One act of abuse by a priest is one too many. I recoil when
people say, "Well teachers abuse and then what about the fact that most sexual abuse happens in the home?" I recoil because one act of sexual abuse by a priest be it natural with a woman, or always evil acts upon children or sodomitical perverted acts on young boys, teens or between each other as "consenting" adults, is one too many.
This is why we must firmly as followers of Christ state unequivocally that terrorism, is
terrorism. Period.
Those poor souls slaughtered in Christ Church (of all places) were following God, as they understand Him. They were sincere in their beliefs. We know, that outside the Catholic Church there is no salvation for any soul. But we also know that God is love and mercy, as well as justice and that He will not disown anyone who seeks him sincerely and through no fault of their own, have not been able to find Him fully, as Catholics. Yet, it is through the love of Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Church that these souls may have found peace after this terrible tragedy. This must be our hope and our prayer.
One of my colleagues is a Muslim. I tell you now that this man is a better “Christian” than many or even most of those Catholics around him. I know this man. I see how he treats people. How he respects the Catholic faith even though he is not a Catholic. I see how he treats his staff and how he is dedicated to his work and family. This man, is closer to Jesus than some of those around him who were baptised and who profanely receive the Blessed Sacrament.
The issue of violence in the Koran and in
history are very real and very complex. While on one hand there are the Medina commentaries, on the other, the Meccan. While on one hand we have my colleague and Imam Mohammed Tawidi @imamofpeace on the other we have the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Quaeda, ISIS, and more. The struggle in Islam is very real. The threat to the West is very real. But that threat is our fault. We have left the faith. We have left Christ. Nature abhors a vacuum. So does culture.
We cannot deny Islamic persecution of Christians. My Lebanese ancestors left in the
1880’s over it. The French went in to save the Maronites. We can not deny that
Islam wiped out Christianity throughout North Africa in less than a century. Slavery
still goes on. Islamism and its evils are very real. The blame for this must be laid upon us. We have failed and our Popes and our Bishops have failed in the "great commission," and the world is darker for it.
We must move beyond these realities to
the point where we can look at the sincerity and goodness of the person, such as my colleague.
May God grant peace to those butchered. Yet, let us not forget, even though the media seems to, that anti-Christian slaughter continues unabated at the hands of evil men.
We can only hope that Jesus
came to them and said, “I am the one that Mohammed rejected, now that I come to you, will you come to me now that you know?”
I pray their
response was to embrace him.
