by Fr. Francis Belanger, OP

Justice and peace are words sometimes used to summarize the whole area of our faith called Catholic social teaching and action. They are what the protestors decrying the brutal death of George Floyd last week in Minneapolis are chanting about. All want a harmonious society, but there can be no true peace without justice for all. As Pope St. Paul VI famously said in his message for the Day of Peace in 1972, “If you want peace, work for justice.” How do we do that?
 
The first step is listening. While decrying violent demonstrations, Archbishop José Gomez, President of the U.S. Catholic Bishops provocatively stated, “It is true what Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, that riots are the language of the unheard. We should be doing a lot of listening right now.” Too many of our African-American brothers and sisters lament racial discrimination, including on the part of law enforcement, for it to be ignored. It is a crie de coeur. “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted,” the Psalmist tells us. (Ps. 34:19) May his disciples likewise listen to those who cry out.
   
The next step is love. The goal is not merely the absence of external discrimination, but rather a true unity among peoples. Love means exulting in the other. Thomas Merton veritably sang about people of color in his Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, speaking about: “the grace of election that made them God’s chosen, the grace that elevated them above the meaningless and trivial things of life, even in the midst of terrible and unjust suffering.” More than speaking blandly about an abstract and elusive equality, can I sing about the beauty and giftedness of African-American people, in the way that I am drawn to admire cultures and people more familiar to me?
 
Then comes action — a challenge. How does one improve the situation? I recall the advice of a black friend in a conversation about race: We need to eat at one another’s homes. True equality comes with true friendship, and that means sharing lives. On a larger level, there needs to be, to borrow the phrase used in South Africa after the fall of apartheid, a spirit of truth and reconciliation. May there be an openness to listening to historic and current stories of racism — not for the purpose of accusation, but with the hope of mutual understanding and justice. “All Christians, their pastors included, are called to show concern for the building of a better world,” as Pope Francis said The Joy of the Gospel. (#183)
 
For Dominicans, the answer starts and ends with preaching. Our communities are our first preaching, and these can each be a witness to love amidst the diversity of human background, God-willing with ever more ethnic and racial inclusion. Then proclamation can show how the message of racial equality springs beautifully from the Gospel and Church teaching, Preaching that omits justice issues is stunted. Rather, “let justice roll down like waters,” (Amos 5:24) and may Christ, the Prince of Peace, reign in our hearts and in our troubled land.
 
 
Rev. Francis Belanger, O.P.
Fr. Francis is Promoter of Catholic Social Teaching for the Dominican Province of St. Joseph and religious assistant to the Joy of the Just Dominican Laity chapter at SS. Philip and James
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 by Sr. Caterina de Siena





​During the Covid-19 pandemic many grandparents have taken up the “call-to-arms” to aide with the care of their homebound grandchildren while their parents continued to work.  Such is my case and there are so many lessons that I have learned by seeing things through the eyes of my grandchildren. 
Children’s lives are uncomplicated – we adults are the ones that complicate lives.  We have all been prohibited from enjoying amenities like parks, zoos, aquariums, etc.  The children took these limitations all in stride.  Daily, we would visit the same spots in the neighborhood; walking the same trails; chalking the same sidewalks; and seeing the same pond with turtles every day.  Not once did they complain of being bored or said, “been here; seen that”.  I think my grandchildren have personally raised the water level in the local pond by throwing rocks into the water to see the splashes.  They would do this multiple times a day and each time the thrill was like it was the first.

The lawn maintenance crews did not escape the eyes of the children.  The mowers, blowers, and weed whackers fascinated boy and girl alike.  The children took great delight in watching construction workers using Bobcats and dump trucks to haul dirt and stone.  The children were a source of delight for the construction workers who took opportunities to return the waves of the children as we greeted them on our early morning walks.  The day ended with the construction workers tooting their horns as they rolled past the house at the close of the day.  I saw hardworking men take the time to become little children again and they were admired by two young people whose names they will never know.

After a two month exile from peer playing, my granddaughter got to play with four other children who ran and played tag in the neighborhood circle.  She ran hard and played to her heart’s content.  As we sat down for dinner, her cheeks were rosy and she spoke of the fun she had playing.  At one point she was pensively looking outside and I asked her what she was thinking.  She said, “I just want to go back and play.”  Then it hit me.  How much has been denied our children – the basic joy in life – to play with their peers.  For several months, I had been spending one or two days a week watching my grandchildren.  I would play with them as much as someone 55+ years their senior could.  It wasn’t until my granddaughter said that she just wanted to play that I realized how gracious she has been to allow me to play with her all this time.  I am not her peer and although we had great fun together, she needed to run with the herd…frolic with her friends…and be exhausted from kicking a ball with her peers.  You know, the kind of play that only children can enter into.

We have all suffered a bit during this pandemic, but I think the children are the silent sufferers in this one.  Their carefree world has been turned upside down and they have been denied the right to “just play” with other children.  Waving to friends from across the street in order to observe “social distancing” or passing the park equipment that they have been accustomed to playing on which now looks like a graveyard.  None of these are normal.  Necessary, but not normal and certainly not fun.
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One of the insights that I have gained from the “stay-at-home” mandate is to keep life simple.  Take the time to wave to a stranger and smile; enjoy the birds singing to you each day; and see things through the eyes of children.  God gives us gifts each day, so make sure to look for them and appreciate the Giver.  Hug your children and grandchildren and spend time with them.  You are their first playmate and they lovingly invite you into their world of carefree fun.  Life is not that complicated; try not to make it so.
 
https://newsroom.uhc.com/health/2019-06-17-playing-benefits.html         
(photo credit)