“We have given up everything and followed you.”
Mk 10:28
Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
In his Holy Week homilies Bishop Patrick J. Zurek 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 #221 in that regard:
CHAPTER SIX
A NEW CULTURE
The joy of acknowledging others
221. Such a covenant also demands the realization that some things may have to be renounced for the common good.
“discernment does not consist in always succeeding from the beginning, but rather in navigating and having a compass in order to be able to set out on the path — which has many twists and turns — but always allowing oneself to be guided by the Holy Spirit, who leads us to the encounter with the Lord.”
No one can possess the whole truth or satisfy his or her every desire, since that pretension would lead to nullifying others by denying their rights.
“Here we must all, Christians, Muslims and Jews, strive for peace. I don’t distinguish between Christian, Muslim or Jew — we are all human beings.”
A false notion of tolerance has to give way to a dialogic realism on the part of men and women who remain faithful to their own principles while recognizing that others also have the right to do likewise.
“Certainly it’s a huge opportunity for schools to be able to provide for those students and teachers who don’t have effective equipment at home to be able to engage in learning virtually and for the student for the ability to do their homework effectively — even if they go back to school permanently — for many of the students they may be two or three kids trying to share a computer at home,”
This is the genuine acknowledgment of the other that is made possible by love alone.
We have to stand in the place of others, if we are to discover what is genuine, or at least understandable, in their motivations and concerns.
Today this “restless” and formally unrecognized catechist, is asking those “under the dome “, “Do you believe you possess the whole truth, and that the UCA “quota” can satisfy your every desire?”
Today I ask Saints Bede, Gregory VII and Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi to pray that a false notion of love and unity gives way to a dialogic realism on the part of those “under the dome” who remain faithful to their own principles while recognizing that “the few” also have the right to do likewise.
