Good Friday

Article by Marc Evan Aupiais


Today is felt every Sunday, every moment since the universe began. The moment pain entered the creator's pen, his mind filled with images of death, of a fruit toxic to man, of sin. Sinfulness inglorious sinfulness.

Blood is what we drink to live. Blood renews us, blood saves our being, our soul. Without blood we do not live. Christ's blood, the Eucharist.

Today is the moment we turn to every Sunday, every mass, every moment in God. It is the blood spilt today two millennia hence, which washes our sins into the ground, where they explode and an earthquake, and a new heart is found.

Good Friday is good, because it is what makes us good.

The morality of what we cannot alter... Cannot Change!..

(Also appeared at : Journey in a Broken World 26 / 08 | August / 2009)


Title: The morality of what we cannot alter... Cannot Change!..

Apologetical Article by Marc Aupiais

Shadow sprayed across the moon... this night. Night, darkness... Hiding the terror, the horror of the deep black, deathly shadow of lightless fog.

The thick, heavy dark clouds passed across innocently harsh waves of the reflecting moon. The trees splintered shadows, as the light filtered down in airy silver sheets of visible nightmares.

Within this place, horrors happened. Within that place, people were hurt... People- We... We never heard about, never saw... Or knew at all.

Yet, if this airy place exists, if it is as whole nations are at times... Evil, horrendous, murderous and worse. If it is real- do you truly care what occurs there? Do you mind if infants are killed, or children hurt? Do you care if women are abused, men treated as animals? Would you still care if it were done by your government, race, culture, ideology or party, or religion?

What happens out of our control, we are not guilty of. What happens beyond our ability to know... We are not guilty of. These things, we read about afterwards- in articles by media and books by persons, who never encompass the fullness of happenings. And sometimes we learn hate from these, or believe what is not true or really sourced. We find sometimes- we learn the devil's lesson, and unwittingly mimic the faulty beliefs of the oppressors- while holding as martyrs- the oppressed.

We are never guilty of what we had no chance to prevent- or fight against. Yet, there is another dimension at play- another role of the conscience's dice.

The reason the Christian must become part of a creative minority, as the Pope called our modern day mission when still a Cardinal- my reason for this, not his, which I do not remember, my reason which I shall speak of: is simple. The Christian must look sceptical at the news, and statements of officials of so many groupings. He must be suspicious of those tasked with the care of souls, and suspicious of those opposing them. He must attempt to see the truth, to dig deeper and understand the real issues at play.

What we do not know of- we are not guilty of not stopping. What we cannot stop, we are not guilty of not succeeding against... Yet- what if we were able to know and chose not to know ... What if we could have strengthened our cause, and endurance, and have fought against evil... And won?

We are not guilty of what we cannot stop, but we are guilty if our negligence is our own doing- this is why gluttony is a sin, and sloth is evil.

Yet- what of that we cannot stop, it seems, when we come face to face, nose to nose with it- we merely observe its happening and oft forget morality. We look coldly at history, and justify acts of evil, or ignore them, or heartlessly study these... in icy cold. When we cannot act- we turn morality off; we observe?

The truth is- that when we do so, we learn apathy. When we consign ourselves to doing nothing, to neglecting even judgement of evil as what it deeply is and neglect keeping memory... When we turn to holding tight onto justification of evil- we forget the effect that which we cannot halt has... Even... on us.

There are times we tolerate evil, but the righteous must only do so for a time. There are times when doing nothing is right, but inside we must condemn the evil we watch. Inside we must note it, and should we ever be able to combat it justly- we must ensure justice prevails.

I may not be able to prevent abortion, or oppose the killing of other innocents throughout the world- but I can observe it as evil, speak of it as inhumane, note it- and attach the wrong to those guilty of it- and account for this as evil- whatever it is. It must be remembered, whatever the evil- and the one who did it must not be forgotten for what they have done. Forgiveness, as sound theology relays- is not weakness or amnesia. Forgiveness is a state when one analyses a situation and does what is most right, most just and Godly to do.

I may be helpless, but do I pray? And should I be able to act- do I do something... Something solid and powerful, something tactical and worthwhile?

... Shall I choose to do the right thing- or lose my life in refusing to do wrong?

To be a Catholic is to never stand by and do nothing when evil takes action... It is to act or omit action in the way which best benefits good over evil- or less evil over greater evil.

One does not have to be righteous to have God on their side. The world is a system, thereby... Sadly, truthfully... where there is greater evil, all suffer. The smaller evil becomes, the greater the situation is... for all.

We may not be able to stop evil, or even confront it- but we can win the small victories we are able. We can win the victory within, that of Faith- a mind set which attempts to view the world as it really is. Every matter, every issue in the world pertains to proportional truth, and to falsehood- and to their children- life and death...

If all we can do is acknowledge something is evil- at least we may take a step to truth and hope. If we can do more... We should wisely, prudently, cautiously, if not boldly and firmly act! It takes creativity to be good, does it not..?