{"id":129,"date":"2014-06-14T09:57:00","date_gmt":"2014-06-14T09:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/06\/the-suffering-body-of-christ.html"},"modified":"2016-03-25T17:42:19","modified_gmt":"2016-03-25T22:42:19","slug":"the-suffering-body-of-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/06\/the-suffering-body-of-christ.html","title":{"rendered":"The Suffering Body of Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Before starting the Vigil Mass for Palm Sunday last year I decided to check the headlines on a Catholic news website. \u00a0My heart almost skipped a beat as I read towards the bottom of the page, \u201cSyrian priest kidnapped as war rages on.\u201d \u00a0During my time in seminary I became a very close friend of two Syrian seminarians from Aleppo. \u00a0Throughout the three years that we studied together in Rome I compared the conditions that awaited me in the United States and those that awaited them in Syria. \u00a0Any personal challenge I foresaw was quickly crushed by considering the challenges they would face by returning to Aleppo. \u00a0I admired their courage and bravery. \u00a0I was returning to a sandbox, they were going to a war zone.<\/p>\n

I hesitantly clicked on the headline and to my horror saw a picture of Father Michele Kayal in red vestments. \u00a0My heart sank and I shed a few tears. \u00a0I immediately emailed my other friend, Antoine, and he responded confirming the sad news. \u00a0On February 9th, 2013, Father Kayal and a Greek Orthodox priest were taken off a bus by rebels near Damascus and they were never seen again.<\/p>\n

On July 2013 I heard from Father Antoine again. \u00a0Aleppo was under siege by rebels making it impossible to leave the city. \u00a0Food was scarce and expensive. \u00a0Factories lay in ruins. \u00a0He described the situation as \u201ctruly difficult\u201d and found it incomprehensible that the United States would want to help the opposition. He expressed his greatest fear was that Christians in Syria would imitate Christians in Iraq and leave their homeland.<\/p>\n

After limited contact every few months, I received an email from Father Antoine today. \u00a0While in Rome taking a brief rest after four continuous years of ministering in Syria, a missile hit his bishop\u2019s residence in Aleppo. \u00a0Part of the complex was destroyed, much of it damaged, including my friend\u2019s bedroom. \u00a0Bishop Boutros Marayati confirmed there were no victims.<\/p>\n

Recently many rose up against the possibility of the desecration of the Body of Christ at Harvard University where a group announced it would hold a reenactment of a black mass. \u00a0The response was truly praiseworthy. \u00a0The faithful recognized a line had been crossed when the Body of Christ would be profaned.<\/p>\n

Saint Paul heard these words from Jesus while in Syria centuries ago, \u201cSaul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?\u201d \u00a0This led Paul to the realization that those he persecuted were part of the Body of Christ; that every Christian is part of Christ\u2019s Body.<\/p>\n

This same body is being desecrated and profaned today as Christians are killed for their faith. \u00a0A recent figure estimates that 100,000 Christians die each year on account of their faith. \u00a0All Christians, as part of the same body, must feel the pain of those suffering tremendously. \u00a0Their pain must be ours. \u00a0Their sorrow must be ours. \u00a0We cannot remain indifferent to the suffering of our brothers and sisters in Christ. \u00a0They are not just a headline or a statistic; they are one with us in the communion of saints. We must stand in solidarity with the suffering Body of Christ. \u00a0If we do not care about the suffering of our brothers and sisters in Christ, then who will?<\/p>\n

Picture: Father Michele at my birthday dinner in Rome, March 5th, 2009<\/p>\n

Pictures are mine, all rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before starting the Vigil Mass for Palm Sunday last year I decided to check the headlines on a Catholic news website. \u00a0My heart almost skipped a beat as I read towards the bottom of the page, \u201cSyrian priest kidnapped as war rages on.\u201d \u00a0During my time in seminary I became a very close friend of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2533,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Suffering Body of Christ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Before starting the Vigil Mass for Palm Sunday last year I decided to check the headlines on a Catholic news website. \u00a0My heart almost skipped a beat as I\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/06\/the-suffering-body-of-christ.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Suffering Body of Christ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Before starting the Vigil Mass for Palm Sunday last year I decided to check the headlines on a Catholic news website. \u00a0My heart almost skipped a beat as I\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/06\/the-suffering-body-of-christ.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Labyrinthine Mind\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-06-14T09:57:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-03-25T22:42:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/files\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-jtpVWgtEnqE\/U5vj6lUEmkI\/AAAAAAAADYU\/NwpFQ0rLZQg\/s1600\/IMG_0582.JPG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Father Pablo Migone\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Father Pablo Migone\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/06\/the-suffering-body-of-christ.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/06\/the-suffering-body-of-christ.html\",\"name\":\"The Suffering Body of Christ\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-06-14T09:57:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-03-25T22:42:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b\"},\"description\":\"Before starting the Vigil Mass for Palm Sunday last year I decided to check the headlines on a Catholic news website. \u00a0My heart almost skipped a beat as I\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/06\/the-suffering-body-of-christ.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/06\/the-suffering-body-of-christ.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/06\/the-suffering-body-of-christ.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Suffering Body of Christ\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/\",\"name\":\"Labyrinthine Mind\",\"description\":\"Seeking God in the labyrinth\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b\",\"name\":\"Father Pablo Migone\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Father Pablo Migone\"},\"description\":\"Born in Lima, Peru and raised in Augusta, Georgia, Father Pablo Migone was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 2009 after studying at the Pontifical North American College and earning a Masters in Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy. He currently serves as Vicar for Mission Advancement of the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia and Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish and Corpus Christi Parish in the Savannah, Georgia area. The views expressed in this blog are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of his bishop or the Diocese of Savannah.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/author\/pmigone\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Suffering Body of Christ","description":"Before starting the Vigil Mass for Palm Sunday last year I decided to check the headlines on a Catholic news website. \u00a0My heart almost skipped a beat as I","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/06\/the-suffering-body-of-christ.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Suffering Body of Christ","og_description":"Before starting the Vigil Mass for Palm Sunday last year I decided to check the headlines on a Catholic news website. \u00a0My heart almost skipped a beat as I","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/06\/the-suffering-body-of-christ.html","og_site_name":"Labyrinthine Mind","article_published_time":"2014-06-14T09:57:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-03-25T22:42:19+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/files\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-jtpVWgtEnqE\/U5vj6lUEmkI\/AAAAAAAADYU\/NwpFQ0rLZQg\/s1600\/IMG_0582.JPG"}],"author":"Father Pablo Migone","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Father Pablo Migone","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/06\/the-suffering-body-of-christ.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/06\/the-suffering-body-of-christ.html","name":"The Suffering Body of Christ","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-06-14T09:57:00+00:00","dateModified":"2016-03-25T22:42:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b"},"description":"Before starting the Vigil Mass for Palm Sunday last year I decided to check the headlines on a Catholic news website. \u00a0My heart almost skipped a beat as I","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/06\/the-suffering-body-of-christ.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/06\/the-suffering-body-of-christ.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/06\/the-suffering-body-of-christ.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Suffering Body of Christ"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/","name":"Labyrinthine Mind","description":"Seeking God in the labyrinth","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b","name":"Father Pablo Migone","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Father Pablo Migone"},"description":"Born in Lima, Peru and raised in Augusta, Georgia, Father Pablo Migone was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 2009 after studying at the Pontifical North American College and earning a Masters in Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy. He currently serves as Vicar for Mission Advancement of the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia and Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish and Corpus Christi Parish in the Savannah, Georgia area. The views expressed in this blog are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of his bishop or the Diocese of Savannah.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/author\/pmigone"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2533"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}