St. James Matamoros

First off: take this with a BIG grain of salt!

Today is the feast of St. James, after all. And if it is certainly anachronistic to speak of him as "matamoros" (Moor-slayer), that was one of the more unusual titles of the saint that we encountered in Campostela, I suspect that the Israelis would appreciate a heavenly warrior coming down on a white charger, such as appears on the pinnacle of the building across the plaza from the Cathedral. If it would be unchristian of us to hope for (God help us) a Moor-slayer, we can pray for the conversion of all those who resort to violence to achieve political ends.

Circumstances in Lebanon and Israel are escalating so quickly it is hard to believe. I just heard that one Hezbollah spokesperson spoke of the battle as the "Israeli-American War." At the same time, it seems that Israel really should not have taken Hezbollah's bait. The sheer number of rockets coming into Haifa indicates that the provocative kidnapping of the 19-year-old soldier was a sign of Hezbollah's confidence that they had enough weaponry and manpower to work more than mischief.

All this leads me to believe that war is Satan's most clever tactic. After all, the panic, disorder, violence and arbitrariness of death and distruction is what causes the contagion of hatred to spread among the innocent, especially the children, who will then become the "carriers" into the future. All the more reason to pray for a genuine cease-fire, prompted by reverence for the innocent on all sides.