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Christian Witness, Current Events, Perspective, Political

Why are we doing this?

Check out the photo from Iraq at the Young Fogey’s site — vastly sad, vastly disturbing.

This is what it is all about. It is not mysterious “terrorists” lurking in the shadows. It is not about a few bad apples in a large society. It is about killing, and the vast number of innocents, in the vastly larger context of a society, all of whom are suffering.

It is these three children today. There will be more tomorrow, more the day after, more every day on into the future. Perhaps John McCain is right – it will be 100 years.

Whether we personally pulled the trigger, dropped the bomb, placed the mine or not, we got the ball rolling based on lies, false pretense, and a concerted effort to keep citizens of the United States in a state of fear. We went against the advice of world leaders and the pope. We initiated a war of aggression, not of defense. We gave those who harbor evil the excuse they needed, just as we have provided the excuse for the fathers and uncles of those children. Therefore we must admit our mistake. We must extricate ourselves. We started this war. Certainly we cannot end it just by leaving — but if one less dies because we leave then something real will be achieved. If one moment of truth emerges because we leave, then something real will be achieved.

God forgive our complacency in the face of the evil we are doing.

Christian Witness, Current Events, Perspective, Political

Posts and observations

From the Young Fogey:

Why?

Exactly – a picture and a word that encompass the entire morass in Israel, Korea, Vietnam, the former Yugoslavia, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iraq, and just about anywhere else the U.S. decides to intervene and sacrifice its lives and wealth. While I fully decry threats to “freedom” and all other sorts of badness in the world, it is not incumbent upon us to save others from themselves. We can do charity, we can act as honest agents in negotiations, we can advocate, but we do not have to fix everything. We cannot. We have enough to take care of here at home. Being wealthy and powerful does not come with a demand that we be interventionist. It comes with a responsibility to ourselves and to charity.

The Passion as waterboarding

Somewhere in the Middle East, Jesus Christ is strapped to a bench, his head wrapped in clingfilm. He furiously sucks against the plastic. A hole is pierced, but only so that a filthy rag can be stuffed back into his mouth. He is turned upside down and water slowly poured into the rag. The torturer whispers religious abuse. If you are God, save yourself you f***ing idiot. Fighting to pull in oxygen through the increasingly saturated rag, his lungs start to fill up with water. Someone punches him in the stomach.

Which is quoted off another site. If you read the comments attached to the article you see a kind of quibbling that misses the bigger issue. To me the bigger issue is this: When you look at the folks “over there” or imprisoned at Guantanamo or held at other “black sites” what do you see? The quick and easy answer is “the enemy” or even “my enemy.” Look closely. Jesus actually looked like these folks. Jesus spoke in dialects much like they do. Jesus ate a lot of what they eat, and kind of lived like they do to this very day. Jesus was innocent as some of them are. Jesus was tortured, although innocent, just like some of them are. Jesus was killed, although innocent, just like some of them are.

We are all created in His image – even my enemy. He also told us that what we do, even to the least of our brothers, we do to Him. In the end we have to ask ourselves, in light of what we know, do we have reason to hold these people prisoner, and even if we do – which is justifiable – why torture them? Take a breath and hold it for a couple minutes – and while doing so pray – Lord, help me to see you, even in my enemies. Help me to witness Your love and teachings even though my neighbors, village, city, state, country, and church do not want to hear it.

The real Jesus?

The image is an artist’s rendition of what Jesus may have looked like (from the BBC). Looks familiar – no?

Christian Witness, Current Events, Perspective, Political

They shall drag you…

But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake.
This will be a time for you to bear testimony.

Two recent events point to the fact that Jesus’ words ring true even in “democratic” countries that proclaim religious freedom.

From LifeSiteNews via Catholic Online: UK Catholic Bishop Brought Before Parliament for insisting on orthodoxy in Catholic Schools

LONDON (LifeSiteNews) – The Catholic Bishop of Lancaster UK today gave a spirited response to accusations by secularist MPs in a Commons Committee who accused him of trying to establish religious “fundamentalism” in his schools.

Bishop Patrick O’Donoghue told the Committee that schools in his diocese should see it as their prime duty to teach the Catholic faith and to evangelise and that this constituted neither “proselytism” nor “fundamentalism”.

