Kayla Mueller

From the desk of Fr. Ignatius Waters, cp

Sunday, 5th October 2015

There’s no doubt Kayla Mueller is a modern martyr. This young American woman died earlier this year while she was being held hostage by Islamic State militants. Kayla graduated in 2009, and began working with humanitarian groups in northern India, Israel and Palestine. In 2012, the war in Syria and the resulting refugee crisis led her to travel to the Syrian/Turkish border, where she worked with Support for Life and other organizations. On one occasion after a bombing she was able to reunite a man with a six year family member. At the time she told a reporter, “For as long as I live, I will not let this suffering be normal. I will not let this be something we accept.” At age 26 she had every right to think she would live long but she was kidnapped in Aleppo in August 2013 and spent 18 months in Isis captivity.

Since her death it’s often been said that Kayla did more in her 26 years than many people in a lifetime but it’s also true that she was able to grasp a deeper understanding of God than most people do in a lifetime. In a letter to her father in 2011, she wrote, “I find God in the suffering eyes of people. If this is how God is revealed to me, this is how I will forever seek God. Some people find God in church. Some people find God in love; I find God in suffering people. I’ve known for some time what my life’s work is, using my hands as tools to relieve suffering”. Kayla wrote these words when she was no more than 23 years of age. To see God’s face in the eyes of those who suffer unspeakable violence and desolation is a charism that is rare at any age.

She had every reason to be angry with Islamic fundamentalists but in letters home it’s herself she’s angry with for all the worry her work has caused her family. She still saw the darkness around her for what it was but managed to find grace in it: “I’ve been shown light in the darkness and have learned that even in prison one can be free. I am grateful. I have come to see there is good in every situation, sometimes we just have to look for it.”

Two Yazidi girls were held with Kayla for several months last year and they reported that she was “married by force” and sexually abused by Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Kayla’s faith and courage through all she suffered can speak to those tired of a Christianity that sees wealth and power as signs of God’s blessing or see religions as a divisive force in the world. I marvel at the deep spirituality of this young woman. We so often seek God for our own solace and comfort. She sought God in the eyes of suffering and marginalized people.

               Kayla has much to teach us about God and the Passion of Jesus