From the desk of Fr. Mike ...

 

This weekend our nation celebrates the gift of freedom and equal rights under the law in commemorating the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  As a nation of laws and protected by the Constitution, we realize that often it takes years, sometimes a lifetime to see inequality come to an end.  We have a shameful past with slavery in our nation, followed by discrimination until it was ended by the Supreme Court and legislation signed by President Lyndon Johnson.  That doesn't mean that discrimination is over, just that our laws cannot justify such discrimination.  We know people from Mexico, Asia, and the Middle East still face discrimination, though their lot in life is improving.  Even in the Church, we know that our history is not always bright from the actions of the hierarchy and religious, especially as we are painfully aware that Religious Orders owned slaves in those early years in our nations including the Jesuits and the Ursuline Sisters.  Every new immigrant group had to fight to be accepted such as the Irish and Germans in the 1800's.  Discrimination also touched the Church, as anti-Catholic parties and the political party, the Know Nothings, attacked Catholic Churches and burned convents.  Even today, there is a very strong undercurrent of discrimination against the Catholic Church.  Just watch movies and television to see how the Church does not always fare well and how clergy and nuns are portrayed.  In the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr., we continue to fight discrimination in every facet of life in our country and in our world.  Unless you have been a victim of discrimination, you cannot fully understand the implication of being 'different' and 'not wanted'.  

 

You will notice the green vesture and the simple look of our churches as we return to Ordinary Time this weekend.  While the Church may call this Ordinary Time, there is nothing ordinary in God's presence.  God's grace is powerful and sustaining.  This coming Friday, January 22nd, the Church here in the United States as well as other people of faith will remember that fateful day when the Supreme Court upheld that abortion is legal.  The Bishops of the United States have asked us to remember this day, to pray for the safety of unborn children, and to bring a change of heart to our people in their attitude towards this heinous act of the taking of innocent life.  Life is the purest gift from God. The Church, through the Bishops of Rome, and the collective voices of all bishops, have reminded us that life is to be protected from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death.  Nothing less can be accepted.  We raise our voices in prayer and supplication asking God for forgiveness whenever innocent or guilty lives have been taken against their will.