Dear In Communion reader,

"You will hear of wars and rumors of wars... but the end is not yet." So we are reminded in Matthew's Gospel. Indeed several wars are underway, and others are threatening, as Alex Patico points out in his article on Iran in this issue. The most vulnerable members of society, the young, the old and the ill, are the most frequent casualties. Christ calls on his followers to do to the least person as we would to him. In a dark sense, we are doing exactly that: he was condemned, and so are the least, again and again and again.

We are called to love our enemies, but how rare it is to hear those words of Jesus applied to those whom we regard as enemies. In countries engaged in war, few priests would dare preach such a sermon - it might well cost them their parish.

The organs of propaganda are hard at work reminding us daily of how necessary it is to hate our enemies and, if possible, to kill them. Rare is the Christian whose way of life suggests that the Gospel is shaping his or her response to enmity and conflict. We deplore Islamic jihadists, while engaging in our own form of holy war.

It is a daily challenge to return to the basics of the kingdom of God: love and forgiveness. Yet one dares to imagine that it would be a better and safer world if Christians displayed, as did their forebears in the early Church, a genuine love of enemies. Conversions happen because of witness given rather than words spoken.

We see one such believer from the early Church in the article in this issue on Saint Marcellus, a soldier who renounced his military oath and paid for it with his life. And we see another in the example given by St. Maria Skobtsova or Paris, whose reflections on the Cross are part of this issue.

Would you take a moment to help keep OPF going? We need your support. Subscription payments and annual dues fall far short of our needs. We currently have three part-time staff members - Sheri San Chico, Alex Patico, and myself. We are paid very little for our many hours of work, but OPF's income doesn't justify more adequate payment. We also have a part-time web master, Michael Markwick. In addition there are all the usual expenses: office and publication costs, telephone, travel, etc. Postage costs have lately gone up.

If you have in fact made a recent gift or are one of those who makes regular donations or donates volunteer time, thank you! You are a God-send. If you aren't, please consider becoming part of our community of committed donors. If you can't manage a monthly or quarterly donation but can make an occasional special donation, please do so. Every gift helps.

We depend on our supporters to make at least one donation annually, but without those who give more than once a year, and give more than the minimum, we could not continue.

In Christ's peace,

Jim Forest

From the Fall 2007 issue of In Communion / IC 47