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Bishop Terry Curtin.
Memorial Mass for Victims and Families of Recent Paris Terror Attacks.
18 November, 2015. St Patrick’s Cathedral.
Wisdom 3:1-9, Romans 8:35-39, Matthew 5:1-12
In these last days we have been overwhelmed by the pictures and stories coming
from Paris as we first heard of terrorist attacks on ordinary people like you and me,
from France and other countries, as they marked the end of the working week with
Friday night out. And as some of us may know, a night out in Paris is special! They
were doing the things we do – celebrating a birthday, barracking at a football match,
digging a rock concert, sharing a pizza, enjoying a drink at a bar, and dining out in
restaurants.
Then evil struck and lives were destroyed, 132 at the latest count and many more
wounded, lots of them young people with life just opening up before them. Since
then, through the mists of all the shock and carnage, stories have emerged of
courage and simple words and gestures of reassurance as the bullets rained down,
of people who took strangers into their homes for safe shelter, of those who went
immediately to offer whatever aid they could in the midst of all the danger. The world
looked on, heard, and was moved – so we bathed our monuments in red, white and
blue, sang the Marseillaise, and recalled those ideals of “liberté, égalité et fraternité”
at the heart of our modern democracies.
The hunt is now on for those responsible and on another level, leaders of nations
renewed their commitment to oppose and destroy the scourge of ISIS/Dash, and
more bombs fell on targets in Syria. Strident calls have been heard in some quarters
against the government’s acceptance of 12,000 refugees from Syria into Australia.
In reply voices of reason have warned us that to divide the world into “them” and “us”
is to do the very thing sought by those who killed so many in Paris. All of which leads
to the question, “Well, what is my response? What do I think? What should I be and
do? What should we be and do?”
Our response comes from our faith and it lies in what we have heard today. Our first
reading draws us into the wisdom of things that are eternal, not measured by the
number of years. It rightly names the realities that test us as “disaster”, “annihilation”,
and “affliction”, but there is a larger picture when all this is surrendered into the
hands of God. For here lies a hope “rich with immortality”, one marked with peace,
grace and mercy. As Christians we come to this through the love God has made
visible in Christ Jesus, a love that nothing can break.
Our gospel today begins with the words, “seeing the crowds”, that is, people of all
shapes and sizes, of different ages, different occupations, different social standing.
Jesus goes up the hill and is joined by his disciples. This is an address to all of us,
whoever we are, both the inner circle of disciples and the outer circle of the crowds;
all are gathered before him. What we are given is a vision of Jesus’ understanding
of things, how he looks at our human condition, stated at the start of his public
ministry as he begins to proclaim the kingdom of God.
The Beatitudes are not the dreamy reflections of a solitary mystic, but of Jesus, God
incarnate, right there in the midst of humanity, reading human hearts and calling us
to their deepest sources. We hear the refrain, “blessed, blessed, blessed”,
hammering home the single basic truth and the many manifestations of this
blessedness, from mourning through mercy and peace to persecution, that we might
see our lives in God in a deeper, clearer way.
Isn’t the challenge for each of us to face the reality of our individual lives, with their
inevitable pluses and minuses? And to do so in respect for others (gentleness), in
love and compassion (mourning), in seeking justice and acting justly (the hunger and
thirst for what is right), in forgiveness and fidelity (mercy), in goodness and simplicity
(purity of heart)? In union and reconciliation (peacemaking), in commitment to the
good and true in the face of opposition and persecution? We have seen people live
by these realities in these difficult days; may their actions be our inspiration.
There are words I have not used so far, and deliberately so, “Islam” and “Muslim.”
Those who murdered and slaughtered in Paris and those who sent them claimed to
do so in God’s name. This is not Islam, this is not religion but its opposite. As Pope
Francis pointed out, it’s blasphemy. It’s to take God’s name in vain.
To go out on a Friday evening, to enjoy a concert, to go to the football, to share a
meal with family and friends, all this is wonderful and is the fruit of peace and a
society that lives in peace and mutual respect. But it starts with each of us
individually, person by person. Our way is the way of peace and all who believe in
God and all who rejoice in our common humanity are called to walk this same path
and work to this end. In these days of grief and distress this is not an easy thing to
do. It asks that we first find peace in ourselves, removing all feelings of hatred and
anger towards any race, religion or people.
If we understand this fully, it even means we are to master these feelings and in time
turn them into something else, love, which after all is the only solution. It means
accepting the tensions this will bring and placing our lives in God’s hands as Jesus
did to his Father. And when we do so, to find ourselves surprisingly, in a measure
beyond what we would ever have expected, and in the words of our gospel today,
truly blessed … happy.
Quand la violence monte tout autour, je me tourne vers une phrase trouvée dans le
journal d’une jeune juive morte à Auschwitz. Elle a écrit, « Si la paix s’installe un
jour, elle ne pourra être authentique que si chaque individu fait d’abord la paix en
soi, extirpe tout sentiment de haine pour quelque race ou quelque peuple que ce
soit, ou bien domine cette haine et la change en autre chose, peut-être même à la
longue en AMOUR – ou est-ce trop demander? C’est pourtant la seule solution. »
A la Messe de dimanche soir à Notre Dame de Paris le cardinal Vingt-Trois a dit,
«Les chrétiens sont appelés à être des messagers de l’espérance au cœur de la
souffrance humaine. L'espérance est une force intérieure qui permet à des hommes
et des femmes ordinaires de refuser de plier, de faire des choix héroïques bien au-
delà de ses propres forces. Cette force provient de notre confiance en Dieu, de notre
capacité à nous appuyer sur lui. »
Et l’archevêque a conclu, « L’évènement de cette semaine nous rappelle
cruellement que l’œuvre de mort ne cesse jamais, mais il ne faut pas pour autant
sombrer dans le désespoir et le nihilisme. L’histoire annonce quelqu’un qui frappe à
chacune de nos portes, et ce quelqu’un, c’est le Christ. Il veut nous ouvrir les
chemins de la vie. Cette espérance, nous devons en témoigner comme un réconfort
pour tous»
+ Bishop Terry Curtin
Wednesday 18 November 2015