It seems that everywhere I go these days, there is a palpable sense of anxiety about the direction of our nation here in the United States. Not everyone has the same set of fears or concerns, but nearly everyone feels some level of anxiety.
I’ve seen it manifest in my own life in many small ways:
- The students who don’t show up for confirmation or religious education classes at my parish because their parents are worried about deportation.
- The neighbor who is at her wit’s end because she can no longer maintain her employment working to provide an education to communities in East Africa.
- The social service agencies living in fear that the critical services they provide to keep families housed and fed will be upended.
It’s heartbreaking. I’ve wondered at how I should respond as I’ve heard many who purport to speak on behalf of the Catholic Church have glibly and callously insinuated that much of these fears are not only acceptable but even a result of just, right and preferable actions.
This heartbreak is why I found so much encouragement in the letter from Pope Francis to the bishops of the United States. In it, he reminds us of the fundamental call to love, which should underscore and support all our works. He also reminds us that we are not alone; our Lord and Savior entered our world not only in solidarity with the poor and the refugee but as truly one of them.
A couple of things from this short letter, certainly worth your time to read, stood out to me. First, this quote:
“The human person is a subject with dignity who, through the constitutive relationship with all, especially with the poorest, can gradually mature in his identity and vocation.”
I love this quote because it highlights a critical dimension of my experience working with many of the poorest of the poor in the United States over the past two decades. Namely, the path to maturity in our identity and vocation—the path to becoming who God made us to be—is not a solo journey. It’s a journey that requires relationships with others and a particular (perhaps essential) grace that can only be encountered and activated through relationships with the poor, vulnerable, and marginalized.
The second valuable aspect of the Holy Father’s letter is his perspective on the Ordo Amoris. He reminds us that Christ intentionally subverted our expectations around natural relationships with his parables, such as the Good Samaritan. It was the Samaritan, not the religious leaders, who demonstrated the neighborly heart and lived a life closer to the kingdom of God.
The Holy Father encourages us to understand love in the kingdom of God by meditating on this story—this parable of God’s subversive and radical view of human relationships and what love from the inside of His heart looks like.
I encourage you all to read the Holy Father’s letter. For me, it was a stream of living water in the desert of my soul. I also encourage you to pray that our leaders find wisdom, that God’s heart be reflected in our actions, and that we find inspiration to take the right actions ourselves. Let’s embody radical love, solidarity, hospitality, generosity, and courage to be salt and light in a world that often strays from the heart of God.
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