Recently, the present Pope said: “The lord
redeemed all of us, all of us, with the blood of Christ, not just Catholics.
Everyone.”
Before Popes were around, another
emperor, atheist, statesman, and philosopher, said much the same thing: “Live a
good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how
devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived
by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If
there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that
will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”
Marcus Aurelius AD 121-180
The essence of what a good person
is can also be marked by a man called Don Giuseppe Puglisi: He was a
priest who was murdered outside his church by the mafia in Sicily for speaking
out against them. His catch phrase was a question to encourage others to stand
up too, “…and what if somebody did something?”
It is that question
that comes just before courage that defines a person and a people of what it
means to be good and gives hope for us all.
Barry Clifford
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