Ten seconds into this video and you think you’ve seen it before: the sound of firearms, of men shouting in an all too familiar language that we’ve heard over and over again in news sound bites.
Twenty seconds into this video and you’re “sympathetic” towards the woman’s plea, “isn’t it bad over there.”
Thirty seconds in and you’re baffled by the image of the whole room, and you’re struggling to comprehend the whole scenario. The pain almost becomes more real by the contrast between the woman and those who are standing around silent; “sympathy,” you understand, isn’t the proper response.
Forty seconds in… “Save us! In the name of humanity! Save us!” and you realize, though you thought you’d seen it before – and maybe you had – this was something that you could not turn away from.
That was certainly my experience of this video, and I hope, in some way, it is yours too.
Guilty Silence
The words of Msgr. Mirkis really hit me hard, especially in light of the way that I responded to those first forty seconds. He was describing me, and my complacency in thinking that I’d seen it before:
“Everything becomes normal… The first time shock, but the third time – normal.”
But the persecution of others should have never become normal. It’s an outrage, and it’s right that his response to this attitude is anger.
And yet the video remains so hopeful!
We hear how the persecution is showing the Christians just what a valuable treasure it is that they have. And there’s a call to stand firm, to be courageous, and to profess the faith with more commitment and zeal than they have in the past. It’s quite remarkable and words escape me.
For our part, the video calls for our prayers. And we must pray! For this is how we must respond in the very first instant to that woman’s cry for help, and this is how we break out of the normalization of their persecution. We must pray fervently, and we must pray with a simple and profound trust in the reality of the power that our prayers possess.
But what do we pray for? An end to the persecution? The conversion of the persecutors to Christ? We all have our own prayer of the heart, but let us pray as intercessors for our Christian brothers and sisters, in filial trust in God, and with steadfast perseverance in love.
This is still going on today. Right now. And so I invite you, having read this article, to stop and pray now: set down your device, turn off the radio, and pray for our brothers and sisters, for we must not stay silent.
- Autism Consecrated: A Neurodivergent Ministry By Neurodivergent People
Facebook Pinterest Gmail LinkedIn Print Friendly After several years of wishing for spiritual resources for neurodivergent people from a Catholic perspective, I collaborated with Father Mark P. Nolette, an autistic Catholic priest, to create Autism Consecrated in 2020. Our website aims to be a point of contact for autistic people seeking spiritual belonging and a… Read more: Autism Consecrated: A Neurodivergent Ministry By Neurodivergent People - Fools For Christ: The Strange Joy Of The Saints
Facebook Pinterest Gmail LinkedIn Print Friendly The World Today A missile cuts through the night sky, sending people scrambling across open space and towards safety. Elsewhere, a father scans his grocery list, second-guessing purchases and wondering if he can fit everything within budget. In another part of the world, behind closed doors, ultra-wealthy and influential… Read more: Fools For Christ: The Strange Joy Of The Saints - Washed In Love, Pierced By The Cross: Following Christ To The Vigil
Facebook Pinterest Gmail LinkedIn Print Friendly The Triduum is at the heart of our whole Christian life. It celebrates the Lord’s Pasch. We can understand Pasch as passage and passion. Our Lord passes from death to life through the suffering of His cross. The central image of all three days is the cross. The Church… Read more: Washed In Love, Pierced By The Cross: Following Christ To The Vigil - Easter Sunday Gospel Reflection
Facebook Pinterest Gmail LinkedIn Print Friendly On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told… Read more: Easter Sunday Gospel Reflection - Eucharistic Miracles And The Real Presence Of Christ
Facebook Pinterest Gmail LinkedIn Print Friendly We live in a world where secularization and technology have rendered most people detached from organized religion of any sort. Science has, to some extent, been hostile or at least ambivalent to faith, often creating doubt in people’s minds. What better way is there for Jesus to draw people… Read more: Eucharistic Miracles And The Real Presence Of Christ
