The year 2014 has not been the best of years. And unfortunately, it is ending on a sour note with the assassination of two police officers right here in our diocese.
The charlatan politicians and would-be community leaders would have us believe that the underlying problem is racism. The real danger facing us all is the extreme lack of respect for authority, which makes up the underpinnings of society.
The rabble-rousers leading the misguided public demonstrations in our streets would have us believe their cause is just. That is a smokescreen for arousing chaos and taking down the tenets of modern society.
The real issues of injustice begin in the homes and in families. The breakdown of family values and structures has led to a devaluation of human life. The real questions facing us center around why there are so many fatherless or motherless households in our nation. Why is there so much violence and disorientation among our young people? Why are there not enough jobs for all people? Why is our educational system failing to properly form young people? Why is there such callous disregard for unborn life?
Race is a factor but it is not THE factor. Our country has faced up to its racial divide and has been making great strides in bringing all peoples together. For the most part, people of good will live and work side by side regardless of race, color or beliefs.
But there are phoney leaders who seize upon every instance of conflict and turn them into racially motivated incidents. The so-called racial incidents of Ferguson and Staten Island had more to do with a lack of respect for authority and how we administer justice than it did with the color of one’s skin.
We have seen devious wannabes take advantage of these tragic events and turn them into selfserving cause celebres. Where are the politicians who are asking the right questions? Where are the leaders who would bring us together rather than divide us?
The murders of the police officers on a Brooklyn street are the logical conclusion to those who would fan the flames of anarchy and those who fail to fully support legitimate authority. Words create an atmosphere and those who utter them must take responsibility for the actions they cause.
Some have called for a moratorium on public demonstrations until after the funerals of the police officers. What nonsense! Where is the call to a complete end to this civil unrest that is the work of professional organizers and dissident groups who do not have the common good as their goal.
As Catholics, we look to the ideals preached by Our Lord as the guiding principles that would guide us. We seek love not hatred, unity not division, peace not warfare.
At Christmas, we should be celebrating a birth that changed the course of history and instead our attention is being captured by death and destruction.
The New Year gives us all a chance to start over. Let us imagine ways to recapture concern for one another. Let us rid ourselves of self-serving mouthpieces who profit from the evil of murder and mayhem.
Let Jesus free our minds of suspicion and let us rediscover a sense of mutual respect. Let us reject timeworn slogans that pull us apart. Let 2015 be the year when we all come together and truly care about each other.
