Pope Francis – Wake Up – The Album Devoনমুনা

Where Is Your Brother?

by Olujimi (Olu) Brown

Pope Francis’ “Wake Up!”

Album Track #9: “PACE! FRATELLI!"

In this impactful invocation, Pope Francis reminds us of the importance of living in peace and not war. When we think of war, we may immediately think about soldiers, weapons and death. Even with this reality, we fight other wars where bloodshed is not as visible as the torturing of our human souls.

Since the beginning, humanity has warred with our greed. In Genesis 4:8-9 (NRSVCE), Cain led his brother out to a field and killed him. “Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ He said, ‘I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?’” We can only imagine how Cain came to kill his own brother, igniting warfare within his own family. Today, like then, God is still asking each of us, "Where is your brother?"

Presently, our world aches from the aftermath of war. Although language varies among nations, war’s sorrow remains the same across the globe. It has created a painful language of loss and despair. So many young people have died on the battlegrounds of nationalism. We survivors are left with a great cost of conflict, paid over time at a soaring premium that no accountant can tally.

We pray for the day when every society reflects the words in Isaiah 11:6 (NRSVCE), "The wolf shall live with the lamb …” We pray for the day when youth will not die young on battlefields, rather enjoy the privilege of growing old and gray. We pray for the day when soldiers will not be deployed to war, but employed as peacemakers and community builders. We pray for the day when we have victory over the covert wars of racism, ageism, sexism and classism.

Pope Francis urges us to "Wake Up!" and to "keep alive within us the flame of hope..." We must never allow the cruel ambitions in our world to extinguish our flame of hope. We must "Wake Up!" with pure hearts and hopeful spirits, insisting that we disarm the bombs, which have broken our bodies and crushed our souls. We must expect that the balms of love and forgiveness will heal our land. Through Christ we believe and hope that one day all wars will end and we will see all of humanity as our brothers and sisters. Then when God asks the question, "Where is your brother?" our collective answer will be, "He is right here, alive and well."

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Olujimi (Olu) Brown and his spouse, Farrah, are the proud parents of Daya and Langston. A graduate of Gammon Seminary/ITC, Olu is the founding lead pastor of Impact Church, the fourth fastest growing congregation in the United Methodist Church-USA. Impact, located in the East Point community of Metropolitan Atlanta, GA, recently launched its second location and is committed to sharing the love of Christ with the world. Visit Olu and Impact at http://www.impactdoingchurchdifferently.org.

Companion devotional for Pope Francis’ album “Wake Up!” created by FrontGate Media. For more about the album, visit http://popefranciswakeup.believedigital.com.