“If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.”
Jn 15:18
Saturday of the Fifth 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 #207 in that regard:
CHAPTER SIX
DIALOGUE AND FRIENDSHIP IN SOCIETY
SOCIAL DIALOGUE FOR A NEW CULTURE
The BASIS of Consensus
207. Is it possible to be concerned for truth, to seek the truth that responds to life’s deepest meaning?
Nurse practitioner Novlet Davis-Bucknor poses with daughters Shekeya Washington, left, a registered nurse, and LaToya Bucknor, a nurse practitioner, at St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center in Roslyn, N.Y. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)
What is law without the conviction, born of age-old reflection and great wisdom, that each human being is sacred and inviolable?
Parishioners of St. Mary of the Lake in Chicago listen to speakers at the Buddhist Temple of Chicago May 2, 2021, during an interfaith rally against racism toward Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. (CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Chicago Catholic)
If society is to have a future, it must respect the truth of our human dignity and submit to that truth.
Catholics and all people of good will are urged to contact their state senators and the Governor to support policy and legislative measures that uphold the safety and wellbeing of all persons in our communities and to oppose HB 1927.
Oppose HB 1927 and a culture of violence, Letter signed by Bishop Patrick J. Zurek and all Bishops of Texas
Murder is not wrong simply because it is socially unacceptable and punished by law, but because of a deeper conviction.
A member of the House gallery listens to legislators speak during a debate on an abortion bill being considered on the House floor on May 5, 2021. Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune
This is a non-negotiable truth attained by the use of reason and accepted in conscience.
Gun rights activists gathered at the Capitol on April 29, 2021. Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune
A society is noble and decent not least for its support of the pursuit of truth and its adherence to the most basic of truths.
Today my prayer is that in the Diocese of Amarillo we “respect the truth of our human dignity and submit to that truth”, not only with a “heartbeat” bill, for which our political world praises us, but especially by opposing “constitutional carry”, for which that same “world hates you”!
