In his first response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine the Pope tweeted, ‘War is a failure of humanity, a shameful capitulation, a stinging defeat before the forces of evil’.
This failure of humanity is nothing new of course and the very first such failure is recorded early in the Bible in the book of Genesis. The story is told of two brothers Cain and Abel. Cain becomes jealous of his brother and kills him. When God challenges him about the murder, Cain responds by saying, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ It’s a devastating response because it shows that Cain no longer reflects the image of God in which he was made. His heart has grown selfish and hardened towards God and his brother. The answer should be a resounding ‘Yes, I am my brother’s keeper’ because I’m reflecting the character of a God whose very essence is love.
It’s the love that we see in the life of Jesus reflected in his saying that there is no greater love than to lay down your life for your friends. Evil and hatred will always seek to take and destroy and sometimes appear to succeed, but in the end, they will always be overcome by compassion and love.