This “indwelling” of Christ in us both as individuals and as community has enormous implications for our lives….individually and communally. We become “the Body of Christ” present in the world and called to be the visible compassion and love of Christ reaching out to the immigrant, the refugee, to those discriminated against and treated unjustly because of the color of their skin or where that came from, “to be for” all those who suffer and who are in need. As Christ was “for the world” so too we are to be “for the world”. Our daily actions, our work, our relationships all of them must reflect Christ. Our lives should be a living witness to the words, actions, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are called to live our lives in such a way that we become visible, tangible signs of God’s amazing and passionate love for all people, to stand up to the systemic racism that pervades our society, that has been woven through the fabric of our country over the last 400 years.
I believe that to refuse to sit in the discomfort of confronting the reality of racism in our country and our own white privilege is to deny the primary message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, God’s deep and passionate love for ALL people, just as they are, the beloved of God! When we embrace that all who are “other” from us are the “BELOVED” of God then there is no place in our hearts for racism and bigotry. How does my life reflect my being part of the Body of Christ? When I leave Mass what do I take with me into the world? What am I being called to “pick up” or “lay down” in my life that I might, more fully, live as a member of the Body of Christ and work to bring an end to racism and bigotry?
Blessings,
Fr. Tim