Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We read so much in the newspapers about knife crime, particularly among young people, but, dreadful as it is, it always seems to be in somebody else’s back yard. Which is why it seemed especially shocking when, on the First Sunday of Lent, Wimbledon Broadway was closed because of the fatal stabbing of a forty-year-old man. It is not something we expect to encounter so close to where we lead our daily lives. Every fatal stabbing is a life lost, a family distraught, and when a perpetrator is convicted another life wasted. The Metropolitan Police have issued a statement saying that this was an isolated incident. Nonetheless the incident may have a worrying impact on the local community even though – or perhaps particularly because -the Crime rate website says that Merton is the third safest borough in London and the least common crime is the possession of weapons.
Politicians and newspaper columnists devote much time trying to identify the causes of the increase in knife crime in recent years. But seemingly to little effect. One can but despair at the little regard some people have for human life, and we should hope that if schools, places of worship and other agencies are unable to inculcate respect for human life, then at least enforcement agencies may be strengthened to help keep knives off the streets. For there can surely be few legitimate reasons for people to carry these instruments of death in their clothing. It is astonishing that children are able to smuggle knives into schools. A BBC Freedom of Information request found that in 2024 1,304 offences involving knives or sharp objects were recorded at schools and sixth form colleges in England and Wales, including by pupils of primary school age.
Our Old Testament reading on the First Sunday of Lent reminded us how death came into the world because of the sin of one man, Adam. However, following the first sin mankind did not have to wait much longer for reports of another; Cain, the first-born son of Adam and Eve and therefore the first human being to be born, murdered his brother Abel because, unlike Cain’s offering, Abel’s offering was pleasing to God. Cain the first born was therefore also the first known murderer. St Paul, in another reading for the first Sunday of Lent, says that sin is not counted where there is no law. But although we had to wait for Moses to receive the Ten Commandments before God told us ‘Thou shalt not kill’, we know from God’s punishment of Cain that murder is a sin against God. Whatsmore, before the giving of the Law God had also said to Noah (in a much-debated passage) “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image”.
Even non-believers must surely accept that murder is against natural law which supposes an inborn, moral obligation to protect and preserve the lives of others.
One of the Lenten practices traditionally undertaken is prayer. This of course is a daily part of any Christian’s life, but in Lent we are particularly encouraged to strengthen our relationship with God through our prayer, self-denial, and almsgiving. We might make it a part of our Lenten prayers to pray for all victims of knife crime and their families, for all who have died at the hands of others, and for an end to the hatred that must lie at the root of these crimes.
With blessings for a happy and holy Lent,
Fr Christopher
All Saints' Church, South Wimbledon 