As we approach the end of the year, we are ever surrounded by unrest and strife in the world. Worse, there have been two events of senseless killings in America, committed by young men; one in an Oregon shopping mall and the other in a Connecticut elementary school involving the massacre of six year olds.
How do we make sense of killing for killing's sake? Both tragedies are abominable acts of violence that has made the world a darker place.
How did each of these young men arrive at the place where they decided to unleash firepower on other people with the intent to hurt and kill.
It is so easy to blame society, the legal system, the government; or to take matters into our own hands by bringing a gun to school to defend ourselves which is what an 11 year old in Utah did in the aftermath of Sandy Hook, but what each of us can do to fight these unconscionable acts of violence is to bring change in a radical non-violent way by loving as Christ did.
In the final chapter of Landmarks, To Love You More Dearly, Silf talks about the Fourth Week of Saint Ignatius's Spiritual Exercises which she likens to an earthquake where all but Truth is destroyed and truth itself transcends into Life.
This "resurrection energy" is what enables us to be expert witnesses, to walk the transformation that we have experienced interiorly, and to be channels of grace that receive and give constantly in our everyday lives, even in the face of hatred, anger or adversity.
As Father Romeo exhorted in his homily this morning, we all need to undergo metanoia which not only means repentance, but going beyond our understanding. We need to carry the words of John the Baptist in our hearts and go beyond ourselves every day by acting in love to all, and in all the circumstances of our lives.
The prayer of Saint Francis says it best for me:
Lord, make me a channel of thy peace.
That where there is hatred I may bring love,
That where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness,
That where there is discord, I may bring harmony,
That where there is error I may bring truth,
That where there is doubt I may bring faith,
That where there is despair I may bring hope,
That where there are shadows I may bring light,
That where there is sadness I may bring joy.
Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted,
To understand than to be understood,
To love than to be loved.
For it is by forgetting self that one finds.
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven,
it is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.
In simple and concrete ways, we can restore light in a darkened world. This is how we can live out the Christmas story, this fourth week of Advent when we light the fourth candle that represents love.
My SD gave me two questions to take into my prayer time:
In the morning I should ask, "Lord, show me how to be light?", and during my evening reflection, "How have I been available today?". Thus, in this way, I can learn to love Christ more dearly.
While I can only offer up prayers for all those who were killed in both shootings and for healing in their families, I can make a difference in my community by being more welcoming, more loving and more forgiving.
...on those who live in a land of deep shadow, a light has shone. Isaiah 9:2
How do we make sense of killing for killing's sake? Both tragedies are abominable acts of violence that has made the world a darker place.
How did each of these young men arrive at the place where they decided to unleash firepower on other people with the intent to hurt and kill.
It is so easy to blame society, the legal system, the government; or to take matters into our own hands by bringing a gun to school to defend ourselves which is what an 11 year old in Utah did in the aftermath of Sandy Hook, but what each of us can do to fight these unconscionable acts of violence is to bring change in a radical non-violent way by loving as Christ did.
In the final chapter of Landmarks, To Love You More Dearly, Silf talks about the Fourth Week of Saint Ignatius's Spiritual Exercises which she likens to an earthquake where all but Truth is destroyed and truth itself transcends into Life.
This "resurrection energy" is what enables us to be expert witnesses, to walk the transformation that we have experienced interiorly, and to be channels of grace that receive and give constantly in our everyday lives, even in the face of hatred, anger or adversity.
As Father Romeo exhorted in his homily this morning, we all need to undergo metanoia which not only means repentance, but going beyond our understanding. We need to carry the words of John the Baptist in our hearts and go beyond ourselves every day by acting in love to all, and in all the circumstances of our lives.
The prayer of Saint Francis says it best for me:
Lord, make me a channel of thy peace.
That where there is hatred I may bring love,
That where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness,
That where there is discord, I may bring harmony,
That where there is error I may bring truth,
That where there is doubt I may bring faith,
That where there is despair I may bring hope,
That where there are shadows I may bring light,
That where there is sadness I may bring joy.
Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted,
To understand than to be understood,
To love than to be loved.
For it is by forgetting self that one finds.
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven,
it is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.
In simple and concrete ways, we can restore light in a darkened world. This is how we can live out the Christmas story, this fourth week of Advent when we light the fourth candle that represents love.My SD gave me two questions to take into my prayer time:
In the morning I should ask, "Lord, show me how to be light?", and during my evening reflection, "How have I been available today?". Thus, in this way, I can learn to love Christ more dearly.
While I can only offer up prayers for all those who were killed in both shootings and for healing in their families, I can make a difference in my community by being more welcoming, more loving and more forgiving.
...on those who live in a land of deep shadow, a light has shone. Isaiah 9:2
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