paul to the Philippians. Grandpa Sycamore presides over a large home filled with an eclectic people comprised of family members, extended family members, acquaintances, and, essentially, the neighborhood in which his house is located. Earlier in life, Grandpa had decided to quit his quest for great wealth and power in order to focus his life on building up relationships within his family, his neighborhood, and his community. He refers to the people in these relationships as “lilies”, derived from Jesus’ parable of the Lilies of the Field. Within the story, conflict does occur, the relationships that Grandpa had steadfastly built up during his lifetime nearly come to an end, but Grandpa’s ultimate trust in God to make things right prevails. Grandpa does what he is able to do and puts the rest in the hands of God. This is beautifully expressed in the closing scene of the movie in which Grandpa presides in many ways at what liturgists would call a “home eucharist.” All the protagonists, family and extended family members are gathered around a large dining room table as Grandpa prays this meal blessing.
“Well, sir (God), here we are again.
We’ve had quite a time of it lately,
but it seems that the worst of it is over.
Of course, the fireworks all blew up,
but we can’t very well blame that on you.
Anyway, everything’s turned out fine
as it usually does.
Alice is going to marry Tony.
Mr. Kirby, who’s turned out to be
a good egg, has sold us back our house…
…and he’ll probably forget
all about big deals for a while.
Nobody on our block has to move.
And with the right handling…
…I think we can even thaw out
Mrs. Kirby in time.
We’ve all got our health,
and as far as anything else is concerned…
…we still leave that up to you.
Thank you.”[2]
So, here we are today. The world is in as great a mess as it was in the time of Paul, and in the time that the movie, You Can’t Take It With You, was released in 1938. There is a rise in totalitarian leaders in Poland, Italy, and Hungary, a totalitarian leader in Russia, North Korea, China, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, what’s left of Syria, and a wannebe totalitarian leader wishing to establish his own family dynasty in the United Sates. Our nation is torn by racism, white vigilante groups armed with AK-47’s roaming our city streets and countryside, exacting their own brand of justice. A nationwide pandemic has largely destroyed everything under the umbrella of the entertainment industry, livelihoods of many families and family businesses wiped out, resulting in widespread poverty, homelessness, and hunger, and, worse of all, the deaths of over 228,000 people and rising in the United States. On top of all the infections and deaths of Covid-19, we have an administration that is working hard to take away all medical care of those most vulnerable.
Yes, the situation is very bleak and desperate, and the peace, for which we all seek, very elusive. This blessing from Paul in his letter to the Philippians seeks us out. First, Paul reminds us to do what we can to better the situation, namely, 1) to get out and vote rebuilding order, compassion, love, and mercy within our society. Secondly, Paul reminds us that after we have done all we can do, then to let God do all the rest. As Grandpa Sycamore says so very succinctly, “We’ve all got our health, and as far as anything else is concerned… we still leave that up to you. Thank you.”
[1] In the book Antioch and Rome: New Testament Cradles of Catholic Christianity, © 1983, Paulist Press, co-written by Raymond Brown and John Meier, Brown cites written evidence from James’ Christian community in Jerusalem to the Roman authorities, just prior to the Nero persecution of the Christians, that Peter was present in Rome.
[2] From the movie, You Can’t Take It With You, © 1938, script by Robert Riskin, directed by Frank Capra, based on the play of the same name © 1936, by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, and released by Columbia Pictures.
