THOUGHTS TO PONDER    --   Rev. Julius Leloczky, O.Cist

Just a few weeks before the terrorist attack, with some other monks from our monastery, we visited Washington, D. C. Among the many sights of the capital city, we toured also the U. S. Holocaust Museum. It was an unforgettable experience to walk through the halls with thousands and thousands of other visitors in absolute silence as we watched the horrors millions had to go through in Nazi Germany.

Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, thinking back on our Washington trip, the idea came to my mind that this attack was The American Holocaust. The name “holocaust” recalls the Old Testament sacrifice in which the body of the victim (usually a lamb) was burnt by an all-consuming fire, - and this is exactly the way many of the casualties both in the Nazi camps and on September 11 lost their lives. While we mourn for the dead of September 11 and suffer with the injured and with the families of those who died, I’d like to reflect on one particularly precious aspect of the tragedy.

St. Paul wrote this to the Roman Christians: “We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him.” (Rom 8:28) This is one of the most comforting truths in a Christian’s life. A person who really loves God is like the mythological King Midas for whom, whatever he touched, turned into gold. The same can happen also to us: if we love God, we can be sure that everything, be that good luck or bad fortune, will turn out for our benefit. Even out of such terrible tragedies like the events of September 11, God can bring out some good results. I can see already three such wonderful outcomes in our country:

1. At least from World War II – but maybe from even a longer time - the American people was never as united as today. We realize that, in the face of a great evil, the differences in our views and opinions are negligible. Since September 11, the word “united” in the name of the country, United States of America, received a new meaning: now the American people is united in a new, maybe so far unprecedented way.

2. Ordinary citizens who, so far, lived an honest, everyday, working life, overnight turned into heroes and saints. Just think of the firemen, policemen, rescue workers, and many others. During these extraordinary days, simple folks who so far did not excel in any particular way demonstrated in an extraordinary way their selflessness, dedication, heroism in many cases by sacrificing their own lives.

3. An entire nation learned how to turn to God, fall on our knees and pray. The saying goes that “in the foxholes there are no atheists.” Yes, in the face of the great evil, we discover not only our extraordinary strength and courage hidden in us which can make us heroes and saints but we also realize our helplessness and littleness: we need the help of the almighty God.

Let’s join our fellow-citizens, let’s grow in these difficult times also personally:

a) let’s build unity within our small circles, in our families, in our workplace, in our classrooms by kindness, warmth, and charity;

b) let’s be heroes and saints on the spot where God has placed us: let’s choose always what is better, what is good;

c) let’s learn to pray, stay close to God, trust Him, and rely on His help.