Crucifixes in every classroom, “sex-education” based on the principles of chastity and the sanctity of marriage, no school fundraising for anti-life groups and religious education based firmly in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: it sounds like the dream world of most Catholic parents.

But the scenario is one that was ordered last year by the Bishop O’Donoghue in a 66-page document, “Fit for Mission? – Schools”. The document was circulated to all teachers, staff, governors and parents in the diocese.

But the document that received high praise from parents, Catholic lay organizations and the Vatican, has drawn the ire of the increasingly aggressive secularist wing of the British government.

Earlier this year, the Labour MP for Huddersfield, Barry Sheerman, told the media that this new document was a worrying sign of a new “fundamentalist” direction on the part of the Church. Sheerman, the chairman of the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee, called Bishop O’Donoghue to explain his intentions…

Of course there is the recent dust-up over Barak Obama’s Pastor. For example, from the NY Times: Obama Denounces Statements of His Pastor as ‘Inflammatory’.

The best line from the article was this one:

“If you’re black, it’s hard to say what you truly think and not upset white people,— said James Cone, a professor at Union Theological Seminary and the father of black liberation theology, who has known Mr. Wright since he was a seminary student.

Something easily said of Christianity ‘If you’re Christian, it’s hard to say what you truly think and not upset people.’

Opposing, and speaking against, racism, inequality, wars and insane foreign policies – spending billions per month while people starve, roads and bridges collapse, treating human beings as less than human… The sins are many – and good on Pastor Wright for speaking in witness against those sins.

—We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards,— he said. —America’s chickens are coming home to roost.— — Pastor Wright

Yes, we are guilty in our sins of commission and omission when our planes, guns, cluster bombs, and bulldozers are used against women, children, and innocent bystanders.

Thank you to the Young Fogey for some of the links in this post.

Christian Witness, Current Events, Perspective, Political

Eternal rest grant onto him…

Per Reuters (and others) the body of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho has been found.

MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) – A Chaldean Catholic archbishop who was kidnapped in Iraq last month was found dead on Thursday, his body half-buried in an empty lot in the northern city of Mosul, police said.

Paulos Faraj Rahho, the archbishop of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, was abducted on February 29 after gunmen attacked his car and killed his driver and two guards…

From the Litany for the Dead:

All you holy Martyrs, Pray for the souls of the faithful departed.
All you Bishops and Confessors, Pray for the souls of the faithful departed.
That Thou would be pleased to receive him into the company of the Blessed, We beseech Thee, Hear Us!
Merciful Lord Jesus grant him everlasting rest. Amen.

Lord have mercy on us for what we have wrought in Iraq.

Current Events, Everything Else, Perspective, Political

Incarceration rate lower for immigrants

From the San Francisco Chronicle: Study: Incarceration rate lower for immigrants

Immigrants in California are far less likely to land in prison than their U.S.-born counterparts, a finding that defies the perception that immigration and crime are connected, according to a study released Monday.

Foreign-born residents make up 35 percent of the state’s overall population, but only 17 percent of the adult prison population, according to the Public Policy Institute of California, which conducted the research.

Noncitizen men from Mexico between the ages of 18 and 40, which the study indicated were more likely to be in the country illegally, were eight times less likely to be in a “correctional setting,” the study found.

The study did not address the visa status of those included among the foreign-born, which would include citizens and noncitizens, including those in the country legally and illegally.

Nonetheless, these results have implications for the current debates over immigration policy, said Kristin Butcher, co-author of the report.

“Our research indicates that limiting immigration, requiring higher educational levels to obtain visas or spending more money to increase penalties against criminal immigrants will have little impact on public safety,” Butcher said in a statement.

While immigrants often have lower levels of education and higher poverty rates, which are normally associated with higher crimes rates, other factors are probably contributing to the underrepresentation among the foreign-born in state prisons…

The story doesn’t mention it, but I would venture to state that immigrants are representative the societies they come from, i.e., family oriented, hard working, and with a strong religious and moral code founded in the Catholic faith. They are here for the purpose of improving the lives of their families – the collective whole of their lives. Going to prison defeats that purpose.

