Message of comfort to the California Fire victims

On a cold winter’s evening there is nothing to beat the warm glow created by a log fire in the family living room. But how different when it comes in the form of a raging forest fire, as happened in California in October.

Those forest fires brought fear and terror, destruction and death to those in its path. For those watching on TV, the overwhelming sentiment was horror, followed by compassion and empathy and the desire to send words of condolence, comfort and encouragement.

But how do you send words to people whose homes and livelihoods are going up in flames, and whose lives are disintegrating in front of you?

This is where our Christian faith enters and takes over. It turns empathy into sympathy and sympathy into prayer. Prayer, by its very nature, crosses all boundaries; it transcends the limits of our human condition and brings the love and comfort of Jesus into our hopelessness.

Prayer helps us and the victims of the fire disaster to associate and offer up their pain and suffering with those of Jesus as he died for all of us on the Cross.

May you feel the closeness of Jesus to you as you strive to put your life together again. Take comfort, Jesus is Lord and He will save us all.

Yours in Christ
Cardinal Wilfrid Napier OFM
Archbishop of Durban