If to save us the Son of God had to suffer and die crucified, it certainly was not because of a cruel design of the heavenly Father. The cause of it is the gravity of the sickness of which he must cure us: an evil so serious and deadly that it will require all of his blood. In fact, it is with his death and resurrection that Jesus defeated sin and death, reestablishing the lordship of God.
But the battle is not over: Evil exists and resists in every generation, even in our own. What are the horrors of war, violence visited on the innocent, the misery and injustice that persecutes the weak, if not the opposition of evil to the Kingdom of God? And how does one respond to such evil if not with the unarmed love that defeats hatred, life that does not fear death? This is the mysterious power that Jesus used at the cost of not being understood and of being abandoned by many of his followers.
Dear brothers and sisters, to complete the work of salvation, the Redeemer continues to draw to himself and his mission men and women who are ready to take up the cross and follow him. Just as with Christ, it is not “optional” for Christians to take up the cross; it is rather a mission to be embraced out of love.
Sometimes I wonder about this modern world, having seen the Holocaust, the Maoist slaughter, the Stalinist purges, the Killing Fields of Cambodia, the harvest of abortion world-wide, Rwanda, Darfur, Uganda, 9/11 and so on and so on and we still ponder the reality of Evil.
I am glad the Holy Father is again confronting the world with this reality; sad that so many still cover their eyes.
This understanding of the world is why I am RC. I am so grateful … otherwise, I would despair.