Dear Parishioners,
Tomorrow, our nation will observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which honors the slain civil rights leader who worked tirelessly for racial justice and harmony in the United States. Undoubtedly, race relations in our country have improved greatly since the time Martin Luther King Jr. championed civil rights. Still, racism, which is prejudice against another race of people, remains a temptation in our world. Call it a product of our fallen human nature.
Knowledge of the truth can help keep racism from taking root in our hearts, namely that God has created all people in his own image and likeness. As we behold the various races of the world, then we know something more of God, since all races reflect his majesty. I believe there are times when we can appreciate this, for instance when we’re watching the Olympic Games or the Miss Universe Pageant or when we’re in a boat riding through Disney World’s It’s a Small World.
There are other times, however, perhaps when we experience cultural differences or we find the physical features of another race unattractive, that we can be tempted to show prejudice. If we do such a thing, then we assuredly blaspheme God, who created these other races in his own image and likeness as much as he created our own. In a sense, we say, “Hey God, you created junk in creating this race of people!” Still, St. John says, “Whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 Jn 4:20b).
Though Martin Luther King Jr. was often angry at the treatment he received at the hands of Whites, it was nevertheless his love for his White brothers and sisters that compelled him to give his life for the Civil Rights Movement—to help Whites and Blacks (and Latinos and Asians and so on) to see that they are really children of the one Father and therefore ought to love one another. This was his dream. May his dream become more of a reality in our world.
Fr. Ian
