Today’s Reading: Genesis 6:11-13; Titus 1:7-8
Violence is already part of our daily lives. The fear of suffering, the challenge that it provokes, drives us to take certain precautions and work with some habits that give us more security and at the same time take away the pleasure of a free and untroubled life. The harm caused by violence is not only the threat it represents. We discover that violence is within us, dominate our reactions and our reflexes. It invades homes and disrupts family relationships; inhibits the expressions of love and understanding among men and encourages intolerance and hatred.

As Christians we must understand that violence is the product of a consciousness dominated by indifference to the needs of others, sadness and especially the lack of a sense able to control the destructive force of evil that nests within us. With Christ we learn that the love of God, that is within us, is the only force able to encourage us to adopt loving and human attitudes; to motivate us to be tolerant and sympathetic to the weaknesses of others.

Ildefonso Torres