From the Friars: Love One Another
On Saturday, October 7th, we heard of the attack on Israel by the terrorist group Hamas, killing many innocent people. Reports of outrageous atrocities have circulated but some may be false or exaggerated. Israel has responded with heavy bombing and seems to be preparing to invade and occupy Gaza. The Palestinians are likewise accusing Israel of killing many civilians and children. The horror of war is once again in the headlines.
Around this same time, I was told that there is an abortion facility in the Riverwalk Mill building across the river on Merrimack Street. It happens to be almost directly across the street from our new friary, where some of us are now living. The next day we read in the Office of Readings from 2 Kings 21 about Manasseh, King of Judah: “He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD … he burned his son as an offering (to a false god) … (and) shed very much innocent blood.”
All of this reminds me of the words of Jesus in the garden, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.” (Mt26:38) Since the murder of Abel by his brother Cain, history is full of the painful reality of God’s children killing each other, besides so many other heinous crimes. The sadness of the God Man in Gethsemane is rooted in the disobedience of His creatures and the evil that results. His original plan was not that we would suffer or die.
Jesus shows us how to deal with evil. As He did, we are not to respond with evil but to overcome it with good. (Rom 12:21) As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote: “Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” The dark clouds of war and violence against the innocent should not make us discouraged but remind us of the victory of the Cross. They should help us to put things in proper perspective and remember that we are pilgrims and strangers in this world. They should prompt us to give ourselves more generously to prayer, sacrifice and service.
As Our Lady of the Rosary reminded us at Fatima, peace in the world depends on our obedience to God’s call to repentance and faith.
Pax et Bonum.
–Fr. Peter