Bystander at St Anthony’s Cathedral

Bystander at St Anthony’s Cathedral

(Sri Lanka Bombing, Easter Sunday 2019)

This house of worship bears my grandfather’s name. A middle name, but his none the less, significant for sharing it with the patron saint of lost things.

Though thousands of miles away, in a country I’ve never been, I feel connected to the fate of this church...containing the faithful...of which I am not one.  

My grandfather was. Attended mass, said the rosary, prayed to a Virgin, believed in immaculate conceptions...was himself a little naive & pure (of heart.) He never met a stranger...or an enemy. We called him an “in-your-face nice guy.” He lived to help others, lived for love...like Jesus (he got the message). 

I don’t believe in heaven, but if anyone qualified for entrance, it was him. When he died, it didn’t seem fair. But fair is relative. I’d like to believe he at least found peace...and a way to visit occasionally. Several family members swear he has returned.  Perhaps this is why I cannot stop pondering Easter. 

I imagine him at St Anthony’s shrine, Bearing witness to the carnage. Praying ...with the preyed upon...especially the children...he had a way with children. Goodness & light recognizing itself. 

And what of the predators? Was he also reassuring those sacrificed children (“of god”)?  Those who could not yet be delivered from the evil...of their own egos?  I imagine so...however unfair that feels.

As unfair as asking a grieving mother to turn the other cheek... the mother who kneels on a bloodied floor in a broken church... And the mother who kneels on a prayer rug .... each seeking understanding.

Gentle and loving St. Anthony, whose heart was ever full of human sympathy... WE are lost.  Help us find our way ...To become like little children.

I don’t believe in saints, but I do believe in you...in the basic goodness, you stand by... 

Peace be with you...

And also within you...

Body, heart, and soul...The only trinity we need know. 

——Photo credit: https://www.google.com/amp/s/abcnews.go.com/amp/International/wireStory/security-heavy-sri-lanka-warns-attacks-62642481