In his sermon delivered to Mass-goers at St Mary’s Cathedral in Perth on July 20, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB spoke of the “terrible act of violence in Ukraine which has cost so many lives and horrified the world”, as answers are sought to questions about flight MH17.
The Archbishop talked about “the world [being] in mourning”, and referred to Edel Mahady, who worked at Good Shepherd Primary School in Kelmscott, and was related to Tom and Angela Mahady, long-time sacristans in the Cathedral until their retirement earlier this year.
The Archbishop went on to talk of how 298 people “have had their lives suddenly, cruelly and completely unjustifiably cut off”.
“Who knows what unique and precious contribution each of them may have made in the future to their families, to their friends and to the communities in which they lived?” he said. “We are all diminished by their loss.”
He invited those present to join him “in praying for each of these people, that the Lord will receive them into his kingdom”.
He asked that people pray too for the deceased’s families and friends “who in these days must endure the agony not only of their loss but of all the uncertainty that surrounds it”.
“The God we believe in, the God who is at the heart of our lives, is a God of peace,” Archbishop Costelloe assured those present.
“May all those who have lost loved ones in this terrible incident experience the presence of the Lord in the midst of their pain and their confusion, just as the disciples of Jesus experienced the presence of Christ in the midst of the storm which engulfed them on the lake of Galilee. He calmed the wind and waves and restored peace to them. May he do the same for those who are now in so much pain.”
The Archbishop added that 100 years after the beginning of World War One, we might despair as we ask ourselves if humanity has learnt anything from what has been perhaps the “most violent and destructive century in human history”.
“It is hard to make sense of this violence, this hatred and this contempt for the sacredness of human life,” he said.
“How can God allow such things to happen? Why does God not intervene to prevent these tragedies?”
He then spoke of how Jesus, as a “victim of hatred”, asked this same question on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Reminding those present that “it was not God who had forsaken Jesus” but rather “his fellow human beings who had forsaken him. And they had forsaken him because they had forsaken themselves”.
Reflecting on Flight MH17, Archbishop Costelloe said that “human beings, no matter who they are, are never inconvenient or unimportant factors to be set aside when it suits us.” “Every single person is loved and cherished by God. Every single person is given the opportunity, through the gift of life, to make the world in which we live a better, more humane place.”
“None of this” he reiterated, “could possibly have been in the minds of those who callously fired on Malaysian Flight MH 17, causing so much death, so much anguish, so much despair.”
The archbishop then spoke of “a disease rampant… in so many parts of the world. It is the disease of hardness of heart” he said. “It is the disease of ignorance of and forgetfulness of the love of God who created all of us and who loves each of his children with a passionate love.”
Finally, Archbishop Costelloe called upon people to “pray with urgency and with faith, that the hard hearts of those responsible for this terrible event might somehow be touched by the wave of mourning and sorrow which has been unleashed” in order that “a deep sense of humanity might prevail in all who must now try to lead us forward out of this tragedy”.
Reflecting on flight MH17, Archbishop Costelloe said that “human beings, no matter who they are, are never inconvenient or unimportant factors to be set aside when it suits us”.
“Every single person is loved and cherished by God. Every single person is given the opportunity, through the gift of life, to make the world in which we live a better, more humane place,” he said.
“None of this” he reiterated, “could possibly have been in the minds of those who callously fired on Malaysian flight MH17, causing so much death, so much anguish, so much despair.”
The Archbishop then spoke of “a disease rampant… in so many parts of the world”.
“It is the disease of hardness of heart,” he said.
“It is the disease of ignorance of and forgetfulness of the love of God who created all of us and who loves each of his children with a passionate love.”
Finally, Archbishop Costelloe called upon people to “pray with urgency and with faith, that the hard hearts of those responsible for this terrible event might somehow be touched by the wave of mourning and sorrow which has been unleashed” in order that “a deep sense of humanity might prevail in all who must now try to lead us forward out of this tragedy”.