Dear sisters and brothers in Christ, 

 

In Thursday’s email, I reflected that we people of faith bring a vital truth to the post-mortem of America’s war and nation-building in Afghanistan. You can read the 3-minute reflection “September 11th After Twenty Years” at https://nativity.org/faith-reflections.  

 

The vital truth is that God’s response to evil is Jesus Christ’s passion and death on the cross. Following Christ, we people of God can respond to evil in five ways. 

 

Our first response to evil is to pray for the victims of evil. For the passengers on American Flight 11 and United Flight 175, which were flown into the World Trade Center, for all the workers who perished in the World Trade Center and neighboring buildings, for the firefighters, police and rescue workers who died trying to save others, for the crew and passengers on American Airlines Flight 77, which was flown into the Pentagon, for the military personnel and civilians who were killed and injured at the Pentagon, for the heroic crew passengers on United Flight 93, which crashed into the field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, for all military personnel who have died in the battle against terrorism, for all those who have died as the result of terrorist activity and for those who mourn them, we commend them to God. 

 

Our second grace-filled response to evil is to forgive the perpetrators of evil. Jesus did not return evil with evil or violence with violence. Rather, he prayed from the cross, “Father, forgive them.” Delivered into the hands of the wicked, he prayed for his persecutors. He poured out his blood for them.  

 

We must forgive. Impossible for us alone but commanded by Christ, we pray for our enemies. Yes, we pray for Osama bin Laden, the Taliban, and terrorists. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:43-48). Period. The Lord taught us to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” He taught us to forgive. 

 

Our third response to evil is to confront evil. We cannot remain silent before terrorism, abortion, racism, or climate change any more than we could remain silent after the attacks of September 11. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” The Lord hears the cry of the poor. Just so, his church must confront evil. 

 

Our fourth grace-filled response to evil is to repent. As we reflect on the twentieth anniversary of September 11, we examine when we have returned evil with evil and violence with violence in thought, word or deed. We must beg forgiveness for when we have demonized foes at home or abroad, dismissed others with contempt, and hardened our heart to “teach them a lesson.”  

 

Fr. Matt Malone wrote how our culture no longer believes in a fallen world. Instead, it believes we live in an imperfect society. “A fallen world requires a divine redeemer. An imperfect society just needs a better plan. In a fallen world, our redemption comes to us as merciful gift. In an imperfect society, our redemption lies in self-improvement.” The “better plan” believes that a better economy, better national security, better schools, better judges, better civil rights or whatever the latest gospel will save us from evil and make us a better people. All these things matter, of course, but only insofar as they serve one another in the name of Jesus Christ. We must repent of placing our hope in anything or anyone other than the Lord to deliver us from evil. 

 

The fifth response to evil sums up the other four. Jesus, after explaining in this Sunday’s gospel he would suffer and die, laid out the path to share his victory over evil. “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34). In our response to evil, may we follow Christ. 

 

In Christ, 

Father David