Pray for those who persecute you...

I have to say that upon waking up to the news this morning that Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. Special Forces I didn’t quite know what to think.  This was obviously a man who has caused much tragedy and heartache in our country and throughout the world for many, many years.  This was a man who had been hunted by the United States of America for nearly 10 years.  I myself traveled to New York in November of 2001, I saw the devastation that was left by the two planes that flew into the World Trade Center.  I did not suffer the loss of anyone that I knew personally, but like most Americans who watched on TV, and then saw the aftermath in person, I was both saddened and outraged at the atrocity that was committed.

However, after hearing the initial news this morning, I logged onto Facebook, and saw the comments of many of my friends who were absolutely jubilant in their rejoicing that this man had been killed.  Not only was this attitude of celebration evident in these Facebook posts, but on almost every news website across cyberspace.  One of my friends, who posted that he found it sad that people were celebrating, took some abuse by subsequent commenters. 

Upon much reflection throughout the day, I can wholeheartedly state that I find this level of celebration in the killing of a human being to be disturbing and wholly contrary to my Christian faith.

Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, in his brief statement today had this to say: "In the face of a man's death, a Christian never rejoices, but reflects on the serious responsibilities of each person before God and before men, and hopes and works so that every event may be the occasion for the further growth of peace and not of hatred.” (See the Catholic News Service story here). 

Forgiveness is at the very heart and essence of Christianity.  I think that Fr. Lombardi put it very well that a Christian must reflect on the serious responsibility of each person before God and before men.  We are all great sinners, every one of us.  No, we haven’t ordered planes to be flown into tall buildings, but we all sin, both against God and against our fellow man. 

We see plainly the teaching of Jesus Christ on anger: “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.'  But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, 'Raqa,' will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna.” Matthew 5:21-22. 

And also: "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on (your) right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow. "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:38-48.

These are hard words that Christ preaches during the Sermon on the Mount.  To be sure, we fall short of his commands all the time, but to think that we, as those who claim to be Christians, would so easily cast these crucial teachings aside to celebrate today, scares me just as much as the terrible things that Osama bin Laden did while he was alive.  If Christians cannot bravely follow Christ, and be an example of His love to the rest of the world, then evil will never be defeated.  We are called to be a light to the world, not to be in the same darkness as the rest of the world.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that “By recalling the commandment, ‘You shall not kill,’ our Lord asked for peace of heart and denounced murderous anger and hatred as immoral. “  (CCC 2302).  Are we truly seeking “peace of heart” when we celebrate the killing of another human being?  What does our hatred gain us?  Further, we are told that anger is a desire for revenge, and as St. Thomas Aquinas puts it “to desire vengeance in order to do evil to some who should be punished is illicit”.  (CCC 2302).  Bin Laden certainly deserved punishment for his actions, but Christ commands us to put away our anger.  The Catechism continues, telling us that “if anger reaches the point of a deliberate desire to kill or seriously wound a neighbor, it is gravely against charity; it is a mortal sin” and that “hatred of the neighbor is a sin when one deliberately wishes him evil”. (CCC 2302-2303).

We must continually strive to follow Christ’s personal example.  We Christians just celebrated Easter last weekend, and in the story of the Passion, we see Christ’s great forgiveness clearly demonstrated.  We see Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he is about to be arrested command Peter: “Put your sword back into its sheath, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”  Matthew 26: 52.  Upon the cross Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”  Luke 23:34.  Finally, Jesus shows us that while we still have breath within us, it is never too late to be forgiven, when he granted forgiveness to the good thief who hung on the cross next to him.  (See Luke 23:39-43).

Yesterday,  May 1, 2011, we celebrated both Divine Mercy Sunday and the beatification of now Blessed Pope John Paul II, truly two things worthy of celebration.  So today, can we not strive to act, in word and thought, as Christ did when it came to mercy and forgiveness?  I pray that we can find the strength to follow Fr. Lombardi’s words: that we may each hope and work so that every event in our lives may be the occasion for the further growth of peace and not of hatred.  God Bless.