MASSIVE  KILLINGS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 12^th Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “Massive Killings.”

In today’s first reading from the Second Book of Kings 19:35, we have the following sentence, “That night the angel of the Lord went forth and struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp.”

I assume that is being read  all across the world today at weekday Masses and then we tip toe away from it. I know I do. Unless people ask for different weekday Mass readings for today’s feast of St. Aloysius.

KORAN

A rabbi at a Jewish Catholic wedding asked me if I had read the Koran. I said, “No.”  He said, “I think we rabbis, priests and ministers should read it.”

So I bought a copy and started reading it. I began to notice the word “burn” and “fire” over and over again.  Then I got myself an orange highlighter and started reading the Koran again - from page 1. And every time I saw the word “fire” or  “burn” I marked it.

Violence was burning on its pages.

At the same time at a morning weekday Mass the reading talked about killing and God killing and what have you. So here it is - the killings - in our Bible as well.

Once again in today’s first reading it has God zapping 180,000 of the Assyrian army,

And I’d assume this is the history of our world - deaths - and people bringing God into the battle and bringing God into the killing.

One can read that through the Bible as well. Should I mark my Bible in red?

LAST NIGHT

Last night - after reading that -  I said to myself, “Now what?”

Does God kill like this?  Does God want all this killing.

Answers? Please?

Then I found myself falling back on my constant out - my favorite saying from the Talmud, “Teach thy tongue to say, ‘I do not know.’”

Then, last night, I began wondering about the numbers killed in different wars and what have you.

I typed into the Google search engine questions like: “Deaths Sudan? Irish Potato Famine? Argentina’s Dirty War? [1976-1983] Mexican Revolution?”  I had seen the movie, “Duck You Sucker!” about all the killings and fighting in the Mexican Revolution. How many people were just gunned down at point blank range?

I found out that the U.S. Civil War had 625,000 deaths at least.

World War I has a lot more when it comes to deaths - 11 million military and 7 million civilian deaths. Another statistic has 17 million killed and 20 million wounded.

The Second World War lists 80 million killed.

Then there are the unknown number of those killed in the whole modern history of Russia.

Mao - in the Chinese Revolution - is said to be responsible for 40 million dead.

Then there is the Korean War - with one listing of 5 million killed.

I saw a listing of 1,622,973 killed in the Vietnam War.

In the last bunch of years we have millions more killed in  Iraq, Syria, and the Middle East.

And we can go back and look at the genocide in Armenia or the Jewish Holocaust - and on and on and on.

WHERE IS GOD IN ALL THIS?

I don’t know about you on all of this.

That number - of 185,000 - killed in today’s first reading - hit me - and triggered my questions and the looking up of so many numbers.

There is a just war theory in Catholic Christian morality. When I was in my 30’s and 40’s  I’d appeal to the Letter of St. James when it comes to war and atrocity. We just can’t stand there and say, “Best of luck. Get help. Hope you make it.” In the meanwhile our brothers and sisters are killed.

We need our police - our military - our security systems.

How many more would have been killed in Orlando - if the swat team didn’t finally kill this guy who was killing so many people.

In the meanwhile craziness begets craziness, wars beget wars, assault rifles make money and killings and political rant.

CONCLUSION

At 76 I stand by and say God is crying - and Jesus I get it when you say turn the other cheek and put down the sword.

I know that’s the narrow way and the narrow gate - and somehow it will lead to life - and the other way - the broad way - leads to death.

And these texts in scripture about God killing - I see them now as hopes and dreams and projections of people who don’t want to be killed so they want God  to kill - to do that dirty work.

But why war and horror?

And  this will be one more of my questions when I get to see God.