Kudos to The Tablet of this past August 1, for the enlightening coverage of African Americans whose causes for canonization are being promoted by the Church. Despite the roadblocks of racism that stood in their paths, they persevered in following the Lord without counting the cost. They are truly an inspiration to us.
My point is this: Catholics should be in the forefront of the fight against racism in our society for two reasons. First, Catholic teaching declares our equal dignity before a loving God. Second, historically we can appreciate what it feels like to be looked down upon, to be seen as inferior by other Americans. The struggle against bigotry is one struggle and it is ours.
When we reflect on the COVID-19 crisis, I pray we can look back on this period as the great turning point for our Catholic schools. Amid the suffering and uncertainty, the light of our Catholic schools shone through, especially in Brooklyn and Queens.
If you look at the backsplash behind our kitchen sink here in Brooklyn, you will see a New Yorker cartoon by Victoria Roberts. A bespectacled couple stands on either side of the opened door of a dishwasher. The man is saying, “I will always be better at loading the dishwasher, Marie. Can we live with that?”
At Mass, one Sunday every three years, those years when my son’s age is divisible by three, we read from Psalm 138. It ends in a plea for God to “forsake not the work of your hands.”
“Mandating face masks is unconstitutional and an affront to my freedom.” Despite the scientific wisdom of this mandate, some citizens vociferously reject it.
In my 20 or so years of being on the St. Saviour RCIA team, I have repeatedly viewed Father Michael J. Himes’s videos in his “The Mystery of Faith: An Introduction to Catholicism.”
In German, the word “gegensatz” indicates an opposing point of view. How might this translate?
Hordes of protesters have flooded the streets over burning concerns crying to be addressed. Will racism continue to divide society?
The global protests over the long-standing plague of white supremacy, most recently manifested in the police and vigilante murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, have put our nation and church on the precipice of monumental change or devastating setback.
