During the French colonial period in Algeria, French Trappist monks were given 2000 acres of land outside of Algiers in 1843, and were told they could build their monastery once the land was cleared. In shorter order than their hosts expected, the 12 monks were building their monastery. Over the years, and through various forms of French governing until Algeria’s independence in 1962, the monks became a fixture in the midst of an increasingly Islamic people.
The monastery was a place for Muslims and monks to talk about their beliefs, help one another cultivate the land and when a monk had special training or a medical background he provided what was needed. It was a remarkable relationship of trust and kindness until the Algerian civil war began in 1992. In 1996 a rebel group kidnapped six of the monks and killed them. The book The Monks of Tibhirine: Faith, Love, and Terror in Algeria (2002) and the movie "Of Gods and Men" (2010) tell the story.
John W. Kiser, the author of the book, relates a scene of Fr. Christian, the Abbot in conversation with a Sufi Muslim asking what the Sufi sees when he looks at a crucifix. He says he sees two crosses, perhaps three. The one in front comes from God; the one in back comes from men. The outstretched arms on the front cross are “for embracing, for loving.” The other cross is “an instrument of hatred, for disfiguring love.” The Abbot suggests that the third cross in the middle is the effort we make “to loosen ourselves from the cross of evil and sin behind so we can bind ourselves to the cross of love in front.”
We are in the liturgical season of Lent; so many people in our country and in so many parts of the world are suffering a real Lent, on the cross behind, the cross of disfiguring love. Starting with ourselves, can we loosen ourselves from pettiness, meanness, selfishness and, even worse, violence and hatred to find ourselves on that third, middle cross moving toward the cross in front, God’s outstretched arms in Jesus’ passion and love for us.
We believe that the cross in front saves us. Love saves us.
The Abbot wrote a testament that was published after he was killed. It reads in part:
If the day comes, and it could be today, that I am a victim of the terrorism that seems to be engulfing all foreigners living in Algeria I would like my community, my Church, and my family to remember that I have dedicated my life to God and Algeria… I know the contempt that some people have for Algerians as a whole. I also know the caricatures of Islam that a certain (Islamist) ideology promotes. It is too easy for such people to dismiss, in good conscience, this religion as something hateful by associating it with violent extremists… I give thanks to God for this life, completely mine yet completely theirs, too, to God, who wanted it for joy against, and in spite of, all odds… And to you, too, my friend of the last moment, who will not know what you are doing. Yes, for you, too, I wish this thank you, this “A-Dieu,” whose image is in you also, that we may meet in heaven, like happy thieves, if it pleases God, our common Father. Amen! Insha Allah!
Some April dates to note:
Child Abuse Prevention Month
National Poetry Month
1 - Fool’s Day
4 - NATO Treaty signed 1949
The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Assassinated
6 - US entered WWI 1917
Beginning of the Rwanda Genocide 1994
7 - World Health Day
9 - Civil Rights Bill of 1866
11 - Civil Rights Bill of 1968
12 - Passover Begins
13 - Palm Sunday
14 - Abraham Lincoln Assassinated 1865
17 - Holy Thursday
18 - Good Friday
San Francisco Earthquake 1906
20 - The Resurrection of the Lord
Columbine High School Massacre 1999
22 - Earth Day
“In God We Trust” included on some US coins 1864
23 - William Shakespeare born 1564
25 - National Arbor Day
27 - Jesuits Celebrate St. Peter Canisius, SJ
30 - George Washington took the oath of office 1789
Pope Francis’ Prayer Intention for April:
http://popesprayerusa.net/popes-intentions/
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