June 28th, 2015 - The Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

"God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living‚ For justice is undying." - Wisdom 1:13, 15

It seems like death is winning. Just turn on the TV or check out Twitter. The news is full of violence and war.

More than 76,000 people died in Syria's civil war last year and tens of thousands of innocent men, women, and children have perished at the hands of ISIS.¬? It's a figure that would fill a football stadium.

Each year nearly 3,100,000 children die from hunger and issues related to malnutrition. That's the city of Chicago.¬?

By now the total number of helpless children killed by abortion in the United States since 1973 has surpassed 51,300,000.¬? That's more victims than the current inhabitants of Texas, Florida, and Colorado combined and almost 5 times as many fatalities as in the Nazi Holocaust.

Indeed, it seems like death is winning, but the truth is this: The love of God is stronger than death and His "justice is undying". Our savior, Christ Jesus "destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Timothy 1:10).

His victory is certain, and the kingdom of God has indeed arrived, but it is not yet fully realized. Thus, He continues to act through His Church to bring it to completion. The Lord calls us to partake in this incredible mission, because as Saint Teresa of Avila reminds us:

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.

As such, He is asking you and me to stand up, defend goodness, and proclaim the Truth. He is calling us to rise up in the name of justice and fight for those who are oppressed and persecuted, for those who are hungry and homeless, for those without a voice.

Therefore, let us sow the seeds of peace so that we may reap the fruit of justice (James 3:18), because as Blessed Pope Paul VI said, "justice is the minimum measure of charity." And without charity we cannot truly be followers of Christ. So, let's get to work.

Lord of Life, come reign in our hearts. Make us instruments of Your peace so that the light of Your love may conquer the darkness of death in this world. Amen.

¬?http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/02/world/middleeast/syrian-civil-war-2014-deadliest-so-far.html?_r=2

¬?http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)60937-X/abstract

¬?http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/psrh/full/4304111.pdf