I doubt very much that there is anyone in the United States who has not by this time heard that Osama Bin Laden is dead. My brother called me to share the news the night it happened because he knows I don’t have TV and he thought I might want to see what was going on in the world. He was, of course, quite correct. What I saw was more or less what I expected to see, but not always where I expected to see it. I don’t know how many people posted status updates on facebook saying things like, “rot in Hell you…” or “ding dong Osama’s gone.” I find it rather interesting that so many people are taking such joy in the death of another human being. When we look at what it truly means to be Catholic, one of the first things that has always stood out to me is God’s mercy and forgiveness. Now I don’t say this to advocate an attitude of “sin as much as you want because God will forgive you,” but rather because I see so many people saying that Osama is not worthy of God’s forgiveness. I read one blog that compared Osama to the unrepentant thief on the cross next to Christ. The author commented about how the thief was not worthy of God’s mercy and would no doubt be in Hell. The same, he said, applies to Osama. I understand where the author and many other Americans are coming from on this. Osama Bin Laden and his terrorist organizations killed thousands of people, many of them Americans and we finally feel like we have gotten our revenge. Or have we? Is his death really going to make a difference in our hearts? One of the things I have discovered about hatred is that it is not so easily satisfied. Once the object of our hatred and anger is gone, we simply find another. It eats at our soul and can destroy our lives. Is Good Friday already so far gone from our minds and our hearts that we have forgotten how Jesus Christ suffered and died for ALL sinners, not just those of us living our comfortable suburban lives? The Vatican spoke out and said “Faced with the death of a man, a Christian never rejoices, but reflects on the serious responsibility of each and every one of us before God and before man, and hopes and commits himself so that no event is an opportunity for further growth of hatred, but for peace.” Yet the Vatican spokesman was criticized by some for not rejoicing in the death of a fellow human being. To me, this is the great tragedy. We must not let hatred for the actions of a man, no matter how evil they may be, stop us from praying for his conversion. I find it ironic that news of this death would arrive on our shores on Divine Mercy Sunday, yet so many would deny that mercy to one who needs it most. The death of any man who has declared himself an enemy of God and His Church is not a cause to rejoice. Rather it is a cause for weeping over a potentially lost soul. We should increase or prayers for Osama Bin Laden’s soul and pray that we might someday call him brother in Heaven. I know that I stand with the minority on this one, but I don’t want to see anyone suffer Hell. To say that he deserves Hell would be true. To say that we all deserve Hell would be a better way to put it. We all need Christ, that is why He came. Instead of rejoicing in his death, maybe we should have a Mass said for Osama bi Laden's soul instead.
“Rejoice not when your enemy falls, and when he stumbles, let not your heart exult”
Prov 24: 18
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