Bulletins

July 12, 2020

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15TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
6TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

In a world without God, racial hubris and interracial animosity are inevitable. Frequent war is our fallen condition. If the Bible had not identified the origin of Original Sin (Read Genesis 2,15-17;3,1-34) we would have created a mythology to account for it. Humans, made male and female in the image and likeness of God, are creatures capable of tremendous beauty and astounding brutality. Created with a desire for all that is good, true and beautiful, we threaten everything lovely and noble by virtue of our selfishly insisting on having what we want when we want it.

Even if we acknowledge Adam and Eve as our common ancestors, humanity is not characterized by brotherhood. Read Genesis 4,1-16 about Cain and Abel. If there is a human “family” it is dysfunctional most of the time and it is incapable of rescuing itself. By nature we are competitors except for when we view another with sympathy or regard the other as a partner in a common endeavor. Prosperity has a way of pacifying and blinding us. Communism promises the impossibility of universal and indiscriminate satisfaction. Capitalism banks on everyone accumulating enough wealth that we leave each other alone. The former is evil. The latter is inadequate for true peace.

The human responses to racism range from merely keeping people separate to insisting that people be saints without the aid of grace. The spiritual remedies to our predicament begin with Baptism, when we become adopted children of God, heaven becomes our inheritance, and former enemies can live as brothers and sisters. In a Christian worldview, racial identity comes with dignity and humility while every soul is seen as being worth the invaluable price of the Blood of the Savior. Nations maintain their personalities, strengths and weaknesses. But if we love father or mother more than the Lord we are not worthy of the Kingdom (Matthew 10,37-38). In that Kingdom of Heaven we will see the fulfillment of the prophecies portraying a New Jerusalem in which all peoples and nations will worship the Lord. May the Precious Blood of Jesus save us from ourselves.

God bless you.

Fr. Christopher J. Pollard

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35