Christian Witness, Current Events, Perspective, Political

Chaldean archbishop kidnapped

From Reuters via the Gulf News: Gunmen kidnap Iraqi Chaldean Catholic archbishop

Mosul, Iraq: Gunmen kidnapped the Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Mosul on Friday in the northern Iraqi city and killed his driver and two guards, police said.

In Rome, Pope Benedict deplored the kidnapping of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho as a “despicable” crime and urged the gunmen to free the prelate.

Provincial police spokesman Brigadier-General Khaled Abdul Sattar said Rahho was kidnapped in the al-Nour district in eastern Mosul when he left a church.

“Gunmen opened fire on the car, killed the other three and kidnapped the archbishop,” he said.

…

An assistant to Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, the Chaldean patriarch of Baghdad and spiritual leader of Iraq’s Catholics, said they had heard that three people were killed and they did not know the fate of the Rahho.

Chaldeans belong to a branch of the Roman Catholic Church that practises an ancient Eastern rite. Most of its members are in Iraq and Syria, and they form the biggest Christian community in Iraq.

The Vatican issued a statement in Rome saying the pope was saddened by “this new despicable act” which it called a premeditated criminal act.

“The Holy Father asks the universal Church to join in his fervent prayer so that reason and humanity prevails in the kidnappers and Monsignor Rahho is returned to his flock soon,” the statement said.

A number of Christian clergy have been kidnapped or killed, and churches bombed in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion.

Last June, gunmen killed Catholic priest Ragheed Aziz Kani and three assistants in Mosul, 390 km north of Baghdad, after stopping his car near a church in the eastern part of the ethnically and religiously mixed city.

The assailants dragged out the priest and his assistants and shot them dead in an attack that was condemned by Pope Benedict…

This sort of thing didn’t happen under Saddam Hussein. Now, the persecution of Christians is a regular occurrence. This under the U.S. backed government of Iraq. That’s the U.S. government run by a man who calls himself a Christian.

Of course, as I’ve said here before, Evangelicals like Mr. Bush believe Catholics aren’t Christians at all. To Mr. Bush the murder of these people is just one more step along the route to the Armageddon. Hurray for Israel, hurray for death, hurray for the second coming. My will be done.

Thankfully, real Christians of every sort have the assurance that only the Father knows the time, and that Mr. Bush’s idea of control does not affect God in any way (other than the sorrow He must feel at the deaths that Mr. Bush has inflicted).

May God return the Archbishop safely and may the perpetual light shine upon those who were murdered. Amen.

Christian Witness, Current Events, Media, Political

On ++Williams and Sharia

When I first read about the Archbishop of Canterbury’s speech on English jurisprudence, a speech from a highly respected scholar and theologian, to legal scholars, I thought to myself – he’s right.

Soon after that — very soon — I started to see the reaction. There was dismay from the mainstream press, rabid screaming from Evangelical/Fundamentalist ™ Christians, and the requisite calls for resignation, flogging, and the comfy chair.

For those so inclined – who really want to understand what occurred and the content of the Archbishop’s speech – I highly recommend three pieces from the Faith and Theology blog:

Like the allowance for other forms of jurisprudence, such as the Jewish Batei Din (per Wikipedia, Israel allows for religiously established courts with authority over those religions’ adherents), the allowance for Sharia among Muslims is just the sort of right a pluralistic society must accept, and as Mike Higton explains, a means to bring religious discourse into a conversation focused on a faith community’s public accountability, public discourse, public explanation, and public scrutiny.

In Poland, the Jewish population (pre-1793) was granted broad authority in managing its own affairs. This extended so far as to allow for an entirely parallel system of government. The Jewish population had its own parliament (a hybrid between the old Sanhedrin and the modern Knesset) and civil courts were only involved in matters where Jews and non-Jews were in conflict. This sort of system was representative of the pluralistic society Poland encompassed.

For an excellent recap of religious freedom and pluralism in Poland see Poland’s 1997 Constitution in Its Historical Context from which I excerpt:

Jews had been in Poland at least since the ninth century (predating the introduction of Catholicism), establishing separate communities alongside Polish cities and villages. By a law of 1367, these Jewish communities, called kahały were given substantial autonomy to establish their own organizations and tribunals. By the sixteenth century some 150 thousand Jews lived in Poland, mostly in and around the larger cities, and they were self-governed by Jewish parliaments known as waady. Jewish liberties in Poland were not absolute, however. Aside from the continual, unofficial intolerance they suffered from burghers and peasants, Jews were also legally prohibited from owning land, taking out tenancies, leasing state revenues, and trading in royal cities. Nevertheless, Jews did own land, take out tenancies, and even refused to pay taxes under protection of the nobility.

