November 19, 2017 - "The Challenge of Racism Today"

Last week I devoted this column to an interview that was published in the Catholic Standard about Cardinal Wuerl’s recently released pastoral letter, The Challenge of Racism Today.  I want to continue our reflections on this pastoral letter this week as this pastoral letter is very timely, particularly with events occurring in our country at the present time.
                In his pastoral letter The Challenge of Racism Today, Cardinal Wuerl teaches us how the mission of the Church is to restore our relationship with God and each other in Jesus Christ. 
Recognizing the urgency of the Church’s response to the evil of racism in our country, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has called forth an Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism.  Cardinal Wuerl wrote this pastoral letter for the Church in Washington to address the crisis of racism and how the Church through its healing mission confronts racism by reconnecting us to God’s plan for our unity in Christ and the ministry of reconciliation.
In the Scriptures, we find that in the perfect plan of God, we were created in his image:  “God created man in his image, in the divine image he created him, male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27).  Every human being shares this same identity and dignity, and we are all called by grace to a relationship with God and each other.  God created each and every one of us in love.  This is the source of our human dignity, and he called us to be a family.
Racism is discrimination against another person based upon their race or ethnicity.  It is a denial of human dignity because it denies basic equality and dignity of all people before God.  Racism is a sin. It is a sin that claims that some human beings are inherently superior and others inferior because of race.  Racism offends God by denying the goodness of his creation, and it is a sin against each other through denying that certain persons are created in the image of God.  Racism can be expressed personally through our own prejudices, and it can be expressed socially and institutionally through discriminatory political or economic structures.  Racism violates the plan of God.
God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to reconcile us to God and each other.  Jesus calls us to new life in him, and through the sacraments in the Church we share this new life in the Holy Spirit.  In Christ, we live in the same Spirit.  In Jesus Christ we find our truest identity as children of one Father; through Christ we are one family.
Conformed to Christ, we are called to respond to his call by acknowledging our sins, asking forgiveness, and seeking with the help of his grace to amend our lives.  This means that we must examine how, in our hearts, we have held onto hateful things.  Our response of faith through repentance entails a fundamental change in the attitude of our hearts.  Experiencing forgiveness, we are each uniquely loved by God with an infinite love.  We are called to communion in Christ to love each other as he loves us and to forgive as he forgives us.
 
Drawing our life from Christ and transformed in his love, we participate in his mission of reconciliation and healing.  In his pastoral letter, Cardinal Wuerl acknowledges how the Church has been affected by the sins of racism, and he gives thanks for the steadfast faith of African-Americans and immigrants who through great suffering have been witnesses to the new life in Christ.  In concluding his letter, Cardinal Wuerl highlights how the Archdiocese of Washington has worked throughout history to bear witness and is working hard today to overcome the challenge of racism.  Each of us bears a personal responsibility in our relationships and in a public way to be educated and raise awareness and, in a spirit of encounter and dialogue, promote justice and peace.
Life in Christ is a mission to live a life of holiness; it is a life which, on our own, exceeds our abilities.  With the grace of Christ and the strength of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, we can trust in God to accomplish through us more than we could ask for imagine (Ephesians 3:20).  Through Christ, we are called to envision the holy city not build with human hands.
 
Until next week,
Fr. John Dillon