Massacre

Is there no place on earth safe from these radical-islamist killers?

The above oxymoronic image of the meek Our Lady Of Deliverance punctuated with bullet holes and broken plaster in the same named Catholic church in Baghdad is a brutal reminder of how dangerous the world is and how your life can change in an instant.

Two weeks ago, a psychopathic band of al-Qaeda crazies stormed this church in Baghdad on a Sunday morning brandishing automatic weapons. Hell bent on wreaking mayhem. Armed to kill. There were 120 Catholics inside that church attending services the moment of the raid and soon became hostages and then tragically, 52 parishioners were executed. As the bloodbath unfolded, the Catholics inside the church wept and called out for Christ and Mary to save them. "While they were praying for help, some their last prayers, their attackers were calling out Allaha Akbar! Allah is great! as they made a place of worship a killing field."

After the carnage and a wild retaliatory assault by government security forces, the inside of a once beautiful and peaceful church was transformed into an apocalyptic "helter-skelter" crime scene. Bodies lay dead or dying. Blood pooled and flesh splattered on floors and walls. Large bullet hole punctures were everywhere. Bullet casings littered the floor. Breakage. Broken glass. Choking smoke. And the fetid smell of war overwhelmed the senses. All this inside a church!

Crippling fear begat unspeakable sadness followed by unbridled rage overwhelmed the sensibilities of the good in our world. While the bad in the world rejoiced and lay claim to their latest atrocity against humanity.

When will this evil end? Without hope, never. But with strength, hope, perseverance, faith and love we will be saved from this pestilence.

A follow-up...the very next Sunday at Our Lady of Deliverance Church in Baghdad the altered community celebrated Mass. With newly deceased parishioners blood soaked into the walls from the massacre a week earlier, Catholics came together to worship. Against all odds these brave believers of good, went to mass to pray...to ask for forgiveness...to question why...to offer thanksgiving...to love as Jesus loves us. As a parish priest in Monterey wrote, "...those Baghdad Catholics knew how dangerous going to Mass could be, and I cannot help thinking of our beloved brothers and sisters here who forego coming to the Eucharist for the most trivial of reasons."