The nobility —cultivated a special relationship— with Jewish communities for reasons that were largely economic. Unlike most other European countries, Poland allowed Jews to establish businesses and engage in various trades; they were not restricted to money-lending. Because Poland’s Jews could become debtors as well as creditors, the nobles who lent Jews money to start businesses or trades were incented to ensure their well-being. Consequently, when the King abandoned his legal responsibility to protect the Jews, the nobility became, first, their de facto protectors and, later, their new legal protectors (under laws enacted in 1539 and 1549). Under the nobility’s auspices, Jewish tradesmen were able to circumvent cumbersome town-guild regulations, and Jewish financiers were able to loan money at favorable interest rates set by the Sejm. And, like other minority groups in Poland, Jews were able to lobby the Sejm to protect their rights; they contributed to officials and attended meetings of Parliament.

In sum, in the sixteenth century, while Jews were being expelled from whole regions of Germany, Austria, and Bohemia, they lived in Poland in relative peace and prosperity. With the exception of the —Catholic elite,— their situation in Poland differed little from that of any other group. Indeed, they were not the only minority group to prosper under the political reign of the nobility. The szlachta became the guarantors of religious liberty for all parties in Poland throughout the Renaissance and into the Counter-Reformation.

Every law the Sejm enacted which protected religious or civil liberty had its roots in the nobility’s struggle to retain its own political rights. And the szlachta resisted every call for religious persecution out of fear that legally sanctioned intolerance might result in increased royal authority at their expense. But their motivations were not only political and economic; a real streak of libertarianism runs through their writings. For example, Jan Zamoyski, Chancellor of the Polish Crown in the sixteenth century (during the reign of King Stefan Batory), wrote, —I would give half my life if those who have abandoned the Roman Catholic Church should voluntarily return to its pale; but I would prefer giving all my life than to suffer anybody to be constrained to do it, for I would rather die than witness such an oppression.— Even the King, Zygmunt August (the last of the Jagiellonian dynasty), reflected the religious tolerance of his time when he wrote, —’I am not king of your consciences, I wish to be monarch equally of the sheep and of the goats, I am afraid of tearing wheat as well as tares.’—

Poland had been officially Catholic since the tenth century, but while other Catholic countries were persecuting their religious minorities and executing dissidents (especially during the Reformation), Poland consistently permitted its minorities and dissidents to pursue their own religious beliefs and practices unhindered. In the eighteenth century, the French Catholic Rulhiere wrote of sixteenth-century Poland: —’This country, which in our day we have seen divided on the pretext of religion, is the first state in Europe that exemplified tolerance. In this state, mosques arose between churches and synagogues.— Indeed, in 1616 there were more than 100 mosques in Poland.

Religious toleration was not only official policy in sixteenth-century Poland; it was the law, codified in the 1573 Warsaw Confederation, reputed to be the first document in European history to constitutionalize religious toleration…

Countries claim broad mandates for freedom and tolerance. Their citizenry has a right to know – to what extent freedom, to what extent tolerance, to what extent do we live together in mutual respect? Multiculturalism and pluralism are concepts bandied about – but rarely put into practice — just try to ignore the Jones next door. May a citizen be who he or she wishes to be? A good question. A question Christians must consider because we owe allegiance to no man, to no country, only to God. Does our government allow for that? Can we say that freely? Are we willing to enter into a broad dialog with society over what we believe? Are we willing to face public accountability, public discourse, public explanation, and public scrutiny? This would not be a problem if we who claim belief, who have a faith built on natural reason, are willing to take that faith and belief into the fray.

Allowing for Sharia is not all that far from allowing for Holy Mass, private confession, and most especially the preaching of the Gospel. The Gospel is supposed to be our guiding life principal, encompassing the way we live, act, and interact from day-to-day.

