Most of you
have seen DePauw in the news this week for incidents of racism. Just wanted to
say here at the beginning that I’ve been REALLY proud of our Catholic students
in standing in solidarity with all those who are suffering, and also working to
try to be a light of hope to the campus.
Some in the
past week, even some writing from a Christian perspective, have sought to
minimize or even explain away the incidents themselves.
Two things
about that. First of all, I minister at Putnamville prison a few miles from
here. A few months ago, I attended an annual training night for all those who
volunteer there at the prison. They went through all the gangs in the prison so
we’d know what to watch out for. They went through the Mexican gangs, the black
gangs, etc. but what blew me away was that while there were 5 or 6 of each of
those gangs, there were close to TWENTY white supremacist gangs. Racism is
still alive and well.
Archbishop
Thompson wrote a letter a few months ago on a lot of issues facing our
Archdiocese, including RACISM
At the heart
of these issues (racism, drug use, abortion, immigration, gun violence,
religious liberty, euthanasia) Archbishop pointed to HUMAN DIGNITY!
Archbishop
notes: “We are one in Christ. This is not a metaphor.”
How true! So
often we think “oh, one in Christ, that’s nice, we could make it a song title
or we think “what a lovely image” but Archbishop Thompson makes it clear – this
is NOT a metaphor. This is NOT poetry. We are to be ONE.
That’s also
what we hear in the Gospel today. ONE flock.
Archbishop
goes on: “It is a fundamental truth…This fundamental belief, which we accept as
a fact, dramatically influences the way we are called to live our lives. We do
not merely exist for ourselves and our own kind.”
It DOES
dramatically influence the way we live our lives. If you think about it, this
was precisely one of the key RADICAL notions that the Christian Church proposed
to the world. Show me a culture, prior to Jesus Christ, that taught that every
human person had dignity! You can’t! It didn’t exist. In every culture before
Christ there were SOME people who had dignity, but then there was a group of
the population that was “trash” that was disposable, they could be slaves or
they could be killed or treated harshly because they were LESS human. The early
Church, in bringing the Gospel to the various cultures and continents taught
precisely this new idea, that, according to Jesus Christ’s teachings and the
teachings of His Church that he left behind on Earth, EVERY person has dignity
because they are made in the image and likeness of God!
We have
proof of this in our second reading. We hear Saint John: “See what love the
Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we
are.” He’s saying “WOW! This is so amazing!
Finally, to
conclude with the Archbishop’s excerpts, I’d like to finish with this line:
“The Catholic Church opposes racism, sexism, nativism and all forms of
prejudice against people who are perceived to be different from us, including
strangers and enemies.”
There’s the
great warning of Christ: SATAN DESIRES TO SIFT YOU LIKE WHEAT! He desires to
breakdown relationships, marriages, families, universities, parishes,
communities, states, countries, etc. He is an agent of DISunity. Whereas Christ
says today that He is an agent of unity. “ONE flock. ONE shepherd!”
Turning for
a moment to the teaching of the universal Church, The Compendium of Catholic
Social Teaching, 144: since all people have the same dignity as creatures made
in his image and likeness[281]. The Incarnation of the Son of God shows the
equality of all people with regard to dignity: “There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are
all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28; cf. Rom 10:12; 1 Cor 12:13, Col 3:11).
Since
something of the glory of God shines on the face of every person, the dignity
of every person before God is the basis of the dignity of man before other
men[282]. Moreover, this is the ultimate foundation of the radical equality and
brotherhood among all people, regardless of their race, nation, sex, origin,
culture, or class.
Compendium
431: For those who live a new life in Christ, racial and cultural differences
are no longer causes of division
431
continued: From the day of Pentecost, when the Resurrection is announced to
diverse peoples, each of whom understand it in their own language, the Church
fulfills her mission of restoring and bearing witness to the unity lost at
Babel. Through the Church, the human family is called to rediscover its unity
and recognize the richness of its differences!
Let me state
this clearly: “If you harbor racist beliefs or outlooks, the Gospel of Jesus
Christ has not taken root in you yet”
Look at that
prayer card – you know why it is so powerful and speaks a thousand words –
because of the collar – because of the visible representation of the Presence
of the Church
Is the
Church present in those who don’t wear a collar or habit? OF COURSE!!!!
Can we work
for unity without a collar or habit? OF COURSE!!!!
But we need
people who are willing to be VISIBLE signs of the Church BEING the glue,
VISIBLE signs
Precisely in
the fact that celibacy is a sign that we are all heading for an eternal home
not of this world, religious and priestly vocations are also, at the same time,
able to GIVE THEMSELVES COMPLETELY to THIS world to help work for that unity
full time!
One thing I
didn’t know until I became a priest – people stare at you a lot when you wear
the Roman collar. I’ve become somewhat more used to it, but it is still
startling
1) I see
fascination/surprise
2) I see
hope too – something that instantly seems to get them thinking about eternal
things
In a world
that so often looks for VISIBLE things to be divided over – skin color, race,
clothing, wealth, - a GREAT way to fight back against that is to be a VISIBLE
sign of UNITY
G.K.
Chesterton said “Each generation is converted by the saint who contradicts it
most.”
If you want
to convert our culture, help pray for, encourage, and foster young men and
women who will come forward to contradict the culture of division and disunity
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