One of the things that has ever been true for the whole of history is that the tyrant always holds out death as the final word. They hold the power of death and depend on our fear of it. They yield the specter of death to bend us to their will. You see it in the dictatorial rule of strongarm dictators using death squads to disappear enemies and their associates. You see it in the bombing of civilian infrastructure, utilities, and housing. A reign of terror so that whoever is not killed in the onslaught, will face the terror of a Ukrainian winter without shelter or heat. As ballistic missiles continue to fall, it adds to the toll of death and despair. The tyrant presents the such power as ultimate and the resulting death as the end. Continue reading
The Power of the Resurrection
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I was looking ahead on the parish calendar to see what the month of March would bring apart from the celebration of Lent. It was then I came across a simple marker “Mother’s passing.” It was four years ago now – hard to believe that much time has passed since my mom passed away. But that is the way of things as one grows older oneself; loved one are lost and time passes at an ever-increasing rate.
It is a sometimes very difficult pastoral situation, when a person has been truly wronged by the events that have unfolded with in a marriage, and I know that ultimately – in one form or another – I will let the person know that there are no innocent parties. Indeed some are infinitely more innocent, but in the end there is rarely complete innocence.
Death is always untimely. It comes crashing headlong into our lives and into our families. Even if death’s inevitability has been forecasted and known, its arrival remains untimely. There is always more we wanted to do or say. There is never enough time, only the time given us.
It is a sometimes very difficult pastoral situation, when a person has been truly wronged by the events that have unfolded with in a marriage, and I know that ultimately – in one form or another – I will let the person know that there are no innocent parties. Indeed some are infinitely more innocent, but in the end there is rarely complete innocence.
friarmusings 