Father Simone’s Word of the Week

“All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.  What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:2-5)  This pre-eminent fact of the Gospel of Christ that should define us and unite us.  How are you carrying the undeniable darkness that is in our time?  When an event or issue are felt by all, we should be praying about it: lending our thoughts to the Lord and listening for what He wants.  We’re all rightly concerned with the ongoing war and loss in the Ukraine and Gaza.  Countless other lives are lost each day without us even knowing it.  We were shocked at that Catholic School shooting recently.  Right now, the whole nation feels upended by the political assassination of Charlie Kirk.  If we just want to forget it and move on, that says something.  If we are only watching more news, rather than taking it to prayer, not good enough.  Please be gracious as I share what Jesus has put on my heart to say. 
 
As Catholic Christians above every other alignment and identity, we need to name where the darkness is and what the devil is doing, so we can turn more to the Lord and follow His light.  Political responsibility is a duty, but God did not intend politics to become this all-encompassing, obsessive, polarizing force it’s become.  That’s the devil’s work.  If Jesus’s lead in our lives becomes secondary, how easily we can become lost and separated.  The devil wants us to constantly say “They did this” when we should be sorrowful that we together foster this diabolical division.  It is diabolical when one can hate the voice of another so much that they would do anything to silence their voice.  In this case, that some would rather see them dead.  When there is actually joy or humor, when a life is taken…killed…that’s evil.  It doesn’t honor God either to hold up Charlie as just a hero for the conservatives.  Imperfect as he was, he was a fellow Christian openly-devoted to Jesus.  The light I see shining through the darkness, across our country is prayer.  There is a greater awareness of the evil our divisions cause.  Christians are becoming more emboldened about proclaiming His truth.  We’re all held to the same measure.  Do we want what God wants in every way?  Do we trust Jesus in all things?  Do simply love God and want to make Him loved?  Do we align our truths with His and share it?  If we find ourselves hated for being true to Him, Jesus said “If the world hates you, realize it hated me first”  “But take courage, I have conquered the world.”  The Light shines in the darkness.