je suis le pere Jacques Hamel

Lewis talks about hating sin and loving sinners today in A Year with C.S. Lewis.

When Father Jacques Hamel woke up this morning, he had no idea that before the day was over, he would be a martyr of the church and his name would be known all over the world. He is now in the arms of Jesus, and we request his prayers. He is perhaps the most instantly celebrated martyr in the history of the church.

The men who killed him... it is easy to hate them. They have done a horrible thing, and no one is asking that we say otherwise. But Lewis would say that we need to hate what they've done and the rage that drove them to do it... in precisely the way that we would hate those actions if WE had performed them. We should hate those actions, that sin, precisely because it means that the people who did it are the "sort that would do that". We should hope that they repent of what they've done, turn away from the hate filled ideology that encouraged such an atrocious act, and come to know the One who now honors the man they killed.

Let us pray for those who are harboring such hate, and performing such evil. They need our prayers more than anyone in the world. As Martin Luther King said, hatred will not stop hatred. Only love will. Jesus told us to love our enemies, and if anyone in this world is our enemy, it is the terrorist groups around the world committing so many horrible acts that we can't keep up with them all.

Let us pray for them. It's not easy. But following Jesus never was.

Thank You, God, for redeeming your blessed follower, Jacques Hamel, and for bringing him home to be with You today. Please change the hearts of his murderers, and help them find You.