Bishop's Message on Racism

Have you ever asked, “what does God see today when He looks at us; Does He see what He planned when He created the human race?”  We are made in the image and likeness of God, who is a trinity of persons, a community of persons inseparably united by mutual love.

Can God find any aspect of His image in our human relations today?

One distortion of God’s image in us has recently come to light, and that is the sin of racism. It came into focus by the unacceptable murder of Mr. George Floyd. Questions and uncertainties abound regarding our ability to live together in a nation that is more divided than ever and is suffering from demonstrations of hatred and uninhibited violence in our communities.

A discerning person might ask, “what is God trying to say to us amid this turmoil?” I often ask that question.  The opening lines of the Letter to the Hebrews observes that “In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, He spoke to us through a Son….” (Hebrews 1:1,2). God has spoken finally in sending Jesus; the Word made flesh, the Word Incarnate.  When we as a community turn against each other for whatever reason, God could validly say, “you have ignored me; you have forgotten my Word.” As simplistic as this may sound, it is true. When love is suffocated by prejudice and hatred, God’s intent to form all people into a unified family is disrupted.

Division rips apart society and our families – the soul of a nation. Every level of human life suffers the consequences of division. Apathetically accepting racism, prejudice, judgment and hatred as a tolerated “norm” erodes the beauty of the human family created for unity through diversity that ultimately reflects God.

To profess faith in Jesus, the Son of God and to be His disciple make it clear that we encounter the person of Jesus daily. To show that we are alive in His Word and that we are striving to live all He told us.  Whoever encounters Jesus in His Word and does what He teaches experiences the freedom to find Jesus in every person. St. James, in his Letter, calls the disciples to active listening and doing.  “Be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his own face in a mirror.  He sees himself, then goes off and promptly forgets what he looked like” (James 1:22-24).

A coveted phrase imprinted on our country’s currency is “E Pluribus Unum” – from many into one. Is that still an objective for us as Americans, or have we radically drifted from the dream of unity in diversity for this country?  Let’s be clear, no law, past, present or future will bring that dream to fruition.  No system of government can accomplish unity.  Authentic unity through diversity can only be achieved through the radical commandment of God: “Love one another.”

The human cry for unity was voiced in the Garden of Gethsemane as Jesus prayed to the Father,  “I pray … also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me” (John 17: 20-21). Unity exists only in God, and unity in God is only complete through love.

In our present circumstances, we need a conversion to a new way of thinking and acting. We cannot reverse our current direction overnight. It is a long road, but we can begin by humbly paying attention to the voice of the Holy Spirit living inside us, and alive in the words of Jesus in the Gospel. We are assured by Jesus, Himself, “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name — He will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you” (John 14:26).

Let us ask ourselves, faced with racism and our present crisis, what might the Holy Spirit remind us of and teach us in order to assist us toward a new culture of fraternal unity?   

Permit me to point to three well known and basic phrases from the Gospel of Jesus.  First is the simple Golden Rule “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you” (Luke 6:31).  Seriously living according to this modest principle, found in the writings of all religions, could decrease the poison of hatred and prejudice, which leads to racism starting now.

The Holy Spirit could remind us of another teaching of Jesus - to arrest our cruel judgments of others “… how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye” (Luke 6:42).

Let’s be honest; judging others is the first obstacle to unity. Judgment is often the result of gossip.  I judge another based not on what I know about the person but on what I do not know. We are only given a few years to prepare ourselves for our true home in unity with God. Conquering our propensity to judge another can help build the “Civilization of Love” already here in this life, which we hope to share in eternity.

Thirdly, forgiveness is the daily remedy we need to consume. The Christian is one who accepts the forgiveness of God’s mercy. In turn, he or she is called to be an ambassador of that same reconciliation toward others. “Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, …leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering” (Matthew 5:24).

St. John in his First Letter strongly reprimanded the community of believers: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

We are people of hope. Unity can be our future, and racism can be overcome. I urge all of us to begin today to contribute to a culture and “Society of Love” called for by St. Pope Paul VI.  Listen to the Holy Spirit – recognize the presence of God in every person, stop judging others, and be reconciled with any person with whom you are at odds. Be children of the Gospel we profess and with the Holy Spirit’s help, live with wisdom and courage.  When the Gospel of Jesus becomes our mentality, and our way of life, all our relationships are transformed.

Jesus is calling us today to be peacemakers and to witness to His risen presence among us.