WAR: CRIME AGAISNT GOD AND HUMANITY (HOMILY FOR FRIDAY OF THE 18TH WEEK IN THE ORDIANRY TIME) DEDICATION OF THE BASILICA OF ST. MARY MAJOR
Theme: War: crime against God and Humanity Nahum 1:15; 2:2; 3:1-3, 6-7. Matthew 16:24-28 Homily for Friday of the 18th week in the ordinary time (Dedication of the basilica of a. Mary major) In the first reading of today, Prophet Nahum foretold the destruction of Nineveh and condemned the sin of the ruthless military power of the Assyrian Empire whose capital was Nineveh for their engagement in wars and battles that had caused so much bloodshed, destruction of institutions and values, hunger, poverty, homelessness, it reads: Ah! City of bloodshed, utterly deceitful and full of booty - no end to the plunder...Horsemen charging, flashing sword and glittering spear, the pulse of the dead, heaps of corpses, dead bodies without end. They stumble over bodies (Nahum 3:1-3). Dearest brothers and sisters in Christ, the Holy Mother Church in totality condemns any act of war aimed indiscriminately at the destruction of entire cities or extensive areas along with their population as a c...