January 17, 2021 - "We Can Do Better"

Our late and beloved Fr. Ralph Kuehner told me a number of times over dinner how Victory Housing got started.  During his time as Pastor of Our Lady of Victory Parish in Washington, DC, an elderly parishioner lived in a nearby apartment building and would walk to church on Sundays and other times during the week.  The owners of the apartment building realized that they could make a lot more money from the properties by turning the apartments into condominiums.  The elderly widow like so many in the building were being forced out of their apartments without a place to live that was affordable.  The stress of the situation caused the women to have a heart attack.  She died in the hospital.  When he would relate this story and discuss what had happened to this woman, he would shake his head and say, “We can do better than that.”
 
“We can do better than that.”  These words ring in my head when I think about the assault on our U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.  At least five people have died owing to the events of that awful afternoon.  Here is an excerpt of what I posted in a Flocknote on Friday, January 8:  “It is difficult to understand the motivations of people who would desecrate a sacred civic space like our nation’s house of laws, because they disagree with the outcome of a national election.  It is challenging to understand that national leaders are unable to speak the truth of an election outcome, whether they like the result or not.  It saddens me greatly as a faith leader that a woman [and a police officer] died during what has historically been a peaceful and uneventful transfer of power in our country after every presidential election.”  We can do better than that. 
 
Cardinal Gregory’s statement after the assault on the U.S. Capitol has been very helpful to me in processing the events of January 6, 2021.  Let me reprint it here so that you can read it as well:
 
Our United States Capitol is sacred ground and a place where people over the past centuries have rightly demonstrated, representing a wide variety of opinions. We Americans should honor the place where our nation’s laws and policies are debated and decided. We should feel violated when the legacy of freedom enshrined in that building is disrespected and desecrated. 
 
I pray for safety – of our elected officials, staffers, workers, protestors, law enforcement personnel, and neighbors to the United States Capitol. There are injuries and tremendous harm, including reports about the loss of life. Together, we must intentionally pause and pray for peace in this critical moment. The divisive tone that has recently so dominated our national conversations must change. Those who resort to inflammatory rhetoric must accept some responsibility for inciting the increasing violence in our nation.
 
We are called to be a people of democratic values that respect the opinions of others, even when we disagree with them. As people of faith seeking to bring our Lord into this world by how we live, we must acknowledge the human dignity of those with whom we disagree and seek to work with them to ensure the common good for all.

Finally, Pope Francis appealed to Americans to protect democracy and promote reconciliation In his Angelus address on Sunday, January 10, 2021.  The Holy Father said that he was “shaken by the recent assault on Congress” and said that he was praying for the five people who lost their lives “in those dramatic moments.”  Pope Francis continued, “I reiterate that violence is always self-destructive,” and “Nothing is gained by violence and so much is lost.”  “I urge the State authorities and the entire population to maintain a high sense of responsibility in order to soothe tempers, promote national reconciliation, and protect the democratic values rooted in American society,” he said.  The Pope concluded his remarks on the assault on Capitol Hill by invoking the Immaculate Virgin Mary, patroness of the United States of America, “to help keep alive the culture of encounter, the culture of care, as the way to build the common good together, and do so with all those who live in that country.”
 
Until next week,
Fr. John