“In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I
have conquered the world,” Jesus says to His disciples before going to Gethsemane to face His betrayer and to us in today’s Gospel, John 16:
29-33. The trouble we now face in the 21st
century is mind bottling. Last night at
one of the parishes in the area, we listened to a young woman who escaped human traffickers, recovered from alcohol and drug addiction (used to numb her pain), has now earned a college
degree in nursing and has turned her life over to Christ. She shares her story
in the hope that she will alert parents,
grandparents and all adults of the dangers children, teens and young people face
in the world of today, a dangerous world.
Children, teens and young people are stalked daily by recruiters of the sex industry, a lucrative business earning $32 billion a year. Recruiters of this industry hang around schools, shopping
centers, places like Starbucks, looking for at-risk youth,teens and kids with low
self-esteem who are easy targets of charmers!
Children and teens using certain online websites are only a click away from
pimps seeking a victim or from those
working for the sex trade.
We may wonder why Jesus, in the Garden of Olives, sweat beads of
blood? Or we may even wonder why Jesus suffered such excruciating torture to save us from the Evil One when "He was made sin for us" to redeem us from sin; yes, in this case, from the sin of human trafficking.
"In the world you will have trouble…” This kind of trouble,
Lord? When will we, in your name, Lord, conquer this world of human
trafficking? Please help us bring this
issue to the awareness of your flock, to the awareness of persons who
take seriously their responsibilities as your disciples to be a Good Samaritan to persons who become victims of human traffickers, are isolated from family and true friends, are told that harm will come to their families if they do not cooperate with their "owners", and are beaten if they do not reach their quota. Lord, have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord, have mercy! Show us the way to rid the world of this scourge, of this abuse of power, of this horrible
sin against humanity!
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