Paris, France, Jul 29, 2016 / 11:38 am
At a Mass said for the victims of Tuesday's church attack in France, the Archbishop of Paris appealed for hope as he remembered Father Jacques Hamel, who was killed by two Islamic State terrorists as he was celebrating the Eucharist.
At the July 27 Mass for the victims of Saint-Étienne du Rouvray said at Notre Dame de Paris, Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois recalled the words of one of the readings of the day from the prophet Jeremiah: "Would you be a mirage for me, like doubtful waters?"
"In this terrible time we're going through, how can we make our own this cry to God of the prophet Jeremiah, in the midst of attacks of which he was the object? How can we not turn against God and not demand an account from him?" the cardinal reflected.
He also said that to cry out to to the Lord "is not to lack faith in God. It is, on the contrary, to continue to speak to him and to call upon him in the precise moment when events seem to call into question his power and his love. It is to continue to affirm our faith in him, our trust in the Face of love and mercy he has shown in his son Jesus Christ."