Father Chris Alar Ties Charlie Kirk's Assassination to the Gospel Call to Love Enemies

[00:00] So many times it seems almost surreal

[00:04] how the gospel passage for the day

[00:08] fits so applicable to a situation

[00:12] that we face as Christians in our daily

[00:17] lives.

[00:19] Jesus's words here, love your enemies

[00:21] and do good to those who hate you. Pray

[00:25] for those

[00:27] who mistreat you.

[00:30] That

[00:31] is what Charlie Kirk did.

[00:35] I was watching some of his videos last

[00:38] night and he was saying of murderers

[00:43] that they are still children of God

[00:47] and he prayed for them.

[00:52] Father Jason and I went last night into

[00:54] the chapel right after we heard the news

[00:57] and did mass

[01:00] for Charlie Kirk and for his family

[01:04] especially his wife and children. This

[01:06] was right after his murder after just

[01:10] listening to his video to

[01:13] him calling murderers still children of

[01:15] God and that he prayed for them.

[01:19] So what did he do?

[01:23] What did Charlie Kirk do? He wasn't a

[01:25] lawmaker.

[01:28] He wasn't a politician.

[01:31] He was killed for what he stood for.

[01:35] He made it okay to be pro-life and

[01:38] Christian.

[01:41] He inspired many to live a life of faith

[01:44] and to stand for the truth.

[01:48] He invited those who opposed his views

[01:52] to have a safe platform, a safe forum to

[01:56] disagree with him. He picked

[01:59] specifically the most hostile

[02:02] territory of college campuses

[02:05] where he would go and be many times

[02:10] shunned.

[02:13] Charlie simply said the best argument

[02:15] should win. and his slogan was prove me

[02:18] wrong.

[02:20] But his platform was the truth. So how

[02:24] do you prove the truth wrong? So he

[02:26] welcomed that challenge. He welcomed

[02:29] that.

[02:31] He used the truth

[02:34] and he was winning.

[02:37] So they killed him.

[02:41] You know this is a political

[02:44] assassination. The governor of Utah

[02:46] said, he said, "Let's make this very

[02:47] clear. This is a political

[02:49] assassination."

[02:51] Do you know that this is our first

[02:52] political assassination in the United

[02:54] States since 1968?

[02:57] Martin Luther King was killed in April

[02:59] of that year and then Robert F. Kennedy

[03:02] was killed in June of that year.

[03:06] This is the first political

[03:07] assassination in the United States since

[03:09] 1968.

[03:13] You know, it's hard to fathom,

[03:17] but Father Jason said it really well

[03:19] last night that when one side realizes

[03:24] they can't defeat the truth,

[03:27] they turn to violence.

[03:30] And it made me think of Herod.

[03:33] Remember, we just read about John the

[03:35] Baptist a few weeks ago.

[03:38] And Herod realizes that he couldn't

[03:42] defeat the truth, so he turned to

[03:44] violence.

[03:47] This is all scriptural.

[03:50] Charlie Kirk was bringing the truth to

[03:52] college campuses,

[03:55] mainly the beauty of God and country.

[03:59] They feared him because he was actually

[04:02] changing the mind of college kids,

[04:06] showing them the insanity

[04:09] of what they are being taught,

[04:11] the indoctrination

[04:14] and the lie that it's based on.

[04:18] He said when people quit talking, that's

[04:21] when you get violence.

[04:24] So he invited discussion. He also though

[04:28] lived what he preached. He just didn't

[04:30] preach it. He lived. He said, 'I'

[04:33] religious and I want you to find the

[04:36] happiness

[04:38] of God

[04:40] of living virtuous, not living sin.

[04:45] That's not hate.

[04:49] I was really

[04:52] um affected when somebody sent me a

[04:55] video on text yesterday

[04:59] and in it he was asked if he died

[05:04] what he would want to be remembered for.

[05:06] And Charlie Kirk said, "You mean if I

[05:07] die?"

[05:10] He was asked if he died what he would

[05:12] want to be remembered for. And he

[05:15] answered, "The courage of my faith.

[05:19] That's what I want to be remembered

[05:21] for."

[05:23] You know, as a Protestant, he had a lot

[05:26] of courage.

[05:28] Father Matthew Tomy sent me a video of

[05:30] him

[05:32] talking about the blessed mother

[05:36] and he said, "You know, as Protestants,

[05:38] we have really overlooked Mary.

[05:42] We have really

[05:44] missed the beautiful grace that God

[05:48] gives in in Mary. That took courage.

