Posted on 09/17/2001 3:25:57 AM PDT by fly_so_free
I went to Mass tonight and did not find the comfort I was seeking. To make a long story short, I'll tell you what bugged me the most about it.
The Pastor was talking about how the love of Jesus is shown in what people do for others, he mentioned the rescue workers but then he said it's shown when a father shows love instead of anger to his teenage daughter who has just told him she's pregnant, and then he said the love of Jesus is shown when a child writes to a death row inmate. There was no American flag in or out side of the Church. I was trying to keep my cool, but by the time Mass ended I said to the Lord, "If this doesn't end with some kind of Patriotic song , "I'm outta here." We sang God bless America as the closing song. The sad thing is the church was absolutely packed with people(more than I've ever seen) but the service was so flat, I don't know if all the people will come back next week.
The church I mentioned is not my usual church, but I have to go there because they are the closest one with a 6pm Sunday mass (thiss is the only time I can go because I work all weekend)
My usual church had a disturbing incident (according to my cousin) He said he went to Mass and at the part where you pray for people the lady asked the church to pray for Usama Bin Laden and our attackers. Both of these masses had lots of "we need to pray for peace-mustn't act in vengence- talks. My cousin said when the lady asked for the Bin laden prayer only about 1/3 of the church said the "LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER" response. A letter from Archbishop Mahony said "Let us be mindful to avoid unsupported speculation and to refrain from harmful stereo types" wich I think is in English but I'm not sure what he's getting at.
I watched the replay on Fox news of the attacks and I started thinking : What would Jesus do/say? As the famous question says. As the WTC collasped and the Pentagon burned and all the greiving families were shown, I said to myself: Are they really trying to tell me that Jesus, when confronted with all this terrible pain and greiving would really tell people to Pray for their attckers and to hell with their feelings ?
I mean there is turn the other cheek , but did he mean it in this way? Hitler would have won WWII if we turned the other cheek. The Jewish people turned the other cheek and 6 million were murdered.
I wonder how may people returned to church for the 1st time in a long time and were turned off by this. I wonder if there were any people in the church who lost family members, and might not come back because of the ladies Pray for Bin Laden comment. I think of Jesus's response to Lazarous's death as a clue. He (Jesus) knew he could raise Lazarous from the dead, and yet when he comes upon the greiving people it makes him cry. I've always thought this passage was unusual but also comforting. It seems to say that Jesus really does understand the pain of people greiving, and he didn't say anything preachy .
The reason I've said this is I want to confront the Pastor (he's a good friend of mine) about the whole Pray for Bin Laden thing. I find it down right offensive.
I am not doing anything with scripture but repeating it. It seems that Jesus's command to us to love our enemies cannot be anymore clear.
I do know this from my heart as well as from scripture, if you end up hating your enemy you have hardend your heart and you will close off yourself from God.
Sure it can. It can even mean you have to take their lives, but it doesn't mean you have to hate them while doing so. Its whats in your heart at the time you are acting. Once you turn your heart to hatred there is no room for God. Don't be afraid to love your enemies, they cannot hurt you unless they turn you to hate. So pray for them while getting ready to fight them. Its good for your heart and it keeps you focused that God is in charge in all things and that the Holy Spirit may still change the heart of your enemy. Instead of hate ask God to bring his peace to your heart:
John 14
One of the really nifty things about America is that we can disagree, 110%, about this and neither of us has to go to jail over it.
Our prayers should include the hope that he would come to a saving knowledge of Christ.
We can have two simultaneous approaches.
1. Supprot our President in his duties as Commander-in-Chief to establish justice during this act of war, and
2. Keep our hearts right before God and not take him out purely for th joy of it.
There is a difference between dealing with bin Laden as a matter of justice, and killing him out of spite. If we do it purely out of spite, I'm not sure that God will be able to determine who is wrong.
For the record, I think that justice will be better served if he were killed on the spot. That way, we avoid a long trial and perhaps can help take the money out of the hands of the lousy terrorists who follow him that would better serve their kids if they got a real job.
I'm not sure why you addressed this to me. I attend Mass every week, and I wasn't complaining. The homily was delivered by the Deacon rather than the Priest and I personally like Father Joe's homilies much better...but that's neither here nor there.
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