Tribulation Times
April 16, 2013
(Rom 12:21) Be not overcome by evil: but overcome evil by good.
VATICAN RADIO: Text of Telegram from Vatican Secretary of State to Cardinal Sean O'Malley
Deeply grieved by news of the loss of life and grave injuries caused by the act of violence perpetrated last evening in Boston, His Holiness Pope Francis wishes me to assure you of his sympathy and closeness in prayer. In the aftermath of this senseless tragedy, His Holiness invokes God’s peace upon the dead, his consolation upon the suffering and his strength upon all those engaged in the continuing work of relief and response. At this time of mourning the Holy Father prays that all Bostonians will be united in a resolve not to be overcome by evil, but to combat evil with good (cf. Rom 12:21), working together to build an ever more just, free and secure society for generations yet to come.
LINK: Statement from Card O'Malley
EXCERPT Examiner.com: The hope of Christ in the carnage of Boston
Was Jesus Christ at that finish line yesterday, and if he was, where could he be found? Christ was found quite readily in the nameless people who helped scurry the injured from the scene, some of whom they doubtless did not even know. Christ was in the hands and arms of the emergency personnel who came quickly to save the lives of the injured. Christ made himself known in the runners who went back to aid the hurting people in the crowd. Christ was certainly present in the words and sorrow felt by Sean Cardinal O'Malley, who must feel the spiritual weight of the world falling on him today. Christ comes in the clergy and religious who helped direct people away from danger and offer prayers and Masses for the sick and the dead. In the acts of kindness and the acts of aid, Jesus was at that finish line.
Pray for the presence of Christ to be felt by all of those impacted by the terrorism at the Boston Marathon.
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EXCERPT FIRST HAND VICTIM'S ACCOUNT: Bostonians reach out and turn their goodness on me
I plodded to the 35-kilometre mark when a spectator offered me a slice of orange, his face troubled. ''There have been explosions near the finish line. The marathon has been temporarily suspended.''
Naively I ran on.
Police and runners were mingling on the course. Some wept wrenchingly, their features distorted in grief, or shock. Many had relatives waiting at the line.
The crowds fell quiet. Overhead, helicopters clattered. Police vehicles were racing everywhere, ambulance sirens shrieked.
Police turned back those of us still running. I needed to contact family. Strangers handed me their phone. I asked a teenager for directions to a local landmark where my relatives would be; the teen insisted on escorting me there.
As I waited, strangers stopped to offer help. One bloke wanted to give me his jacket so I wouldn't get cold. Passers-by touched me. One stopped, gazed at me, shaking his head. ''I am sorry,'' he said.
Boston silenced, in shock, in grief. Its citizens reaching out to each other in spontaneous solidarity. More than that, people felt implicated in a wrong, embarrassed: their guests had been hurt, frightened. They turn their goodness upon me and I feel like crying.
A terrible beauty born.
LINK: Boston Marathon bombings: How to help
Thoughts and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: Self-effacement--Detachment
13. We must be content with and conformed to His most holy Will, stripped and destitute of pleasure, friends, consolation, talents, and aware of our lack of virtue.Prayer request? Send an email to: PrayerRequest3@aol.com
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