In September 1963 I was eight years old and won a hand-writing contest. The reward for winning this contest was that I would write a letter to the President of the United States, so on behalf of Mrs. Zeyak ’s third grade class from Benjamin Franklin Elementary School in Lawrenceville, NJ, I wrote a letter to John F. Kennedy. I don ’t exactly remember the contents but I am sure it included words of admiration for our highest officer and warmest wishes for his continued success. After many weeks we received a reply, not from the President himself but from one of his secretaries, thanking us for the letter and wishing us the best of luck in our new school year. I was very proud to have been able to personally contact our President and I felt a sense of attachment to him, or at least as much as an eight-year-old boy could.
On Friday, November 22, 1963, I was walking home from school when one of the boys who lived closer to the school than I did came running out of his house onto the front lawn. Now I did not like this boy because I thought he was a “big-mouth”. He came running out and shouted, “Someone shot the president. He ’s dead!” Knowing this boy as I did, I thought he was telling a big fib. I ran all the way home to my mother who then confirmed for me that President Kennedy was indeed dead. I bolted up to my bedroom and cried like a baby. “Why would anyone want to kill the President? He was such a good man.”
As I got older, I experienced more of the same. First Martin Luther King: “Why would anyone want to kill King? He was such a good man, a man of non-violent ways.” Then Bobby Kennedy: “They killed Bobby Kennedy? He was a good man, a man of justice and equality, a man of noble ideas”. Then later, John Lennon: “Lennon? You must be kidding. He outwardly preached peace like no other person in our generation. Who on earth would shoot John Lennon”. There are no good answers for these questions. And thanks to the growing technology of our times, one of the worst repercussions of these tragedies is that we see them unfold immediately on television and now the Internet. The impact is shocking and instantaneous.
As a result, sometimes I have gloomy personal periods where I feel bitter and hear myself say. “Don’t try to do too much good in this world or you may get snuffed out. ” All these assassinated men advocated great change. They stretched the limit of our acceptances and complacency and showed us how things could be different and better…but society always bucks against great change, even to the point of murder. The reason for so many JFK conspiracy theories is simply because he angered so many groups for forcing change upon them: The Russians, the Cubans, the Segregationists, the Mafia, the CIA, the FBI, LBJ and the hawk generals—anyone of them would have liked to kill him. He rocked too many boats and eventually it caught up with him.
Two thousand years ago, there was another great man of change, a man of peace and gentleness, a man strong in conviction and wisdom and not altogether tolerant of ignorance or stubbornness. This man confronted our acceptances and complacency like no one before him, and he made enemies: The Zealots, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Romans, the Nazarenes (“…no prophet is accepted in his hometown” Luke 4:24), and ultimately, the Sanhedrin. Anyone of them would have liked to kill him and the Romans eventually did. He rocked too many boats and eventually it caught up with him.
But He who rocks the boats can also calm the seas. Although our assassinated mortals can claim legacies where their influence will last for generations, none of them can claim resurrection and the defeat of death. None of them can present us to God, cleansed without sin so that we may spend eternity in heaven before Him. None of them can save our lives like Jesus Christ, and that has always been and will always be the defining difference between great men and a great God.
We will endure more assassinations in our time. This wicked world will always render tragedy but also opportunities. As ambassadors of Christ, we can make changes by spreading the good will and good word of our Lord. We can pray to be kind and shining examples of light within the darkness. In very, very practical ways, we can search the limitless methods to serve God on this earth and after finding them, we can make a difference. We can stand before God on Judgment Day and state boldly, “In your Son’s name, Jesus Christ, I tried to make the world a better place”.
Dear Heavenly Father, although we mean well, we are weak and sinful. We may not be assassins but we “murder” your laws and precepts every day. We regret our actions and thank you for your resurrected Son, who stands as our magnificent advocate in your presence. Amen.
Contributed by Donald
Monday November 18, 2013
Liturgical Year C: Week 51
Liturgical Color: Green
Sunday Gospel reading: Proper 28
Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost