When peaceful silence lay over all, and night had run it half of her swift course, your all-powerful word, O Lord, leaped down from heaven, from the royal throne.–Wisdom 18:14-15.
This is the Entrance Antiphon for today’s Mass. There is a quiet beauty to the night and to the darkness that it brings. In the darkness I can see the lovely moon and stars and there is a quiet and stillness longed for in the day but not present until this special time. Sometimes the darkness frightens me and other times it soothes me. Last night was one of those peaceful nights when the word leaped down from heaven. It wasn’t the execution of Saddam. He was a brutal thug but I find no peace in his execution. I read today that the Vatican has condemned. A Vatican spokesman said, “Killing the guilty one is not the way to rebuild justice and reconcile society,” the spokesman said. “On the contrary, there is the risk that the spirit of revenge is fueled and that the seeds of new violence are sown.” I agree with the Vatican. What new seeds of violence were sown last night with the execution of Saddam?
The arms merchants who rule our country rejoice in another seed of violence. As long as seeds of violence continue to be sown they can continue to make billions of dollars in the name of freedom and democracy. There is little freedom and little democracy in Iraq. Only blood by the barrel full running in the streets, but they are making money by the bushel and don’t look for it to end soon. The gospel of Jesus Christ means nothing to these folks. They worship him with their mouths but their hearts are far from Him.
I am reminded of a quote I read recently from Sr. Joan Chittister.
“But I do not believe that just because you’re opposed to abortion, that makes you “pro-life”. In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking. If all you want is a child born but not a child fed, not a child educated, not a child housed and why would I think that you don’t? Because you don’t want any tax money to go there. That’s not “pro-life.” That’s pro-birth. We need a much broader conversation on what the morality of pro-life is.”
I think pro-life means less war, less executions, more forgiveness.
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