A new archbishop of Saint Louis, Mitchell Rozanski, was officially installed last week. I really liked his words about civil discourse. What he said was better than I could have written, so I['m sharing it with you:
"Our civil discourse these days is not very civil; when a person shares a differing opinion, the tendency to demonize the other, often in deeply personal ways, eclipses any type of dialogue, common ground or understanding. And as Catholics – as Christians – we need to ask: Where is God in all this?
We need only look at the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel: “Love one another as I have loved you.” How many times have we heard these words of Jesus from the Gospel of John? That Jesus wanted his own to “Love one another as he has loved us.” In the midst of a pandemic, a societal reckoning on the life issue of race relations, an atrophied civic discourse – and, yes, the often-sinful polemics we now face within our Church – loving one another seems to be a tough thing to do these days. Yet, my friends, we are called to be a people of hope!"
I've read his words over and over. How the heck can we be a people of hope if we do not try to change the civil discourse in our nation? Do political leaders not care about the example that our children receive? This must be so discouraging for parents who are trying to do the right thing. We must.
Sigh.