Today we want to address, in the light of Christ, the attack during the Lapu Lapu festival. The shock and cruelty of this tragedy have brought a new kind of suffering to our neighbourhood. For context, does everyone realize how much we talk about suffering here at St. Anthony’s? We talked about seminarian Michael Nnadi of Nigeria, executed for teaching his captors the Our Father; the Ulma family of Poland, killed for protecting Jewish people during WWII; Janet Moylan, overwhelmed with grief when her husband and daughter drowned during a family vacation—her story is entitled, ‘I Choose God,’ because she didn’t want to choose despair; Immaculée Ilibagiza, whose parents and two brothers were murdered during the Rwandan genocide, taught us about Jesus’ divine mercy; Kendrick Castillo died while charging a gunman who entered his high school class; then there are the Japanese martyrs; the Korean martyrs; the Martyrs in Algeria; the politician from Pakistan, gunned down for protecting Christians; and the Sudanese bishop in his war-torn country.
I remind you of these witnesses because we’ve been strengthened by their heroic faith and love; we have a better idea of the catastrophic suffering others have endured; most importantly, our parish lives beneath the shadow of Jesus’ Cross. We share in it and have its protection, but also share in the power of the Resurrection.
In the First Reading, it says, “Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra, then on to Iconium and Antioch. There they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, ‘It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God’” (Acts 14:21-22). The two saints go out on mission and then, months later, retrace their steps, returning to cities where new Christians needed help, because following Jesus, while life-giving, involves hardship. The apostles give a sober teaching, ‘It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God.’ After all, Jesus taught, “The gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Mt 7:13-14).
Today, the Holy Spirit is strengthening us, especially spiritually. There’s a distinction between being emotionally and spiritually overwhelmed. It’s normal and healthy when we grieve, but this doesn’t necessarily mean our faith is weak. We all reacted differently to the attack: Some of us expressed our shock, pain, and just anger more visibly, some of us were more pensive. I felt so sad when I heard about Jose Solis, of the 12 p.m. Mass, to hear about his fractured skull and bleeding brain.
The best example of the distinction between the human and spiritual is when Jesus, while in the Garden of Gethsemane, sweated blood because His human nature and emotions were overwhelmed with fear, but His love for the Father remained strong. He prayed that the Father’s will be done.
This is my favourite religious painting (below, left) because it shows Jesus’ humanity, that God shares our pain, knows what we’re going through right now. I chose this painting for my holy card when ordained, and, on the back, there’s a picture of me the day before I came to St. Anthony’s. I’ve aged because of the suffering you’ve inflicted on me! Just kidding. I was 26 then.
At the bottom, I attached the words of God the Father, “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev 21:5), from today’s Second Reading. St. John has a vision of heaven and sees God seated on a throne, Who says, “See, the home of God is among humans… God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away” (Rev 21:3-4). The attack at Lapu Lapu reminds us that something is seriously wrong with the world: the world is not fair. The victims didn’t deserve what happened to them. And yet we want justice! So, imagine for a moment God didn’t exist; imagine we have no immortal soul and there’s no afterlife. How can we ever make up for what’s happened? We can’t. People suffered at random and there’s no sense to it. Where does that leave us?
But God does exist. Genesis tells us that God made the world good but now it’s disordered because of human sin. Yet, He still loves us, can and wants to heal all pain, grants justice, and grants eternal life for those who love Him the way He loves them.
And, instead of just taking away human freedom to get rid of suffering, He chose to respect our freedom and enter our messed up world, to love us when we don’t love Him. I put the phrase ‘Behold, I make all things new’ together with this painting even though they’re not this way in the Bible, but like this in the movie The Passion of the Christ, when Jesus carries His Cross and meets our mother, Mary. I asked seven parents on the Education Committee, and they all agreed that this scene should be shown. One mother said, however, that little ones might want to look away because someone’s in great pain; they felt the scene of suffering, while intense, is not gory. We’ve put it in black and white for anyone who might be squeamish. Here we go:
Suffering is part of everyone’s life on earth. But Jesus redeems it. He made it the pathway for greater love in the world. He showed perfect love when He died on the Cross for us and rose to give eternal life.
I praise God for the faith and love I’ve seen here in response to the attack. In February 2025, we said: When we’re in pain, don’t start by asking ‘Why? Why are we suffering? Start by asking, ‘What? What can I do to help others? We’ll get to the why afterwards. We talked about that teenager from Texas who became a quadriplegic. She spent her days reading newspapers and watching TV: Whenever there was a story about someone suffering, she would have someone put a stick in her mouth and type out a letter of encouragement to them.
During this tragedy, Jesus is asking us to do what He did: 1) Do works of mercy to those affected, especially, bring them God. People need doctors, counselling, friendship, and, above all, they need Jesus. They need to know the Person Who created them, has a plan for them, redeems them, and grants justice—that’s our mission. 2) Think about giving your whole life to the service of others. When we experience a tragedy like this, the Holy Spirit sometimes works in our hearts calling some of us to dedicate our whole life to others, as a priest or sister. 3) There are many fundraisers right now, so, give as you see fit. As we said in March, we give only what God wants, which may mean a large donation, a small one, or no donation. The Archdiocese asked parishes to take up a second collection for those affected by the attack; we’ve prayed for Jose Solis, who’s recovering at VGH—his family has a GoFundMe page; and some parishioners here are organizing a Marpole fundraiser at the Scottish Cultural Center on June 27, 2025.
There’s been great evil in our neighbourhood, but even greater faith. I talked to Jose’s eldest son last week: Kevin is emotionally overwhelmed but full of faith. He just kept on saying, ‘God’s will be done.’ He visits his father daily while teaching at Holy Cross Secondary School and taking care of his family. He then said, ‘Proverbs 3:5-8, Father.’ I told him I don’t know that passage. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be a healing for your flesh and a refreshment for your body.” I asked, ‘Do have that memorized?’ ‘Yeah, it’s my go-to Scripture passage. It’s sustained me through so much.’ Wow!
This passage is part of the narrow, hard road that leads to the fullness of life! Please share it with everyone! It is part of how Jesus makes all things new.