Homily

I'm sure you have heard about the shootings at the elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and six adults were killed. It was a horrible and senseless and evil tragedy. And this comes shortly after the man who killed up in the Portland shopping mall. The governor of Connecticut said, "Evil has visited our community today . . ." and of course he is right. But what is the nature of this evil and how can it be overcome and healed? Right away some people start hollering for stricter gun control, while others are crying for more and better security in our schools. But evil is not limited to firearms, and turning schools into fortresses will not keep evil out. There are those who will say the man who committed the murders was mentally ills, and perhaps he is. That has been mentioned for, I think, all of those who have been involved in similar acts of violence. But it doesn't answer the further question of why then, today, mentally ill people want to go out killing people in public places? This has only become apart of life in America in modern times. We read in other parts of the world where Muslim fanatics blow themselves up in order to kill other people who they believe are the enemy. At least we see a reason and purpose they have in killing other people and themselves, evil though it may be. But we find no reason or purpose behind the violence in Connecticut, or in other such tragedies.

I'm fascinated by the governor's choice of words, "Evil has visited our community today...." He is certainly correct, and yet I wonder if he was pressed on this word, if he was asked to define the nature of the evil he is speaking of, I wonder what he would say. I don't think anyone would object if he said that the evil is in these murders, or that there is evil in the possible mental illness of this murderer. If he limited his explanation to something material, observable, physical and able to be examined and tested he would be fine.

If, however, he even hinted at an evil that cannot be touched or seen, or tested, he surely would come under attack. Because in a society where so many people find very little or no place for God in their daily lives if you want to talk evil, it has to be an evil we can touch, because if we can touch it we think we can handle it, deal with it, overcome it and protect ourselves against it so it can do no harm to us—because we have no one to save us besides ourselves, and, of course, the government.

I recently read a homily given by St. Augustine many, many centuries ago. Here is what he said, "The times are bad! The times are troublesome! This is what people say. But we are our times. Let us live well and our times will be good. Such as we are, such are our times. We make our times. But what can we do? It may be that we cannot convert the mass of people to live a good life. But let the few who will listen decide to live good lives, and let the few who live good lives endure the many who do not." Now St. Augustine is not saying we should not pray that we be protected from evil, nor does he mean we should not fight against evil. What he means is that we can never be totally free from the evils in this world, as long as we still have breath. There are evils we will have to endure, and also evil people we will have to endure.

Augustine continues that when we see this evil, when we are touched by it should we blame God? He says, "Evils abound in the world in order that the world may not engage our love. Great men and faithful saints have despised the world with all its attractions. We are not able to despise it, even as disfigured as it is. The world is evil, lo, it is evil, and yet it is loved as thought it were good. But what is this evil world? For the heavens, and the earth, and the waters and all they contain, the fish, the birds, the trees, are not evil. All these are good: but it is evil men who make this world evil. Yet, since there always are evil people, let us, while we live pour out our groans before the Lord our God, and endure the evils, that we may attain to the things that are good. Let us not find fault with the Master of the household, for He is loving to us. He puts up with us, and not we with Him. He knows how to govern what He has made. Let us do what He has told us, and hope for what He has promised."

Twenty young lives ended abruptly in Newtown last Friday and the nation calls it a horrific tragedy. Three thousand unborn lives are ended abruptly every single day in this country and the nation calls it a matter of rights and of women's choice, for it is not a stranger who does the killing but a child's own mother. So why would we ever turn to the world to tell us what is good and what is evil? And yet we find many who call themselves Christians doing exactly that.

I'm sure as the days pass you will be able to read or hear many ides and commentaries on this tragedy, and many reasons for it will be offered and solutions to further tragedies will be proposed. And they may be right or wrong about any or all of it. But for us, although there is much beauty and wonder in this world, let us not love this world. Let us never lot if more than we love God. Let us live deeply in our faith so that we truly contribute to making these times better times. And let us pray for the souls of those lost in Connecticut and for their families—as well as for the souls unjustly lost, abruptly every day in our country and their families; O, Lord, have mercy on us.