Our Testimony Is So Important!!
We celebrated on a Sunday the Transfiguration which is also always the anniversary of the dropping of the First Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima. The key thing is not that they dropped one but two. On August 9, 1945 the US dropped another on Nagasaki.
You may have heard me tell the story of St. Maximillian Kolbe in 1933 going to Nagasaki to build a monastery there. The Japanese government offered him a parcel of land in the downtown area. He made the off-hand comment that he could not build it there because the fireball was coming there and ended up building it behind a mount in the same city. That provided great protection from the second atomic bomb.
It is clearly a strange story because in 1933 there was absolutely no understanding by anyone on the planet of the ideas of how and why to build this bomb. Somehow through the gift of knowledge he learned of it long before anyone knew it was even possible.
Do keep in mind, until the first test at Trinity, New Mexico there were many who believed it would never work. So, St. Maximillian Kolbe knew how destructive it would be before it even existed and outside of a miracle no one can explain how he could have possibly known this was going to happen.
Today represents, therefore, two great lights one in the Transfiguration when Jesus was Transfigured and stood with Moses and Elijah the two greatest prophets in the Old Testament. One representing the Law and the Other the Prophets. The other great light of course is about as opposite to the Gospel as one can imagine—The Atomic Bomb.
When it came to nuclear weapons, I was a conscientious objector. I refused to work with them. When asked if I would and I said no, I was told they were not big nuclear weapons they were only the size of the Hiroshima Bomb. I never forgot those words ever. It was so casual. It reminded me of a Steve Martin Joke when he said he forgot he had a nuclear bomb up his nose. How in the world can someone dismiss so easily the reality of the power of a nuclear weapon that killed 100,000 people in four seconds. I just don't know.
There is a great effort to get people to leave the Catholic Church and disregard everything we believe. They ultimately want people to leave Christianity and live a secular lifestyle. The whole story of the dangers humanity can get itself into by not seeking the wisdom of God should lead people away from such efforts. We pursue the wisdom of God. For the wisdom of God is so much greater than all the wisdom of humanity.
I remember the famous adage that wars start from sin and I could not understand this until the Russian—Ukrainian War where I realized they start because people disregard the wisdom of God and do stupid things. We can see that now and we can see why that adage is true. Now you see what attending Mass is so important.
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