Delivered by Enge Kristina from the Parish of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga in the Diocese of Surabaya, Indoensia. 2 Maccabees 7: 1.20-31; Rs psalm 17: 1.5-6.8b.15; Luke 19: 11-28.

A WAY TODEFEAT TERRORISM

The title for ourmeditation today is: A Way to Defeat Terrorism. Within a WhatsApp group ofyoung people, there was an interesting discussion about crimes and evilsagainst members of the Church. There have been many bishops, priests andreligious who have offered their lives for the sake of Christ and the Gospel.There have been many lay people, families, youth and children who havesacrificed their lives just because they are Christians and members of theChurch.

In general, thatdiscussion provoked feelings of fear, vigilance and anger at those crimesbefell the Christians. However, at the end of discussion, they had an agreementthat the crime basically had happened to Jesus Christ with the suffering withthe cross which was very shameful. Jesus himself promised to His followers, allof us members of the Church, that we will face various kinds of evil andsuffering. In short, the Church really experiences martyrdom as part of ourjourney of faith.

In manyinstances, such cruel treatment to the members of the Church everywhere in theworld can be classified as terrorism. Today's first reading from the secondbook of Maccabees describes the brutality of terrorism. The King Antiochus Epiphanesand his men killed seven Jewish brothers: skinning their heads, decapitatingthem, frying them one by one, while other boys and their mother were forced towatch. The mother was forced to persuade children who were still alive to renouncefaith in God, or eliminate the sacred traditions of the ancestors.

However, theirreaction to fight back with spiritual terrorism was stronger. They depended onthe faith in God and holy traditions to defeat the power of the king. Childrenwho were persuaded to abandon their true faith were killed as martyrs, yet theywere victorious in the power of God. Finally, the mother was also martyred. Thetrue faith of the family was so strong and had defeated the cruelty of theterrorists. Until now, there has been only way that the Church uses to fightterrorism is to remain in true faith even to the point of death.

The experienceof martyrdom as described above is for us the way to increase our faith anddevelop in spiritual life. We are proud and happy as members of the Church forwe have been raised and strengthened by the blood of martyrs. We might notexperience as cruel treatment as they were in the past. But our big challenge nowis to remain and be filled in this faith. Our justification is to live in thisfaith properly and have its fruitful impact. The servants who multipliedtalents given to them, as described in the passage of the Gospel today can be theexample for us to be responsible in our faith. By taking responsibility for ourfaith when we are still on earth, we will easily be accountable for it in thehereafter.

Let's pray. In the name of the Father ... A generousFather, strengthen us to be able to resist fear, discouragement and escape, butthrough the power of the Holy Spirit may we become your children to remainresponsible to do your will. Our Father who art in heaven ... In the name ofthe Father ...