Vatican City, 4 April 2012 (VIS) - After delivering language greetings to the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square for his general audience, the Holy Father recalled the fact that today marks the international day to raise awareness on anti personnel mines. He expressed his closeness to victims and their families, and expressed his encouragement to "everyone who works to free humanity from these terrible hidden devices which, as Blessed John Paul II said when the Anti Personnel Mines Convention came into force, prevent mankind from 'walking together on the journey of life without fearing destruction and death'".
We can learn from this. Even when our actions seem just, there may be consequences we do not intend. That previous sentence is the seed. If you allow that seed to grow, you will allow the flower of thought to bloom. There is a set of teachings that reveres life above all. There is a way of thinking where we do not need to fear the consequences of our actions. Today, on the day of the Last Supper, this lesson is particularly poignant. Judas' betrayal led him to hang himself, a consequence he surely did not intend. Peter's fear led him to deny Jesus, a consequence he surely did not intend. But this was all something that God DID intend. With landmines, we can easily see the unintended consequences. What is not as clear is the intentions of our Lord in all of this. Could he be giving us a chance to stand against evil? Maybe.
ReplyDelete