Out of Mourning: A Reflection

By Glenmary Father John Rausch

How can the Christian scriptures help us deal with the innocent workers at the World Trade Center, the gratuitous sacrifice of airline travelers, or the undaunted dedication of New York’s Finest and the NYFD?

What images bring understanding? Rachael weeping for her children? Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane? Mary standing at the foot of the cross? Each suggestion brings a nuance, an insight, a reflection. Yet making sense of the magnitude of violence on September 11, 2001, begs for logic not easily found.

Scripture, not political science or economics, addresses the issues that confound us most profoundly: the spirit of evil, the terror of violence, the grasping of greed, the power of death. Reason fails to satisfy. Finding the appropriate image from scripture promises the needed balm to heal our wounds and build a better world.

"A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers" (Lk. 10:29.) This story about violence begins with the victim who could be anyone. Traveling is risky business. But the parable highlights the Good Samaritan who brings compassion in his heart and spends resources from his means.

In the midst of smoke and fire over 300 police and firefighters rushed to victims of the attack and gave their lives in the process. Unnumbered volunteers streamed into New York to share their skills in medicine and disaster relief. On one airliner passengers rose against the terrorists and struggled to wrench control from them. These images remind us that while absolute protection can never exist, disaster calls forth Good Samaritans who testify that real security rests with the spirit of community. They devote themselves to the victims and prefigure the eternal care of the Good Shepherd.

Eventually we yearn for perspectives about the cause. What scripture applies now? How do the impoverished and powerless of the world see us? Does "I-was-hungry-and-you-gave-me-to-eat" of Matthew 25 apply? Or does the Rich Man and Lazarus better suggest an image? The targets of the terrorist attack, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, symbolize our economic and military strength. While America contributes the most in absolute dollars to the world’s humanitarian causes, it shares a smaller percentage of its GDP than many other countries. The two copper coins of the Widow’s Gift in Mark 12 represented more commitment than the great sums of the rich people. Solidarity, the principle that can unite the world and promise the greatest security for all, combines a spirit of commitment and common good with its bequest of dollars.

Most troubling appears the proposed responses to the terrorist attack. What image of scripture now? The Holy War? Jesus expelling the money changers from the temple? Since violence begets more violence, the high ground belongs to a proportional and creative non-violent response. Jesus rebuked Peter and told him to put away his sword, because "all who take the sword will perish by the sword" (Matt/ 26:52.) The only future lies with supporting a serious world court to try crimes against humanity.