
KUALA LUMPUR | 2013
“Thank God, I wasn’t there!” That was my first reaction when I saw the video of a speeding car on the Penang Bridge overtaking others in a haphazard manner and finally spinning out of control before hitting another car that plunged into the sea. It was all too surreal! “Thank God, I wasn’t there!” “Thank God, it’s not one of my loved ones or someone that I know! Thank God!” I arrested myself at that very moment for having uttered such a selfish and insensitive remark and using the name of God in vain. But I guess, we’ve all been there, whenever we hear of some tragedy or another, many of us have echoed that familiar refrain, “Thank God, it wasn’t me!”
The people, introduced at the beginning of today’s gospel, who were speaking to Christ of the recent atrocity were obviously troubled by the slaughter of their fellow countrymen while they were either in the Temple or on the way to the Temple to offer sacrifices. They too may have sighed with relief, “Thank God, it wasn’t me!”
RELATED HOMILIES
The words of our Lord serve as a “memento mori.” Roughly translated, the Latin phrase means “remember death.”