[05:52] He's the leader of a Protestant faith

[05:55] and and not I mean he's not a a

[05:58] religious preacher I don't think but but

[06:00] he stood for virtue and as a Protestant

[06:03] he had courage

[06:05] to be talking like that about the

[06:07] blessed mother and he said if I die I

[06:10] would want to be remembered for the

[06:12] courage of my faith.

[06:16] One of the most the disappointing things

[06:20] in addition to the tragedy

[06:22] was if you saw the video on the House

[06:26] floor

[06:28] in our government yesterday.

[06:31] Someone asked for a moment of silent

[06:34] prayer

[06:37] and according to the feedback that I'm

[06:40] getting, it was one political party

[06:42] members screaming no. and they were

[06:45] booing

[06:48] when they were asked to pray.

[06:51] That's beyond

[06:54] imaginable.

[06:57] That would have never happened in the

[06:58] chambers of our government for the last

[07:01] few decades.

[07:04] What is happening?

[07:07] Violence and murder are the tragic

[07:09] consequences.

[07:11] It was said yesterday when there is a

[07:13] demonizing of those you disagree with.

[07:16] So if you disagree with someone, you're

[07:19] going to demonize them and then the

[07:23] result will be tragic violence, murder.

[07:28] Calling someone Hitler and fascist, then

[07:31] there will be violence against that

[07:33] person and against their those who

[07:35] support them. It makes sense. You know,

[07:39] when I was real young, I met a concentr

[07:42] a survivor at a concentration camp from

[07:45] the concentration camps. They were

[07:48] elderly. I was young.

[07:50] And I remember that person said, "In

[07:54] America, we don't know what a fascist

[07:57] is."

[07:59] And they went on to explain what they

[08:02] had lived through.

[08:04] That's true. I believe that. We don't.

[08:08] He said, "They killed you for your

[08:10] religion."

[08:12] You know, we don't have that in the

[08:14] United States,

[08:17] I guess, unless you're Charlie Kirk.

[08:21] And so,

[08:23] one anchor network anchor last night

[08:27] said that this man is so divisive and

[08:30] therefore he should expect the

[08:32] consequences.

[08:35] really

[08:37] a major network anchor saying that this

[08:40] man was so full of hate, so divisive

[08:45] that he should expect the consequence.

[08:47] You should expect to be murdered

[08:50] because you speak the truth.

[08:54] You know, I did a talk couple years ago

[08:57] on Saturday, an explaining the faith

[08:59] series, and I showed a clip of Charlie

[09:01] Kirk. He was explaining something about

[09:04] the faith and I showed it. I it's it's

[09:06] still up there. I got so much hate mail

[09:08] and I couldn't understand it. I said, 'I

[09:10] I don't even know who this guy is,

[09:13] but what he said was beautiful.

[09:16] Since then, I've learned who he is.

[09:19] What did he ever do that was so hateful

[09:23] other than stand up for Jesus and

[09:26] America?

[09:28] Jesus is the way, the truth, and the

[09:30] life. Yes, the truth is divisive.

[09:34] We know this. But Jesus never stopped

[09:37] speaking it because it was divisive.

[09:42] Charlie Kirk was called an extremist

[09:44] because he said we can't change biology

[09:48] and that men should not compete in

[09:51] women's sports.

[09:53] He said the truth will set you free. And

[09:55] he dedicated his life to it. He offered

[09:58] hope for young Americans that faith can

[10:00] help them find true happiness.

[10:04] He wanted to restore the greatness that

[10:06] is our birthright, the love of God and

[10:09] love of country. This is what made him a

[10:13] hater and divisive.

[10:18] It was sad to see that he was answering

[10:20] a question about transgender gun

[10:22] violence and mass shootings

[10:24] the moment he got shot.

[10:28] He said earlier he had death threats.

[10:31] Um

[10:34] we had to call the police when I had a

[10:36] death threat

[10:39] because

[10:40] in one homaly

[10:42] I

[10:44] mentioned that to please just be aware

[10:47] that there are health concerns to take

[10:49] in the vaccination because my mother

[10:51] died from the vaccination.

[10:54] I saw that as freedom of speech. I never

[10:56] told anybody not to take a vaccination.

[10:59] I simply said just please look at all of

[11:02] the evidence now. I can't take it

[11:04] because of my heart could kill me

[11:08] and just be aware of that. Just beware

[11:09] there's consequences. And I received a

[11:12] death a death threat that was very

[11:14] credible. We had to call the police.

