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Posted by Rebecca Teti in News on Friday, August 05, 2011 10:00 AM
Wednesday morning a Catholic church was bombed in Kirkuk.
For some reason, as I used to say when I was a Protestant, the Lord has laid the Christians of the Middle East on my heart; I think about them and their struggles and pray for them almost constantly.
My heart aches for families like yours and mine, wanting just to live a decent life in peace, attacked and hated for no reason other than their Christianity. I’m sorry for their suffering and their losses, and I feel at a loss for what to do for them apart from calling attention to their stories now and again so people will pray for them.
Whenever one of these sad stories appears, however, I find that in addition to sorrow I also feel a certain degree of pride, shame and also, oddly, joy.
The pride I feel is for these Christians of indomitable spirit. Louis Sako, Archbishop of Kirkuk, of course condemned the bombings as sinful, unjust and cowardly. But he also said:
Despite what has happened we will never give up. We will continue our mission. We will never stop witnessing to Christ.
I love him and his entire community for that! Over and over they’ve said they are going to stay to make Christ present in Iraq. It makes me proud to know that there are Christians who know how to turn the other cheek, to endure suffering for Christ, and to witness to him in the workings of daily life, quietly, but unto death if necessary.
They also put me to shame, when I think of how often I am cowed to silence for fear of being disliked or disagreed with.
The source of the odd joy is this. I have no doubt these Christians who are suffering so much right now are being granted the grace to endure by the prayers of the rest of the Church. They give us the heartening example of their courage and faith in return, which hopefully inspires us to be a bit more plucky in the face of the cultural battles to which we’re called to bring the light of both truth and charity. This is the communion of saints: by the power of God we give to each other the grace and strength we need to each meet the challenges of our time and place, and to bring Christ into the world wherever we are.
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I can relate to not always speaking up in cultural battles (abortion/gay marriage). I don’t always voice my opinion when I should. I always worry about coming off as self righteous. When clearly I have my own issues.
These people are so inspirational to me as well. May God keep them strong in their faith.
There is a lot more going on in Iraq than most of us are aware of. My friend’s son arrived safely home today after a deployment of six months. His base was bombed just a few short weeks ago and 4 of his comrades were killed, with many more injured. God Bless the military and Bless the poor Iraqi people.
Thank you for your attention to those sacrificing their lives for our faith. This encourages me to stay strong against predujice. God has made us all in his image. Let us pray for those suffering for Jesus as well as those who don’t know him yet. God bless you and your mission.
Yes, as believers in Christ, we should show the other cheek. But if the evil takes hold of everything ? That is why we have a word from Christ. He asked Caiaphas, ” If I have done no wrong why do you strike me ? ” So we should question all wrong doings of these brethren who persecute us. The whole world of innocence and justice and truth should question them, reform them civilize them to live peacefully with the neighbours who have a faith different from theirs
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