Just a word before we go…Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time…July 31, 2022
Our readings today pull us up short, with all the talk about vanity and returning to dust. They remind us that life is fleeting; that we can’t take our possessions with us when our earthly lives are over; and that we should take care to store up those riches that matter to God. I don’t believe the readings are meant to keep us from living life to the full, but rather to remind us to keep our priorities straight, and to be aware of our responsibilities to our brothers and sisters, being connected as we are, all coming from and ultimately returning to, the same Creator; all parts of the Body of Christ.
This past week, Pope Francis traveled to Canada on an apostolic visit. He came to Canada to accept responsibility for, and beg pardon for, the atrocities that were committed within Catholic residential houses for indigenous children throughout that country. Children were taken in at an early age to be assimilated into the Euro-Canadian society, stripped of their cultural identity, and in many cases abused. They died at an alarming rate, often from diseases that weren’t treated, sometimes from abuse. Families were often unaware of the circumstances of the deaths. The discovery of mass graves, and the voices of many survivors, have brought this reign of terror to the forefront.
The pope’s pilgrimage has been widely reported and photographed. What struck me especially was the photo of the pope, in his wheelchair, alone, poised on a jetty into Lac St. Anne, praying. This image, in concert with the words he spoke during the course of the trip, brought St. Paul’s reading to life for me…“Stop lying to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed...in the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free: but Christ is all and in all.”
Pope Francis formally acknowledged our common humanity, dispelling the lie that one person or race or culture is better than another, and in all humility, sought forgiveness for the atrocities committed by Catholics. Such visual and auditory experiences of repentance have profound effects. The grace which follows such encounters holds within it the possibility of healing and moving forward. They are rich in what matters to God, and are beyond price. They can point the way toward a future of justice and peace for us all, if we but have the eyes to see and the ears to hear the lessons they teach.