Thursday 3^rd Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel – Mark 4:21-25

Keep the Light Aflame!

Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem

3 days ago, on Monday January 27, we observed the 80^th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp.  Until the liberation of some 7 thousand prisoners remaining at the site of the camp by soldiers of the Red Army, the German Nazis had murdered approx. 1.1 million people in Auschwitz, mostly Jews, but also Poles, the Roma, Soviet prisoners of war and people of other nationalities.

2 years earlier on Jan 14, 1943, Anne Frank wrote this in her diary:

“Terrible things are happening outside. Day and night more of those poor helpless people are being dragged off, with nothing but a rucksack and a little money. On the way they are deprived even of these possessions. Families are torn apart, the men, women, and children all being separated. Children coming home from school find that their parents have disappeared. Women return from shopping to find their homes shut up and their families gone. Everyone is afraid.”

Diary of Anne Frank – Wednesday January 13, 1943

I think the connections between past and present are rather apparent, unfortunately!  The question is -what do we do when life presents us with such stark examples of cruelty and heartlessness for our brothers and sisters?  How do we keep the faith?

I offer simply the words from today’s First Reading and from the Gospel:

“Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket or under a bed,
and not to be placed on a lampstand?
For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible;
nothing is secret except to come to light.”

“Let us hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope,
for he who made the promise is trustworthy.
We must consider how to rouse one another to love and good works.”