7 December 2019
Memorial of Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Today’s reading coincides with an important historic anniversary, the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The gospel recalls the words of Jesus; “At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.” Nations in the 1930s were striving for greater control and power, a heated sentiment fueled by Darwinian Socialism and Eugenics. In short, many in the human community were mislead by bad shepherds who brokered the “myth of race and blood” into a hypnotic power that transformed nations into irrational killing machines. This misguided direction, on either side of the great Eurasian content, plunged humanity into a war that, up to date, earns the dubious prize of the single greatest disaster to human life and its supporting resources. From individual choice, to cooperate culture, to how we vote, we cannot ever cease to apply gospel maxims which will preserve the dignity of each human person as given to us by Christ the Good Shepard.