In His Light: “What’s going on!”
May 14, 2013
Once again we, as a nation, find ourselves coming face to face with the vileness that has resulted from another unconscionable act of terror inflicted upon us at the Boston Marathon on April 15. How does one begin to make sense of such an evil act that would cut short the life of a young innocent boy of 8 years of age?
The young lad was just returning to the finish line after getting ice cream with his family. How does the father of that child begin to come to deal with the realization that not only has he lost his only son, but his daughter’s leg has been amputated, and his wife is in the intensive care unit with critical injuries?
Being a child of the American Civil Rights Movement, I can vividly remember the senseless bombings that rocked our nation. As offsprings of the Cold War Era, we were quite aware of who our enemies were and where they existed.
We co-exist in a world today where we possess no clue about who our “real” enemies are or where they abide! Our rivals no longer exist in territories half-way around the globe; speak with a different and distinct dialect, nor are they embodied with a different skin tone. Our adversary today can be the individual who shares the office next to ours, our next door neighbor or our son living in the basement of our home.
What has happened to the nature of our nation when, not the criminal component of our society, but fellow judicial associates solicit death declarations on their colleagues?
In that same light, we as a Church need to look openly and honestly at ourselves and question: “Are we still teaching and preaching our Master’s Gospel of love and peace, or have we too become engulfed and lost our way ensnared by the political and societal rhetoric of our day?”
Our Lord’s entire life and ministry from His birth to His resurrection was a message of peace, acceptance and love, from the announcement of His birth to the lowly shepherd by the host of angels “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests” (Luke 2:14), to our risen Lord appearing to His disciples in Jerusalem on that first Easter Sunday evening and addressing them with the ancient greeting “Peace be with you” (Luke 24:36).
As our 2013 Easter season comes to its glorious fulfillment with the Solemnity of Pentecost, let us always be cognizant that this blessed and holy season should be for us an oasis where we truly encounter our risen Lord and Savior’s peace, love and joy and our renewed hope in his promise of eternal life.
Let us pray that those who have experienced the evil of terror, those within our shores and those halfway around our world, and in a special way, those who will encounter this despicable act within our foreseeable future may be granted a place of tranquility and rejoicing with Jesus, the Prince of Peace, perpetually glowing in His light.