22/06/2017

Is it just me or was there not something chilling 

about the attack on Muslim worshippers

outside the Finsbury Park Mosque? 

The fact that they were emerging from prayer

did not protect those they who were mown down,indeed it was what made them a target. 

And yet it seems it did protect the assailant, 

as the Imam’s voice of mercy commanded restraint and self-control,

a refusal to let the blood-lust of one work its poisonous effect on others. 

In the end, that’s what it takes to break cycles of violence,

whether it’s terrorism, sectarianism, racism

or some other malevolence that’s propelling them. 

Northern Ireland knows all about the power of “tit for tat”

to keep whole communities looking over their shoulders. 

But we also know the power of people of faith to speak up and say 

“enough” and “no more”.

Men and women, Protestants and Catholics,

and frequently the parents of the victims,

have uttered faltering words from breaking hearts

that have released a love that’s proved so much stronger than any hate. 

And then the prayer continues – as it has done at Finsbury Park 

because that’s what we do. 

Day and night, in fear or in freedom, in outrage as well as in despair, 

we come to God, 

because regardless of our language, our emphasis

or even our precise understanding of what we’re doing, 

prayer really does seem to be one of the things that makes us human. 

Lord of all, hold us back we pray,

diffuse the rage and spite which can rise up in us all 

and which Christ took to Himself in His Passion, Death and Resurrection. 

So may Your forgiving grace never cease to flow – to all your children. Amen