So, he’s dead.
One of the most hated men.
Facebook was just jam packed with statuses about Bin Laden.
I saw just about every opinion on Facebook.
Some were middle ground.
Just surprised. Or maybe a bit shocked.
Others asked for prayer for the man’s soul.
And still many others rejoiced.
I was slightly taken back.
It is so ironic that we can call ourselves the body of Christ,
yet we rejoice in the death of one whom He loves.
For God so loved the WORLD that He sent His Son.
God loves each and every person in this world.
No exceptions.
His love is not conditional.
He does not pick and choose who He loves.
He loves the WORLD.
We are called to love like Him.
To love each and every person in the world.
Bin Laden hurt thousands of people.
Physically and emotionally.
No doubt.
He did many evil things.
But we are called to hate the sin, not the sinner.
It was no coincidence that Bin Laden was pronounced dead on Divine Mercy Sunday.
God is fully just but He is fully merciful as well.
We have NO idea what was going through Bin Laden’s mind as the gun was pointed at his head.
He could have had a moment of complete repentance and turned to the Lord. We don’t know and it is not for us to say.
On the day of Divine Mercy we must trust in God’s complete mercy.
This mercy is twofold.
WE must be merciful towards the sinner.
We are all sinners.
It is completely hypocritical to hate on Bin Laden and rejoice in his death and then assume we are on good standings because we think we are better than him.
God is all merciful.
God is all just.
And God is all loving.
God will exercise the same amount of mercy, justice, and love towards the WHOLE world.
Without exception.
This includes us, Blessed Pope John Paul II, and Bin Laden and everyone in between.
Instead of rejoicing in the death of Bin Laden we can pray for God’s mercy towards Him.
And we can pray for His soul.
"But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you…”
Luke 6:27
“…But if we are the Body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way
Jesus paid much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the Body of Christ”
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way
Jesus paid much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the Body of Christ”
If We Are the Body-
Casting Crowns.
Thank you Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteJustice tempered with Love,
Love, tempered with Mercy.
Each one of us faces our judgment
day and our actions today must show
our Love for Christ Risen.
xoxo
I don't have anything to say about people's responses and reactions to Osama's proclaimed death, because there is such a spectrum. That being said, I have 2 points to submit for your consideration...
ReplyDelete1) There are just as many imprecatory prayers for God's wrath to come down on the enemies of God as their are admonitions to not delight in their demise. I think it's clear that the morality of the act is dependent on the inner reality of the person. We can't really say that words of rejoicing at Osama's death are necessarily evil, unless we know the root emotion (i.e. revenge, or joy at deliverance, for example).
2) The universal teaching of the Church for nearly 2,000 years is that we do not pray for the non-Catholic dead. I share the following for your consideration:
St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Suppl. Q. 71, A. 5: “Gregory says (Moral xxxiv. 19): There is the same reason for not praying then (namely after the judgment day) for men condemned to everlasting fire, as there is now for not praying for the devil and has angels who are sentenced to eternal punishment, and for this reason the saints do not pray for dead unbelieving and wicked men, because, forsooth, knowing them to be already condemned to eternal punishment, they shrink from pleading for them by the merit of their prayers before they are summoned to the presence of the Judge.”
St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Suppl. Q. 71, A. 5: “Further, the text (iv. Sent. D. 45) quotes the words of Augustine (De Verb. Apost. Serm. Xxxii): ‘If a man depart this life without the faith that worketh by charity and its sacraments, in vain do his friends have recourse to such acts of kindness [prayers and suffrages for him].’ Now all the damned come under that head. Therefore suffrages profit them not.”
St. Francis Xavier, Nov. 5, 1549: “The corsair who commanded our vessel died here at Cagoxima. He did his work for us, on the whole, as we wished… He himself chose to die in his own superstitions; he did not even leave us the power of rewarding him by that kindness which we can after death do to other friends who die in the profession of the Christian faith, in commending their souls to God, since the poor fellow by his own hand cast his soul into hell, where there is no redemption.” (The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier by Henry James Coleridge, S.J. Originally published: London: Burns and Oates, 1874 Second Reprint, New Delhi: Asian Educational Services, 2004, Vol. 2, p. 281.)
Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, “Cantate Domino,” 1441, ex cathedra:
“The Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that all those who are outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans but also Jews or heretics and schismatics, cannot share in eternal life and will go into the everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels, unless they are joined to the Church before the end of their lives… and that nobody can be saved, no matter how much he has given away in alms and even if he has shed blood in the name of Christ, unless he has persevered in the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church.” (Denz. 714) (Sorcha: This includes the alms/prayers of others for their unsaved soul, as well.)
To Anonymous:
ReplyDeleteI’ll start off by saying your comment would have gained more merit if you were willing to put your name and firmly stand behind what you posted.
Looking back at my blog, I did not once say that rejoicing in the death of Bin Laden was evil. I don’t think it is right, absolutely not. But I did not say it was evil.
“I think it’s clear that the morality of the act is dependant on the inner reality of a person.” This is a direct quote from your comment. This is wrong. Immoral intentions can make a moral act immoral but moral intentions cannot make an immoral act moral.
Reading each of the quotes you posted pertaining to not praying for those who are not Catholic, I found all but one of them not pertinent to the point you were trying to get across. The first 3 quotes said to not pray for someone in hell. I agree completely. Praying for people in hell is like pouring water in a cup filled with dry cement. However, it would be judgmental and not our place to say that Bin Laden is in hell and therefore we should not pray for him. As I said, in the blog, we are called to trust in God’s complete mercy.
As for your last quote- What makes one a member of the Catholic Church? The sacraments, mass, a church, most importantly the Eucharist. Agreed. BUT if we say Bin Laden was not Catholic and therefore in hell, we are putting limits on a limitless God and predicting one’s salvation. As I said in the blog, what if Bin Laden had the deepest most heartfelt and true conversion the minute the trigger was pulled? Christ would not have denied Him. That is outside of Christ. He does not pick and choose. He is merciful. ALL merciful. God would not condemn someone to hell who had a true conversion. It is not for any of us to say what happened in the moment when the trigger was pulled.
We can both agree that God loved Bin Laden and desired his salvation.
We can only pray that that was accomplished.
Nice post Rebecca. This is Cheryl (I don't have any of the profiles available so I can't post with my name).
ReplyDeletePerhaps some rejoice, not in Bin Laden's death, but in the victory against terrorism and would have done the same had he been captured alive. Bin Laden was an enemy combatant in a just war (on terror). Rejoicing in stopping his immoral acts (murder is an act "which in and of [itself] independently of circumstances and intentions [is] always gravely illicit..." (CCC1756)) is like rejoicing when Hitler stopped. That said, God loved Bin Laden and desired his salvation.
Regarding morality, "It is therefore an error to judge the morality of human acts by considering only the intention that inspires them or the circumstances..." (CCC1756) For more read all of Article 4.
Also, "Since Christ died for all, and since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partakers, in a way known to God, of the Pascal mystery." (CCC1260) Heaven does not consist of Catholics exclusively although I heard today that it does have more women to men by a ratio of 2 to 1!
Just wanted to clarify that I'm not the original "Anonymous" person. I wrote the second "Anonymous" post that I added my name to. I just realized that may be confusing. Plus I just realized I can post with my name. Blogs are beyond me. I'll stick to FB and txt :)
ReplyDeleteNo worries, Cheryl! I figured it all out.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your input! I appreciate it.