Telemachus, a monk, lived in a cloistered monastery in the 4th century. He sensed God saying: “Go to Rome” so he packed up his possessions in a sack and went there. As he arrived, people were crowding the streets. He asked why all the excitement and was told that this was the day the gladiators would be fighting and killing each other in the Colosseum, the day of the games. He thought to himself, “Four centuries after Christ and they are still killing each other, for enjoyment?” He ran to the Colosseum and heard the gladiators saying, “Hail to Caesar, we die for Caesar” and he thought, “This isn’t right.” He jumped over the railing, went into the arena, got between two gladiators, held up his hands and said: “In the name of Christ, STOP!”
The crowd protested and shouted, “Run him through. Run him through.” A gladiator hit him in the stomach with the back of his sword. It sent him sprawling in the sand. He got up and ran back and again said, “In the name of Christ, STOP.” The crowd continued to chant, “Run him through.” Another gladiator came over and plunged his sword through the monk’s stomach and he fell into the sand, which began to turn crimson with his blood. One last time he gasped out, “In the name of Christ, STOP!” A hush came over the 80,000 people in the Colosseum. Soon a man stood and left, then another and more, and within minutes all 80,000 had emptied out of the arena. It was the last known gladiatorial contest in the history of Rome.
That, is what I call heroism and St. Telemachus is who I call a hero. He gave his life to make peace. Peace often comes at a high price. Four centuries before, Jesus Christ suffered a brutal death of crucifixion on a cross – as One Who died because His destiny was to exemplify His peacemaker's heart.
Since the beginning of time, peace has been fought for and here we are in this 21st century and the brutality, anger, animosities, hatred, and violence is still happening because of the one common theme of trying to silence the voice of peace and love. It’s a real tug of war between hate and love and this world is far from peace. The accounts of unsteadiness are abundant.
Franklin Graham said: "I have no hope in the Republican Party or the Democratic Party. The only hope for this country is God." The solution that we as citizens have control over is how we respond to these conflicts. We must do our part on a daily basis to not get into word wars because the only thing that can fight hate is love. We have every right to fight for what we believe in; it's our right as citizens. But it starts with love.
Whatever message we should be conveying -- in good AND bad times -- boils down to one primary theme...LOVE. We are faced with a choice. We can let the horrible tragedies weigh on us until we are angry and in fear and we ask..."How can LOVE be the answer when there are those who are filled with so much hate, bitterness, sick minds, and spirits?" It's the same answer when they killed and crucified our Savior: "Lord, forgive them for they know not what they do." That is the love we should all desire.
On Sunday, my pastor spoke these words of St. Francis of Assisi. If we took these words, meditated on them and sincerely prayed them with all our hearts, just maybe we could be the catalyst for change:
"Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life. Amen.
