Christ, the True
Face of Divine Mercy
Dear Sisters
and Brothers in Christ,
The Gospel
story on this Sunday tells us how Christ our Lord saved the life of a young
man, the only son of a widow.
There are two
details in the story which prove to be very dramatic: one, the dead was a young
man; two, he was the only son and his mother was a widow.
Young people
are the hope, the future of both families and communities. Young people themselves have beautiful hopes
and countless dreams. Their strength and
their initiatives bring joys, comfort and happiness to parents and those
responsible for the life, safety and prosperity of the country. Unfortunately, all of a sudden, that very
source of hope, joy, comfort, happiness and prosperity stops running, and dries
up. The death of young people could mean
the death, the destruction of future generations because of the working of the
forces of evil present in our today’s society in many and different forms. Contributing to this grave crime of killing
the innocent youth are: the neglect of parents who spend very little or no time
on the education of their children, both intellectual and spiritual; the
irresponsibility of the government that forces generations and generations to
be brain-washed in rejecting the people’s thousand years old cultural, moral
and religious traditions and becoming mere tools for a materialistic and
atheistic ideology. What could we think
of and say when witnessing the way our children live, behave, react and care
for the future of their family, for the future of their country, and even for their
own future?
The biblical
tradition, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, shows us how the
Lord God always loves and cares in a very exceptional way, the poor, the orphan
and the widow. Yesterday, today, and
tomorrow, those people suffered, are suffering and will suffer from countless
forms of discrimination, oppression, persecution. Many times, God keeps warning those who
commit crimes against the poor, the orphan and the widow, assuring that their
cry will reach His ears and He will respond to their prayer.
Christ by
raising the dead son of the widow to life just confirms the truth that God is
always faithful to His promise, and that the cry of the poor, the oppressed,
the victims of injustices stay in the center of God’s merciful heart. The criminals should be held accountable for
their evildoings when facing Divine Justice.
More
importance is the message from this Sunday’s readings of the Holy Bible: Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Savior, and our
God, is the Source of life, the Supreme Justice, Master of human history, and
He alone, has absolute power to defeat the forces of evil, to restore all that
is true, good, and beautiful in the hearts of people. He alone has the power to heal the seriously
sick young generation of our society. He
alone has the power to raise an already dead young generation to life. He alone has the power to free our country,
our people from all forms of evil. Simply
because He alone, through His Suffering, Death, and Resurrection, has the power
to destroy the kingdom of Satan and build the kingdom of God.
Fr. Francis Nguyen, O.P.
