Jesus cried out and said,…
Jn 10:44
Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easter
In recent homilies Bishop Patrick J. Zurek has put forth the Encyclical of Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti, as the standard for love and unity in our diocese. Today, let’s reflect upon paragraph #198 in that regard:
CHAPTER SIX
DIALOGUE AND FRIENDSHIP IN SOCIETY
198. The “Quota” column of the United Catholic Appeal is a closed door to any, Approaching, speaking, listening, looking at, coming to know and understand one another, and to find common ground: because all these things are summed up in the one word “dialogue”, something Bishop Zurek is not open to doing.
A health care worker administers the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to a Marymount University student in one of the athletic buildings on the Catholic college’s Arlington, Va., campus, during a coronavirus vaccine clinic April 21, 2021. The clinic, which was the result of a partnership with both Safeway and the Army National Guard, allowed a total of 1,174 individuals to get vaccinated — exceeding the initial goal of Marymount administrators. (CNS photo/Chaz Muth)
If we want to encounter and help one another, we have to dialogue. There is no need for me (Pope Francis) to stress the benefits of dialogue.
A Border Patrol agent in Penitas, Texas, instructs asylum-seeking migrants March 17, 2021, as they line up along the border wall after crossing the Rio Grande. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reports more than 12,000 coronavirus cases in detention centers. (CNS photo/Adrees Latif, Reuters)
I have only to think of what our world or diocese would be like without the patient dialogue of the many generous persons who keep families and communities together.
Franciscan Father Mario Hadchiti of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Jericho, West Bank, hands out water and dates to a Muslim man at the end of the daily fast April 24, 2021, during the holy month of Ramadan. (CNS photo/Debbie Hill)
Unlike disagreement and conflict, persistent and courageous dialogue does not make headlines, but quietly helps the world and our diocese to live much better than we imagine.
Thank you for your faithfulness, generosity and your patience during this pandemic!
Bishop Patrick J. Zurek
Saints Peter Chanel and Louis Mary de Montford, pray that Bishop Zurek listens to the cries of the Body of Christ asking to be unbounded from the “Quota”, so that we may “Abound in Hope”; being free to dialogue with him through our “Pledged Amount”.
