“Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”
Mk 10:35
Memorial of Saint Philip Neri, Priest
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 #222 in that regard:
CHAPTER SIX
RECOVERING KINDNESS
222. Consumerist individualism has led to great injustice.
“We can all collaborate, each one with his own culture and experience, each one with her own initiatives and capacities, so that our mother Earth may be restored to her original beauty and creation may once again shine according to God’s plan,”
Other persons come to be viewed simply as obstacles to our own serene existence; we end up treating them as annoyances and we become increasingly aggressive.
“Drought, sandstorms, plant and animal pests and diseases, and the impact of COVID-19 have caused up to three-quarters of the population in the worst-affected Amboasary-Atsimo district to face dire consequences,”
This is even more the case in times of crisis, catastrophe and hardship, when we are tempted to think in terms of the old saying, “every man for himself”.
…the decision “acknowledges the serious challenges facing the island nation, including widespread violence, civil unrest, political instability, and food insecurity,” as Haiti is widely recognized as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
Yet even then, we can choose to cultivate kindness. Those who do so become stars shining in the midst of darkness.
“We need more than reform of the criminal legal system; we need to reimagine public safety in a way that upholds racial equity and human dignity.”
Today this “restless” and formally unrecognized catechist, is asking those “under the dome “, “Doesn’t your focus on us doing whatever the “quota” asks of us create a situation in which other persons come to be viewed simply as obstacles to your own serene existence?”
Today I ask Saint Philip Neri to pray that instead of becoming increasingly aggressive when we are treated as annoyances, that “the few” are graced with the humor needed to cultivate kindness and thus become stars shining in the midst of darkness.