Christian Witness, Current Events, Perspective, Political,

Ah, to live in a free country…

From the BBC: Academic sentenced over Ataturk

A Turkish court has handed down a 15-month suspended jail term to an academic found guilty of insulting the state’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Professor Atilla Yayla said the trial highlighted the limits on free speech and academic debate in Turkey.

His crime was to suggest in academic discussion that the early Turkish republic was not as progressive as portrayed in official books…

I suppose the same could happen in the U.S. as we slide merrily along in our adulation of cultic figures. Insult President Bush, his administration, Brittany Spears, Israel, the war on terror ™ any other “sacred” visage you may well find yourself before the courts. But of course faith is an open target – especially Jesus.

Just the way things should be in truth.

Unless faith stands counter to the world it is prone to act in subservience to itI would cite acquiescence to government mandates on reproductive “health” services by Catholic hospitals or caving to other government mandates by Catholic Charities agencies as a symptoms of such a problem. What amazes me is the annual ritual in my state capital involving Catholic Bishops who demand government money for Catholic schools. And you want the government telling you what to teach … why?. We may well be hated by the world – and if we are we are probably close to spot-on. That’s what witness brings. It is something faithful Christians are called to do in ways big and small.

Government is not the friend or protector of religion, especially the radical witness of faith in Jesus Christ. Those who think it is are sadly mistaken. While we are blessed by freedom in the United States – or at a minimum a faí§ade of freedom, that does not mean that we can be lazy in our faith. Freedom is not a license to relax in our witness. It is an opportunity to speak the truth. Let’s use that freedom wisely. Let’s use our freedom like the wise servants used their talents.

`Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.’ — Matthew 25:21 (RSV)

Current Events, Poland - Polish - Polonia, Political

Coincidences of history – Germany looses again

In the past week we learned that Louis de Cazenave, France’s second last surviving World War I veteran passed away on Sunday, January 20th.

Now we learn that Germany’s last World War I veteran predeceased France’s second last veteran by nearly 20 days. The BBC reports in Germany’s ‘last’ WWI veteran dies that Erich Kaestner died January 1st.

I just found it to be an interesting juxtaposition.

Wikipedia has an interesting page on the deaths of World War I veterans. It indicates that the last German survivor also predeceased the second last remaining Polish veteran, Stanisław Wycech who died on January 12th. Other surviving veterans are listed here.

In any event, may they all rest in peace.

Christian Witness, Current Events, Media, Perspective, PNCC, ,

Praying for those who have not faith

There is much consternation out there over several issues that have come to the fore, seemingly simultaneously.

As I look through these events I continually ask myself – what do we as Catholics believe, what is our foundation, and why does any of this worldly stuff matter to us.

Of course our foundation – our rock – is Jesus Christ, true God, true man, the second person in the Holy Trinity. Acknowledging that, everything else becomes rather secondary. Politics – bleh. The media – huh? Sports celebrities, talking heads, pundits, actors – who they?

If that is our faith, and I am certain it is, I propose a new tactic in dealing with the idiosyncrasies of the worldly, the worldly that surround, and may indeed, outnumber us. That tactic is prayer and silence.

I will start with a few recent hot button issues.

ESPN controversy

It appears that some commentator as ESPN wishes to have intercourse with Jesus. A person by the name of Dana Jacobson went off on an anti-Christian tirade at a recent ESPN function honoring ESPN Radio personalities Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic. The vulgar speech has raised the ire of various defense and anti-defamation leagues. All the callings on the carpet, chest beating, call for apologies, and subsequent apologies do not really amount to too much. If a professional person can do something of this caliber – without thinking twice before speaking – well I am sorry for her.

Rather than react, I propose that we pray, and bear these insults in Holy silence. That tongue biting we do is our penance for the times we ourselves have spoken callously of others. In addition it is the kind of sacrifice – the kind of silence – that brings results.

Clergy bless abortion clinic

In my neck of the woods — LifeSite News reports: Pro-Abortion Clergy Bless New York Abortion Business as “Sacred Ground”

…a group of pro-abortion clergy in Schenectady held a ceremony at a local abortion business to bless it and call it “sacred ground.” Religious officials who are pro-life call the ceremony sacrilegious by blessing a place that kills the life God creates.

