534. THE SHADOW OF BARABBAS OVER HOLY WEEK by un'Americana a Venezia

Holy Week in this special Jubilee Year was marred this past Tuesday by simultaneous terrorist attacks carried out at rush hour in the subway and at the main airport of the political capital of the EU.  Tens of people were slaughtered.  Hundreds more were injured.  Brussels is a true cosmopolis.  It serves as a second home or hub to people from all over the world.  It has long welcomed immigrants, including Italians.  Tolerant Brussels also hosts one of the the largest Muslim communities inside the EU.  Reporters claim that, for years, the police have seldom entered certain neighborhoods there, so that Brussels has got at least two Muslim ghettos.  Such ethnic strongholds inside Europe's capital have made for "safe houses" as well as munitions depots for those sociopathic criminals we call terrorists.  One of the terrorists behind the recent Paris attacks, for example, was known to have worked in a cafe there where drug dealing went on.  There is reason to believe that his recent capture in a Muslim quarter of Brussels after a 4-month long search was the trigger for Tuesday's attacks.  The nefarious military organization known as ISIS took all the credit for this week's atrocities.  It occurs to me that Jesus' public trial in Jerusalem conducted by the Roman prefect, Pontius Pilate, was overshadowed by the spirit of terrorism.  Given a chance to liberate a prisoner, with the absurd choice between a bloodthirsty seditionist named Barabbas and the healer who called himself the Messiah, the mob did what mobs do:  They gave into the spirit of rebellion, in this case against the invasive Roman Empire, and thus they voted to free the terrorist, Barabbas, so that Jesus of Nazareth, called Master by many, had to pay the price.  This evening, Maundy Thursday, Pope Francis is still scheduled to wash the feet of a handful of Europe's newly arrived Muslim refugees in the annual reenactment of the Last Supper.  Due to the climate of growing unease felt by European citizens towards these newcomers, the pope will likely be criticised by many, either openly or discreetly, for this humble gesture.  Virtual mobs will be calling for refugees to be rounded up and sent back to their homelands rather than to be honored by the head of the Roman Catholic Church.  But Pope Francis will not be easing up any time soon on his insistence that we have a humanitarian duty to aid and assist refugees fleeing from war and abject poverty.  Not incidentally, should Syria and Iraq ever become truly livable again, along with Libya and Afghanistan, many refugees will gladly return to their homes, no matter how decimated by bombs dropped by Western nations as well as by Russia.  Meanwhile, the black-flagged army that calls itself ISIS is still battling to create and/or expand its caliphate, burning, raping and brutalizing just like any horde of barbarians in any other epoch.  Barabbas is on the loose again in the form of common criminals with a political cause.  I have never been fooled into thinking that today's terrorists are pious men.  I know what they are.  They are angry and disaffected youth led by hard-boiled seditionists who hide behind a holy book whenever they break God's laws.  Perhaps many of these seditionists have long been commissioned by secret puppetmasters that can well afford to pay them.  The Pope has not addressed the possibility of hell-bent sociopaths filtering into Europe alongside the refugees, but perhaps it is not his place to discuss strategies for vetting immigrants.  He simply calls on humanity, appealing especially to Christians, to remember what Jesus said about offering food, shelter, and clothing to whoever asks for it.  On Venerdì Santo, Good Friday in Italy, comes the annual televised evening of the Via Crucis, the Stations of the Cross, presided over by the Pope at the Colosseum in Rome, a fitting venue.  The Messiah, after all, was executed by Empire.  However, this is the first Holy Week I can recall having lived under the threat of terrorism.  What would Jesus say, even now, in the face of so much cruel and senseless violence?  Of the pagans who crucified him, He said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."  There, it would seem, is His answer.  The thief hanging on the cross next to Him was also forgiven.  Here it is, Holy Week 2016, and we're hanging onto our souls.  I wish everyone a blessed Easter, a heartfelt celebration of victory over death!    UN'AMERICANA A VENEZIA