It’s hard not to be affected by the recent terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California. It’s so close to home, only less than a hundred miles away. It makes us think of our own security and that of our children. Are we all safe even to worship in our churches and to shop in public places during this holiday season? Is it safer to shop online and not experience the joy of walking and looking for the right gifts in shopping malls while listening to Christmas carols? Is this how bad it is now—to live in fear of another active shooter, another terrorist attack?
This is the world that we live in now, a world gone awry with violence, terrorism, fear for life, and escapes from massacres in one’s motherland. It is a horrible state of affairs. One cannot help but become afraid, nervous and disappointed about it.
A priest-friend calls the global situation we live in as a “messy manger” in reference to Ralph Wilson’s reflection, “Lord of the Messy Manger.” I would not just call it messy; I would call it diabolical.
Of course, similar atrocities had happened in human history such as the killings of Muslims during the time of Crusades and the massacre of millions of Jews during the Nazi War. But some citizens of this world have never learned any lesson from this painful human history. It seems hard to fight extremists’ minds who have been brainwashed to think that it is noble and heroic to kill people in the name of God and religion.
So, should we even celebrate Christmas during this horrific time of the world?
I think that we still should celebrate it, keeping in mind that what we need now is divine intervention. We need God’s power over these diabolical atrocities. We need his urgent assistance to remove hatred from the hearts of men and women who cause these murderous attacks. We need God to send someone like Cyrus the Great during the time of the Babylonian Exile to defeat the enemies of our faith and to bring back peace in all lands. We need the angels of heaven to protect us and our children; we need the saints to intercede for us. We need the world leaders to come together to defeat terrorism and to end all strifes between nations. We need citizens and netizens of the world to be vigilant about people wanting to harm us; we need to pray for peace. We need one another now in this time of terror.
And we should not stop preaching about peace, justice, love and mercy either. Like John the Baptist, we’re called to be prophets to denounce all forms of suffering and injustice, to straighten all crookedness in this world.
We can’t stop listening and fulfilling the longings of our hearts; otherwise we’ll let the devil win. We’ll keep longing for what is noble, righteous, joyful, loving and peaceful and all that is valuable to build the Kingdom of God in this world. Our ancestors did it and we too must do it, not just for our own sake, but for the sake of the next generations of inhabitants of this world.
So, let’s celebrate this coming Christmas – although half-fearful and half-joyful, – believing that the Messiah, the Prince of Peace, will intervene and answer our prayers!
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From a Filipino immigrant family, Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas was ordained to the priesthood from St. John’s Seminary in 1991. He served as Associate Pastor at St. Augustine, Culver City (1991-1993); St. Martha, Valinda (1993-1999); and St. Joseph the Worker, Canoga Park (1999-2001). In 2001, he served as Administrator Pro Tem of St. John Neumann in Santa Maria, CA, until his appointment as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary, Los Angeles, in 2002, which lasted 12 years. His term as Associate Director of Pastoral Field Education at St. John’s Seminary began in July 2014.