Rev. Larry Phillips of Schenectady’s Emmanuel-Friedens Church dedicated the ground, according to a report in the Albany Times Union.

…

Another minister prayed for safety for the abortion business and a local rabbi blew a shofar to dedicate the building as an honorable place in the community.

My gut reaction is that this is horrible. A good dressing down of the Rev. Phillips and the others involved? Outrage? Scathing criticism? Rather, prayer and Holy silence.

Jews, and Muslims, and Hindus, oh my

The Western Confucian (thanks to the Young Fogey for the link) discusses the rage of the Hebrews. Good points in the quid-pro-quo sense. This, along with events like the Episcopal Bishop of Los Angeles’ apology to the Hindus (thanks again Fogey) are issues best left to God – and beyond the value of discussion.

In the PNCC we certainly pray for the conversion of all who do not believe in Christ or for that matter believe in God at all. That includes a pretty large chunk on the world. Our neighbors in the Hindu Temple – yep, them. The Jews at Chabad House in Colonie – yep. The Muslims in Albany – yes. The Mormons in Latham – them too. Unitarians, agnostics, atheists, and anyone else who does not believe in God as He revealed Himself – One and Trinitarian.

Better yet, on Holy Saturday, after the Third Exhortation we pray:

Lord God,
You are an immovable power
and an eternal Light.
Look graciously on this mystery,
which is Your whole Church,
and the vehicle of our salvation,
with unceasing direction and sufficient assistance.
May the whole world witness
that You raise up the humble,
and make old things new.
May all humanity come to know
that all things return to their pristine existence
through Jesus Christ, Your Son…

…and after the Fourth we pray:

Almighty Eternal God,
in Jesus Christ You showed us
the best example to follow.
Grant that all nations of the world
will unite in Him with love for You…

In these, and all the prayers of the Holy Church, we acknowledge God as He is – and we really do not think anyone else has a clue or insight that can beat God’s self revelation. They may well be on the road to salvation – and they are well within God’s merciful hands – something we in the PNCC acknowledge in our Confession of Faith:

I BELIEVE that all peoples as children of one Father, God, are equal in themselves; that privileges arising from differences in rank, from possession of immense riches or from differences of faith, sex and race, are a great wrong, for they are a violation of the rights of man which he possess by his nature and the dignity of his divine origin, and are a barrier to the purposeful development of man.

…and

I BELIEVE in immortality and everlasting happiness in eternity in union with God of all people, races and ages, because I believe in the Divine power of love, mercy and justice and for nothing else do I yearn, but that it may be to me according to my faith.

But still, we do not deny our faith, or refuse to offer them our prayers, our Holy silence, and our wish that they come to Christ – because doing so is Christian charity.

We truly do believe in God. We believe that He offers all that we need. As such the vices of the world cannot harm us. Our responses to provocations and the ways of the worldly must be borne of complete charity – which is love – and that love finds its fulfillment in our prayer, our sacrifice, and most particularly the ultimate prayer – the Holy Mass.

The fact is that prayer and Holy silence will actually accomplish more than our words, protests, and blogging will ever accomplish. They are proactive in the sense of calling down grace. They place us in the experience of the Divine interlude. It is the music of the place that is between heaven and earth. It is where we stand in the breech, bringing the world to God and God to the world. Couple our prayer and Holy silence with some fasting and works of charity – and most of all love toward these sad folks – folks who are angry, hate-filled, resentful, misguided, and ultimately apart from those whom they disparage – and we will be doing the work of God.

A family member recently noted that Christians pray for the faithful. She wondered why we do not pray for those without faith – because they need the prayers. She is right. Both the faithful and the faithless need prayer – in equal amounts. The faithful so that they remain true. The faithless so that they are brought to God’s self revelation in accordance with God’s timing and God’s grace.

If we love rather than react with rage it is not capitulation. Silence is not acquiescence. Prayer is not useless. We must remind ourselves – do not volunteer yourself onto someone else’s stage, and if you are dragged there – He will give you the words. We must act on the eternal stage and bear a witness to truth that is beyond time and place. Surely we are to speak the truth, but on our stage – and on the terms set down by the Heavenly Father.

Those who hate cannot be won by argument or voices raised in protest. Only the grace of God can change their hearts. For this we pray. Lord have mercy on us. Amen.

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