„Why was Jesus killed?!” –resounds the question in my head  which was asked by a little Jewish boy who came into a catholic church about 30 years ago. His young, kind parents couldn’t answer this question. He ran to me, took my hand, pulled me to the big cross and asked me the same – why? Did he do anything bad? No, he didn’t – I replied, – he did only good to everybody. Then I don’t understand – continued the boy painfully –, why?

Certainly every child suffers since Kain and Abel’s case: where does the anger, the hatred and quarrel come from? Why are there wars between brothers? The child divides the people into good and bad ones: those who take away his toys are bad and the child immediately asks his parents to punish them, or he punishes them himself. Since the notion „ours” ceased, and instead „mine-yours” came, struggles began everywhere: to get back what belongs to me. It’s interesting that everybody started by hitting back… in such a way the feeling of revenge for the suffered harm and injustice grows on both sides.

If there is no rapprochement, if the opposing sides don’t truly reconcile with each other, the suppressed anger and bitterness can suddenly explode and the war can flame up again.

Will it never end?! Who can stop this endless fight? When will it end?

This battle can’t have a real winner.

Both sides will lose: patience, peace, happiness, health, and unfortunately they can lose their greatest treasure: their faith, love and God.

It often happens that at two people’s deplorable fight the third one laughs in secret – he can also have benefit from it, for example if he sells weapons for them…
Our Father, the creator of the whole world, didn’t leave the people who turned away from him. After many prophets – who always called the sinners to conversion – God sent his son to the earth to reconcile people with each other and propitiate them with God:

„For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.” „He commited no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sin in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Pet 2,21-24)

Only in such a way we can also have a chance for peace: if we follow Jesus’s thinking, spirit and deeds in our life. We can defeat the spreading of hatred, if we stop it in ourselves and instead recall the teaching of Jesus about the love to enemies. The peace, for which we have been praying for months so eagerly, first of all has to be born in ourselves. Then it can spread in the society – maybe not today, not nowadays, but in the future. The hatred kept in human heart leads to war, and this can not be prevented even by the world’s all peace treaties, which can just hold it in check for a while.

If we have any problems, even if we have rightful complaints towards a country’s leader, a politician or any person, do not let through him to be against the people of a country or other nationality. Those who want to put against each other the people who live next to each other and are of different nationalities, are the demon’s servants. And the demon always wants to bring dissension, and finally war and death into the big family of mankind. The person – as we could hear it more times nowadays – who wants death for his enemy, is either not familiar with the Gospel, or if he knows it, doesn’t listen to the Gospel’s Jesus who clearly says: „ Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” (Lk.6,27-28).” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Rom.12,21). If we want to be his faithful followers, then we can’t have a different opinion.

So let’s do everything that we can for peace. Let’s pray for our politicians, so that they could make wise decisions by listening to God’s words, and do entrust ourselves to our God, who never leaves us alone.

 

Antal Majnek bishop
Mukachevo, 2014. March 19.