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Hunger and Thirst for Justice |
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Sunday, 20 January 2008 |
On Monday and Tuesday of this week, the citizens of our beloved country will be reminded of two “history-changing” events. On Monday and Tuesday of this week, we will be called to remember these events, in prayer and in penance, in celebration and in service.
Monday the 21st: For most of the members of our parish family (those of you forty years of age and younger), the celebration of the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is about “history”, something you’ve had to learn from a book. But for me, the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, is not “history”. His life and work lives inside my own life. Even now, some forty years after he was shot dead in Memphis, his life informs my life. How so?
Some simply talk the talk. Talk-show hosts, boob-tube preachers and lots of politicians… talk the talk. Martin Luther King walked the walk. He tried to live the life of Jesus of Nazareth every day of the week, and not just on Sunday. As a young teenager, I heard most of my school mates and many of my relatives say spiteful and vulgar things about this “colored” man. But what I saw was a man, a man that looked a bit different than me, but a man that was showing me how to stand up for what was right. I admired him then. I admire him now. Lord God, give us that prophetic voice, that hunger and thirst for justice.
Tuesday the 22nd: On Tuesday the 22nd, groups of citizens in our beloved country will remember 22 January 1973 in different ways. On the 22nd of January 1973, the Supreme Court used a case before it (Rowe v. Wade) to speak to the issue of abortion. Many citizens heard of this decision and rejoiced, thinking that the “sea change” on abortion was a good, and a particular blessing for the women of the land. Even now, after the horror of these twenty-five years, some of our politicians and “celebrities” proclaim their solidarity with Roe v. Wade. Other citizens, on hearing the news of the ruling, began their prayer and their penance, knowing that the taking of innocent life is never justified, never “OK”. These citizens continue to this day, to work toward a change in that law.
Our country continues to be divided on this issue of abortion, and the “choice” that is made regarding life. But our Roman Catholic Church speaks with an undivided heart, calling on all peoples and all governments to affirm, protect and support the sanctity of all life. We are to celebrate life, and serve the gift of life. New life, old life, broken life.
How can we put these two days together into some kind of perspective? Look to Sunday…the Day of the Lord. On the first day of the week, we gather in prayer, and are united to THE gift of God. Jesus of Nazareth alone has the capacity to show our broken humanity the Way home, the Way out of darkness, the Way to our true vocation… our true calling. We are called to live holy and joyful lives, lives of serving our neighbor and forgiving the faults of all, just as we have been forgiven.
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This parish family is being called to a renewal of mind and heart. We are to celebrate life and serve life as disciples of the Lord Jesus. Our Building a Legacy of Faith is much more than dollars, much more than bricks and wood and steel. We build for eternity, and this eternal life begins now, as we come to know the One who is Lord. AMDG.
Msgr. David |
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