A more somber sentiment filled the air today as we visited Yad Vashem, Israel’s national commemoration for the victims of the Jewish Holocaust. Though the museum and series of memorials cover several acres of land, they only scratch the surface of what has become one of the darkest spots in our world’s history. Led by Hitler’s Nazi Regime, more than 6 million Jews were tortured and ultimately killed across Europe in less than five years.
Yad Vashem
For one who has never heard the facts of the Holocaust of the Second World War, the details can be troubling. Even for the well informed, an immersion in the details of this utter tragedy can leave the soul to despair. This leaves us to ask a very important question: Where do we go from here?
The answer is two-fold. We must move on, but we must never forget. It has been seventy years now since these events have unfolded; yet the details continue to haunt us. The response is heartfelt for the victims, their families, and all affected. We realize how little we can do, and we simply ask the question, “How could something like this happen?” If we remain here, however, we remain paralyzed, and inevitably the darkness, the Evil One will have won. So, we must move on. But in doing so, let us also choose to remember these events of the Jewish Holocaust, and the evil we as a human race are capable of committing. Let us never forget what happened, lest we see history repeat itself down the road in a similar tragedy.
Tonight, as we returned, some of us stopped in the chapel of our pilgrim center for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Here, we find our answer. Evil in our world stems from a lack of hope, and from a turning away from God. For this reason, Christ came. Now we stand here, with souls depleted by the horrors of the Holocaust past, and still by events like 9/11 and Sandy Hook that continue to haunt the present. In this great emptiness and darkness, we must open our hearts to Christ. Only He who is the way, the truth, and the life can lead us out of the darkness. He is the meaning for our being, the cause of our joy.
And so, it is fitting for us as pilgrims to encourage you all to seek Christ – in adoration, in the Holy Mass, in reading the Gospels, in the cultivation of silence and simplicity in your life. For as Christians, we stand in a place of unique witness to our world. We are all pilgrims in this life. We are on a journey, passing through to heaven. So on this journey, let us cling to the Risen Lord, and allow him to fill our hearts, so we can then go out into our troubled world, radiating the light of his merciful and bountiful love to all.