[11:17] And so

[11:19] this

[11:21] is free speech. and he said college

[11:23] campuses now are no longer places of

[11:26] free speech and he tried to change that.

[11:32] Is that being political

[11:35] or is that being something more about

[11:36] human rights? Well, let's look at the

[11:38] catechism.

[11:40] The catechism 22:46

[11:43] which I have quoted before says it is

[11:46] part of the church's mission to pass

[11:48] moral judgments even in the matters

[11:51] related to politics whenever the

[11:54] fundamental rights of man or the

[11:56] salvation of souls require it. This is

[12:00] about the fundamental rights of man.

[12:03] The freedom to worship and to have free

[12:07] speech. This is about the right of free

[12:10] speech because without it there is no

[12:12] way for us to teach our faith or to

[12:15] evangelize.

[12:19] You know, it's kind of like those who

[12:22] are still alive remember where they were

[12:25] when John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

[12:29] I think everybody alive now remembers

[12:32] that or were alive where they were on

[12:34] 911

[12:36] which is also today.

[12:39] There were many heroes on 911.

[12:42] Benjamin Clark the chef who saved over a

[12:45] hundred lives.

[12:47] Many goods

[12:49] came out of that day. Ironically

[12:51] remember God will always bring a greater

[12:52] good out of even the worst evil. Do you

[12:55] know one of the firefighters there at

[12:57] ground zero on 911 became a priest?

[13:01] Marie Romanano started the health care

[13:04] professionals of divine mercy for the

[13:07] spiritual care of the needy after she

[13:09] was so affected by 911.

[13:12] And the greatest good that God brought

[13:15] out of that evil was the following

[13:17] Sunday. The churches were full and many

[13:20] have remained in church ever since.

[13:24] I remember that day,

[13:27] that following Sunday after the Tuesday

[13:29] of 911,

[13:31] and the priest said that, "Are you

[13:33] praying for the victims and their

[13:35] families?" And everybody said, "Yes."

[13:36] And he said, "But are we praying for the

[13:39] terrorists?

[13:41] Are you praying for your enemies?

[13:45] That is what separates Christianity from

[13:47] all other religions.

[13:50] We don't want them in hell. We want no

[13:53] one in hell.

[13:55] Pray for their conversion, not their

[13:58] damnation.

[14:00] This shooter is still on the loose that

[14:02] took this life. I pray for his

[14:05] conversion,

[14:06] not his damnation.

[14:09] This is what Jesus said to St. Fina is

[14:13] the prayer most pleasing to him.

[14:16] When you pray for someone's conversion,

[14:21] that's what the three o'clock prayer, oh

[14:23] blood and water, is called the

[14:25] conversion prayer.

[14:28] The words of Christ here in this gospel

[14:30] could not be more applicable.

[14:33] Love your enemies and do good to those

[14:36] who hate you.

[14:39] Pray for those who abuse you.

[14:43] And most of all,

[14:45] Jesus mentions, "Forgive

[14:48] and you will be forgiven."

[14:51] I can't imagine what the wife Erica is

[14:56] going through. His children are too

[14:58] young to understand,

[15:01] but we pray in her heart she's able to

[15:04] forgive.

[15:06] It's easy for me to say here, but I can

[15:10] understand the difficulty she must have.

[15:14] But somehow deep inside,

[15:17] this is the message that Christ is

[15:19] trying to teach us. And this gospel

[15:22] passage could be no more fitting

[15:26] to this day, this day of 911

[15:31] and the assassination

[15:33] of a man because he tried to teach about

[15:37] God and country.

[15:40] Let us pray for his family. Let us pray

[15:43] for the families of those of 911.

[15:46] And most of all, let us all pray for our

[15:48] enemies

[15:50] that we may forgive

[15:53] so that we may be forgiven.

[16:02] May God bless Charlie Kirk, his family,

[16:05] the United States,

[16:07] and somehow

[16:10] find a way to turn back to God.

[16:15] There's no other way.

[16:18] There is no other way. Someday we will

[16:22] realize this. We just pray that it's not

[16:27] too late because right now we're losing

[16:30] souls and we have to keep teaching,

[16:34] preaching, believing, and loving.

[16:38] It's a fight. It's a battle.

[16:42] And it's not easy.

[16:44] But with the grace of God, all things

[16:47] are possible, even the conversion

[16:51] of a murderer.

[16:53] God bless you and God bless all of those

[16:57] who are in such need.