When I first heard reports about the corona virus affecting so many people in China, I wasn’t sure what to think about this news. Then I heard about cases breaking out in various parts of our country. I think that the seriousness of our situation really hit home on Sunday, March 8, when a parishioner who was a physician warned me about the seriousness of the pandemic that would soon be upon us. Before that week was out we were instructed to close down. In the first few days and weeks I was concerned about how we would function as a parish. By Easter time we decided to have live-streamed Mass. We had no idea how well that it would be received. Soon it became clear that we should do it every week until we would be able to open again. In the meantime I have learned to use an internet tool about which I had never heard: Zoom. Over the next six months I have become somewhat adept at hosting Zoom conferences. While meetings in person would be much better, most of us have learned to live with Zoom. Because of it, life can carry on.

August 26, 2020 marked the one hundredth anniversary of the passage of the nineteenth amendment to the United States Constitution. This amendment was the result of decades of steadfast advocacy by women from all walks of life throughout our nation. One woman who was jubilant at the passing of this amendment that gave women the right to vote was my paternal grandmother: Anna Dougherty Dillon. My father would tell me that Grandma often would say women should have been granted the right to vote long before 1920, but that she was grateful to have that right. And exercise it she did! My grandmother wasted no time in registering to vote and never missed an opportunity to vote right up to her death in 1964. Another thing my father told me was that she would never tell my grandfather or her children for whom she voted. When asked she was just smile and say that she wasn’t going to say. This annoyed my grandfather who wanted to know how she voted, but he or her children never found out.

Pope Francis established September 1 as an annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation in 2015. It is also the first day of the Season of Creation or Creation Time. The Season of Creation or Creation Time, is marked throughout the Christian world from September 1 to October 4 (Feast of St. Francis of Assisi) and celebrates the joy of creation as well as encouraging awareness-raising initiatives to protect the natural environment. Let’s look at the message of Pope Francis from the World Day of Payer for the Care of Creation from last year. The message for 2020 had not been released by the time this issue of the bulletin had to go to press. Let’s recall some of the remarks that the Holy Father made on this occasion last year:

As he was finishing his address to a joint meeting of Congress on September 24, 2015, Pope Francis mentioned that he would finish his visit to the United States by taking part in the World Meeting of Families that was to be held in Philadelphia. Pope Francis has expressed great concern of the state of the family. He wanted it to be a recurrent theme of his 2015 visit to the United States and it remains a great concern of his in our day as well. Let’s listen in again to what he said to the Congress about the family:

Our Saturday morning book group has begun reading and discussing The Seven Storey Mountain, the autobiography of Thomas Merton, an American Trappist monk who was a noted author in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. The title refers to the mountain of Purgatory mentioned in Dante’s Divine Comedy. Pope Francis referred to Thomas Merton in his speech to the United States House of Representatives and Senate on September 24, 2015. Let’s look now about what he said about Thomas Merton on that occasion:

I continue the presentation of excerpts from the historic address of Pope Francis to the United States Congress on September 24, 2015. In today’s excerpt the Holy Father will discuss Dorothy Day. In his April 13, 2016 column in Crux, John L Allen, Jr. mentioned that one thing that fundamentally links Dorothy Day and Pope Francis is an expansive view of what counts as a “pro-life” cause, reaching out to include not only the unborn but also migrants and refugees, exploited workers, death row inmates, even the planet itself. Life itself must be protected at all stages, and against whatever threatens it.

I have been recounting the historic address of Pope Francis to Congress on September 24, 2015. Last week I mentioned the words Pope Francis spoke about Dr. Martin Luther King on that momentous day. Yesterday we had a talk by Fr. Robert Boxie that will hopefully be an opening to an important conversation for all in the parish. It might be good today to recall reflections by three of the predecessors of Pope Francis on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King.

I continue reporting the historic address of Pope Francis to Congress on September 24, 2015. At the time of the address Michael Sean Winters wrote in the National Catholic Reporter that Pope Francis’s remarks had an encouraging and challenging tone about them. In contrast to his visit to Bolivia where Pope Francis sounded like an Old Testament prophet when speaking to community organizers, here before Congress the words of Pope Francis were more like a parish priest who was encouraging his flock by beginning with what was good in their lives and pointing out where God was already working in them. Let’s continue to hear again some more of this momentous address:

I am continuing this series of columns that are presenting the historic address of Pope Francis to Congress on September 24, 2015. One news commentator at the time remarked that what could have been a light speech filled with platitudes about visiting the United States was instead filled with challenges to lawmakers, including the Pope’s desire to see the death penalty abolished, a call for Americans to welcome migrants, and a warning that the fight against religious extremism should not trample upon freedom. Let’s continue to read his words on that great occasion:

When Pope Francis came to Washington to canonize St. Junipero Serra on September 23, 2015, he was also invited to address a joint meeting of Congress the very next day. I want to present some of his words delivered to the House and Senate on that historic occasion. His remarks seem very pertinent for the situation in which we find ourselves today. Here is what Pope Francis said to the Members of Congress:

As we enter this holiday weekend, let us be thankful for the many blessings that we have. We certainly have our challenges. In many parts of the country, particularly in the western and the southern parts of the United States. In a recent letter to her constituents Delegate Bonnie Cullison of District 19 remarked that the scientists seem to agree that our risk of becoming ill through the COVID-19 virus will not really be minimal until 70% of the population is immune, primarily through a vaccine. While there is progress on a vaccine, with the needed clinical trials, it is still likely nine to twelve months away. In the meantime we need to take the necessary precautions to keep ourselves and our families safe—notably through washing our hands for at least twenty seconds, wearing masks, and maintaining social distance of at least six feet when we venture out in public.

Today I want to continue our reflection based on the 2018 Pastoral Letter issued by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love. To help us with this, I am going to use one of the handouts prepared by the USCCB as an aid to our discussion: “The Call to Address Racism in Our Hearts and Communities, which was copyrighted by the USCCB in 2018.