“Holy Scripture boldly proclaims, “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are”(1 Jn 3:1). This love “comes from God and unites us to God; through this unifying process it makes us a ‘we’ which transcends our divisions and makes us one, until in the end God is ‘all in all’ (1 Cor 15:28).” By the work of the Holy Spirit, the Church is called to share with all the world this gift of love.” (from: “Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love – A Pastoral Letter Against Racism”)
The quote above begins the U. S. Bishop’s letter from 2018 looking at the continued sin of racism in our country. It reminds us that equality, dignity and justice are founded in the Word of God and the Catholic Christian response to any form of discrimination should be the response of Jesus Christ seeking justice, peace and reconciliation. I am challenged to write this letter because of the brutal death of George Floyd, the subsequent protests and the violence that has followed. At his audience on Wednesday June 4th, our Holy Father Pope Francis reminded the Church and the world, ““we cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life…At the same time, we have to recognize that the violence of recent nights is self-destructive and self-defeating…Nothing is gained by violence and so much is lost.”
This week, in the book “A Parent Who Prays” we looked at the spiritual fruit of “Self-Control” I commented on Monday in my short video how God calls us through this gift to self master the passions that seek to control our lives. These passions can bring about both good and evil but by the fruit of the Holy Spirit we can through prayer, hope and works of mercy direct our passions to the glory and praise of God.
I cannot and will not claim to know the hurt, the constant worry and fear or the doubts about equality and justice the sin of racism plants in the hearts of our brothers and sisters in the African American community or any person who has experienced persistent and constant discrimination but I trust and believe that in and through Jesus Christ, each person, each community, each society and ultimately the world can find a conversion to peace and justice only found in Jesus Christ.
When we are able to sit face to face in front of Jesus and truly expose and examine our hearts in truth in the mercy of our just and merciful Savior are we able to open our souls to be cleansed of the unseen and often unexamined areas we seek to hide and flee from. The Bishops’ remind us, “Racism can often be found in our hearts—in many cases placed there unwillingly or unknowingly by our upbringing and culture. As such, it can lead to thoughts and actions that we do not even see as racist, but nonetheless flow from the same prejudicial root. Consciously or subconsciously, this attitude of superiority can be seen in how certain groups of people are vilified, called criminals, or are perceived as being unable to contribute to society, even unworthy of its benefits. Racism can also be institutional, when practices or traditions are upheld that treat certain groups of people unjustly. The cumulative effects of personal sins of racism have led to social structures of injustice and violence that makes us all accomplices in racism.”
The spiritual fruit of “self-control” reminds us and invites us to examine all areas of our lives where passions run rampant and we allow the sins to remain unexamined. The tragic death of George Floyd demands that each Christian examine their hearts and bring to Jesus those sins that divide, denigrate and demean others who are equally children of the One True God. And above all we must then act in purposely seeking to resolve the sin of racial intolerance and hatred in our world.
As a Catholic priest and as a sinner I would invite you to take time in prayer and letting go of any agenda or “not me” and allow the breath of the Holy Spirit to enter your heart. We must begin today.
Our parish of St. Lucy is a diverse and wonderful community where we will one day soon gather again in prayer seeking the Divine Mercy and when we kneel, we remember we kneel not to the power of this world, but to the glory and praise of God our Father. For it is only possible in and through Him to find true peace, the peace given only in Jesus Christ.
Mary Queen of Peace….pray for us.
God Bless
Fr. Mark
I would invite each of us to take time to read and pray with the Bishop’s pastoral letter in the coming day.
http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/racism/upload/open-wide-our-hearts.pdf