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HJ Clergy Corner: May 2007
LESSONS LEARNED AT VA TECH
Fr. Michael Pappas
Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church
San Francisco, California
I preface this morning's homily with an important foundational truth: The Church has both the right and moral responsibility to offer
commentary on current events and to help navigate the faithful through the crises we face in life. With this said, let us take up for
consideration this morning the implications of the Virginia Tech massacre.
An emotionally disturbed 22 year old college student sets out on a rampage killing 32 students and professors at VA TECH, numerically
the worst of such killings on a college campus in US history. As a result, life in America comes to a halt. The massacre was of such a
magnitude that the President of the US ascended the pulpit as Keynote speaker at a Memorial Convocation, the Governor of VA returned from
an official trip to Asia, and the nation of South Korea, the killer¹s country of origin, issued a powerful statement of shock and condolence.
Closer to home our flags flew at half-staff.
Indeed this was an event of horrific proportion. In our lifetime, however, it is but one in a series of horrific events, not the first, not
the last.
The truly important question for us to contemplate today is this: What is to be learned from such horror?
First, that sin does not happen in isolation, and neither does grief. Like a stone thrown in a calm pond, the ripples of this shooting
rampage impacted not just students and faculty of a particular university, but their families, friends, our nation and the world. Indeed,
the words of St. Paul ring true in this moment of grief that, "When one member of the Body suffers the entire Body suffers."
Second, in paradox to the first point, we see in this instance an affirmation that SIN is born out of alienation. Most notably, the killer
in question is described with such adjectives as loner, antisocial and isolationist. Here the question must be asked: Where was God? Where
was family? Where was community in this disturbed student¹s life? The acid test for determining the genus of all sin is the absence of all
of the above. In a word, ALIENATION!
Pastorally, the Church illustrates, not through words, but through action, at the marriage sacrament, how we can effectively avoid
alienation, and thus the danger caused by sin. Notice, the first steps taken by the bride and groom to the Kingdom of God are not taken
alone, they are holding one another¹s hands, they are led by Christ Himself in the person of the priest, and they are supported by the
Church in the person of the official witness of the Church, the Koumbaro. The message is this, if they always hold onto one another, allow
themselves to be led by Christ and supported by the Church, if they stay on the road, they will reach their destination and have a meaningful
and fulfilling journey on the way. Only when they reject one another, Christ and the Church, only when they seek to go their own way do
they set off on the path to destruction. I dare say, this image is applicable to success in all relationships, a sure way to avoid alienation
and sin!
Third, what was our response to the killer? Reactions have spanned the spectrum from anger and hatred to pity and prayer. In fact, our
response to the killer is indicative of the spiritual health we can expect of our society and will determine whether or not we are feeding
or deterring such future atrocities.
As difficult as it might be to hear, the Church¹s only Christian response at this fragile moment can be this: Hate the sin, love and pray
for the sinner!
Christ Himself taught us in word and deed that we are distinguished as Christians only if we can love those who persecute us and pray for
those who hate us. In the only prayer, which He actually instructed us to pray, the Lord admonishes us that to expect forgiveness requires
that we forgive. In fact, He expended the last breaths of life praying for those who crucified Him with these words, "Father, forgive them
for they know not what they do." By offering this difficult teaching, in fact the Lord gives us the remedy to liberate and expunge hatred
from our hearts.
I never cease to be amazed at the spiritual strength of family members who, when addressing their loved one¹s murderer at sentencing, can
look that convict straight in the eye and with peace in their hearts offer prayer-felt forgiveness. Although the disturbed convict might
not appreciate the depth of such words, by sincerely saying them, the family member is released from the spiritual cancer of hatred.
Fourth, for those who have followed, with any sensitivity, the ritual of grief played out at Virginia Tech over the last week, it is clear
to observe that the shock of the first day gave way to the reality of horror when, at the memorial convocation, community gathered, votive
candles were lit and the names of the victims were read. In fact, this is humanity's natural and instinctive way of grieving. Indeed, this
is how the Church traditionally and for centuries has prayerfully tried to make sense of that which is beyond human comprehension.
Fifth, in due time life will go on, but what will become of the campus and its students. In an almost eerie sense, the Virginia Tech
massacre bears a striking reminiscence to 911 and its aftermath. NYC once the vibrant invincible giant was, in but an instant, reduced
to a wounded tiger, and Ground Zero once a hotbed of commerce, dominated by the hustle & bustle of Wall Street finance, has now become
an almost sacred spiritual burial site and, as result, an essential pilgrimage destination to visitors of Manhattan. Likewise, in our
own lives, when we grieve the death of a loved one, absence is felt and that physical place once occupied by our loved one becomes devoid
of life. With every passing we are given a stark reality check to the brokenness of this world and the fragility of human life. Most
importantly, we are reminded not take life and relationships for granted.
And this leads to perhaps the greatest lesson to be learned:
Sixth, if we are shocked, if we are outraged, if we find ourselves fear struck by the what happened at Virginia Tech, perhaps the genus of
some these emotions is rooted in our own denial of mortality; In our own denial that some day each and every one of us will die. Such a
hypothesis is supported by the evidence that so many of us spend so much time in life looking for distractions; that so many of us spend
so much of our hard earned dollars, waste so much of our precious time, expend so much unnecessary effort pursuing things that just give
the illusion of eternal youth, when we could and should be more concerned with the weightier matter of eternal life. If we are so obsessed
with denying death we must ask ourselves, are we really living life?
Only when we can set aside the fear of physical death and cultivate a life in accordance with the saving teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ,
can we take hope in Christ's promise and invitation to share in the Resurrected life. Then, and only then, will the words "Christ is Risen"
make sense, and enable us to grow from the suffering we face in life.
Fr. Michael Index
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