Some were migrant workers.
A shocking new video appearing to show at least 30 Christians being beheaded and shot by ISIS in Libya has been released.
The 29-minute video, titled 'Until It Came To Them - Clear Evidence', shows dozens of militants holding two separate groups captive, thought to be in the south and the west of the country.
At least 16 men, described by Islamic State as the 'followers of the cross from the enemy Ethiopian Church', are lined up and shot in a desert area while 12 others are filmed being forced to walk down a beach before being beheaded.
This follows another video in February of the beheading of a group of 21 Coptic Christians on the beach in Libya, though that terrain was rockier than the one shown in the latest film.
It raises fears that ISIS is consolidating its presence on the 'doorstep of Europe', as Libya is just a few hundred miles from the coast of Italy. - Story here.
Pray, pray, pray ... without ceasing.
O God, you are my God.
It is for you that we face death all day long
and are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
Awake, O Lord, why do you sleep?Arise, do not reject us for ever!Why do you hide your face
and forget our oppression and misery?
For we are brought down low to the dust;
our body lies prostrate on the earth.
Stand up and come to our help!Redeem us because of your love! - Ps. 44
-image source-
God once said to Abraham:
"Go forth out of your country."
Soon perhaps we shall hear it said to us:
"Go forth out of every country."
It would be well if we were to obey,
and come to see in the heavens
the place which is known as
"the kingdom of the heavens." - Origen
. I think God appeals to each ISIS member each day to repent since " He desires that all men to be saved" which Aquinas and Damascene called " the antecedent willing of God". Then Aquinas proceeded to say: " the antecedent will of God does not always take place". ...Summa Theologica, Part I, Quest.19,art.6, reply to obj.1. The same passage notes that " whatever God SIMPLY wills always takes place."
ReplyDeleteGod's simple will always takes place. His desire that all men be saved does not always take place...not due to Him but due to foolish man. I believe many ISIS have entered hell in the past half year of fighting. These martyrs are in Heaven with God and their holy relatives are are ecstatic after a brief terror...ecstatic forever and one day their bodies will be joined to them but glorified and at the age of their peak physical age according to Aquinas. Thus babies who died will receive their resurrected bodies at about age 33 like Christ as will the elderly.
Pray most greatly for those Christians who are apostasizing under ISIS threats.
Yes indeed - I will pray for those who apostasize or are tempted to do so! Thanks for the reminder.
DeleteAnother very sad and horrible crime committed against those who proclaim Christ crucified.
ReplyDeleteI am at work and am thinking about these poor folk. I am comfortable and safe, in a nice home with a nice family, caring and teaching them on how to care for their dying loved one. So many thoughts come to mind, so much to pray for.
I'm tired. All I want to do is go home, crawl into bed, close my eyes and not wake til peace reigns.
Peace reigns at this moment here in the calm and quiet of this house. I can understand better why some folks just close the door and draw the curtains...it's a very cruel world out there. Not how I am to live though.
For me to kept moving forward I am to carry my cross and my faith in the real world. The good Lord may allow me brief moments of respite but too many of my fellow brethren need prayers and support and I am no use to them if I hide and shut myself off from what has me feeling numb at the moment.
The Church will preservere to the end. Too much precious blood has soaked the earth for the Risen Lord...it will not go unnoticed.
Your work is prayer too - you work in hospice - how much more can you love? You minister to the dying - your presence - Christ's presence in your heart - is Eucharistic - like the silent loving action of Christ in the tabernacle.
Delete"What is striking" notes Anba Antonios "is that the Ethiopian Church is called 'hostile Church' ... obviously these strange jihadists also follow the political implications of the meetings between the Churches. But in the great pain", adds the Coptic Catholic Bishop "we continue to look at these events with the eyes of faith. The chain of martyrs has not finished, and will accompany the whole history until the end. Christians do not seek martyrdom, they want to live in peace and joy. But if martyrdom comes, it is comforting to see that it can be accepted with the same peace which was accepted by the Copts who pronounced the name of Christ and they relied on Him as they were being slaughtered. The Church has never complained of martyrdom, but has always celebrated martyrs as those in whom, while they are being killed, the great and consoling victory of Christ shines". (GV) (Agenzia Fides 20/04/2015)
DeleteThe above comments made me cry with sadness but it consoled me too. I must remember that all is not in vain if done for Christ.
Thanks for the kind words Terry. I know only too well that on my own, I would fail to do my duty. I can only hope to emulate what you have written. ^^
Let's keep praying!
Yaya, when my mother was dying, one like you was always with her in the hospice - when we could not be there. it was so very, very consoling. throughout the entire 'end', we were cared for as well: not just Mom....you are never forgotten by these families. God Bless You.
DeleteA Century before Muhammed: Yemen sees a tribe of Jewish Arabs slaughter a tribe of "Ethiopian" Christian Arabs (that is, of the Ethiopian Church Tradition).
ReplyDeleteMuhammed: Muslims slaughter the Jewish tribe in revenge for a killing a century earlier.
Now: Muslims themselves slaughter Ethiopian Christians.
Isn't that what they call "coming full circle"?
It's incomprehensible, isn't it. It keeps happening through history.
Deletehttp://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/20/us-usa-minnesota-terrorism-idUSKBN0NB0E320150420
ReplyDeleteThe Minnesota Somali community apparently has some bad apples...who fortunately are being caught.
I know - Little Mogadishu located just off downtown.
DeleteThe blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church, as my priest likes to remind us.
ReplyDeleteAnd we are not locating these thugs and bombing them to kingdom come because why...?
ReplyDeleteDamn, we have a lotta pricey artillery lying around. And drones. Let's use them please.
Gotta go with the Marines on this one -- kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out.