As we were standing outside the church at Marquette University today many faculty and administrators walked by into Church to celebrate a liturgy to install the new president of the university. Our message was quite simple, in the name of Blessed Franz and Servant of God Dorothy Day we were asking Marquette University to be faithful to the Gospel and Stop hosting military training on campus. I knew many faculty and administrators attending the event and as they walked past me they said hello and I responded with hello and smile.
They all have ignored our pleas to stop teaching war at Marquette and principles against the teaching of the Gospel, like reflexive killing and priority of military values over Gospel values. Yet these faculty and administrators continue to promote Marquette as a Jesuit Catholic university while silently supporting values that are in conflict with the mission of the university.
I do not have the courage to call them hypocrites ad Jesus did to the scribes, priest and Pharisees of his day. But what other word can you call persons who preach one thing and practice the opposite?
Actually all this would not be so bad if their silence, as the silence of the German church in World War II was not so deadly. I am again reminded of the words of Father Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, the Society of Jesus. His words are: …love ought to show itself in deeds over and above words.” (Spiritual Exercises, #230)
We are all hypocrites when we do not practice what we preach. However the bigger we are as leaders and teachers the bigger the hypocrites we are.
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