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by Rev. Fr. V.V. Paulose, Toronto, Canada
"Vengeance belonged unto me, I will recompense." Said the Lord. (Hebrew 10:30)
Do you know revenge is not the way to relieve our
hurt and grief?
Retaliation and revenge will escalate and breed more revenge, grief, and terror.
Revenge is a vicious cycle. Retaliation is an action individuals should not
tread upon. In different ways we are victimized, hurt, terrorized, marginalized,
killed, and cornered when we are in this world. The victimized must be grieved
but only by the demonstration of love and care, not by revenge.
God has not mandated any individual to settle the score by its own course. There
is a justice system institutionalized by human beings in terms of the justice of
the nature. That should be approached and used by the victims to get justice.
Nevertheless we should not forget that God is charge of the final verdict and he
will do the justice in His court of eternity even if the predators escapes from
the justice of the temporal court.
Nobody can dodge from the court of God. "You shall destroy those who speak
falsehood, the lord abhors the blood thirsty and deceitful man." (Psalm 5:6) God
will judge everybody according to their deeds. The wrong doers never ever will
be in peace here and hereafter. Their conscience always torment them till they
fall in the hands of God. "It's fearful things to fall in the hands of the
living God." (Hebrews 10:31) Jesus advices to the victims "Come to me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I shall give rest." (Mathew 11:28,29)
Rabbi Seth Mendel's son Koby was stoned to death by terrorists leaving Koby's
wife and children. Mendel says how to grieve, "the family in the inner circle
was not angry, we were too much in pain." There are many ways to deal with
grief, and much of it depends on how close you are to the circle." In the case
of his son's death 10,000 people came to the funeral and thousands visited the
family during Shiva- the 7 day mourning period of the Jews. "That is a
demonstration of love for the family that we will never forget."
Mandel and his wife, Sherri, started the Koby Mandel foundation for the families
of victims of terror to provide them with the emotional support to continue
living. It takes 2 years to come back to normal from the trauma of tragedy.
"What we can do as society is let them know we care and not forget about it," he
said. "But every one has to heal. The children and family will need to feel that
we care and they have a purpose in life, that can only be done if you meet
tragedy and not run away from it. That means you have to deal with it so it does
not destroy your life, and ultimately make it meaningful, finding something in
this horror which will be meaningful and they can take with them."
"Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." (Roman 12:21) Don't say
I will recompense evil. Wait for the Lord, and he will save you.
Jesus, We are in the midst of suicide bombings and killings. Save our life from the terrorists and murderers. We pray for all the victims of heinous crimes and wrongs. Let the blood-thirsty be dealt in thy court of justice. We plead for justice for all the victims. All the hot headed fundamentalists with hate be staked on the confession table. Let your spirit of love and care encompass all of the humanity. All we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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