Pope Francis on cover of
“Rolling Stone” magazine
In a 1967 speech titled Beyond Vietnam, A Time to Break the Silence Martin Luther King Jr. called for a “radical revolution of values”. It was not, in my opinion, so much as developing new values as it was going back to the values of the Gospel and our faith. The radical revolution was practicing these values that we claim to stand for.
Martin Luther King Jr. was breaking his silence about the war in Vietnam, an act that would cost him dearly. Today we need to break our silence about wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the war here at home with the teaching of killing at a Jesuit Catholic University like Marquette University and Notre Dame as well as the segregation and racism of church.
The cost for Marquette University to for a “radical revolution of values” would be great, losing significant amount of income from donors and government. The cost to us to “break the silence” could mean being marginalized or treated as an outcast.
As I mentioned in last night’s posting we all face our moment of truth when we realize that we do not practice what we preach and what the cost of doing that will be. I believe this is why Pope Francis in his mission statement of the Church and its papacy says: “I prefer a church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security.” For the Pope is aware that if we and the Church are true to itself in today’s society, just like Martin Luther King Jr., it will be “bruised, hurting and dirty.”
Today a homeless man wandering into the Church during the most holy time we were receiving communion, the body and blood of Jesus Christ. He loudly proclaimed he was looking for a bathroom. I did not notice but my wife and friend did. I am sure this was a ‘dirty’ moment to some, this interruption of our sacred ritual. If we are to be a church of poor and marginalized, one that practices “love your enemies” there will be many more ‘dirty’ moments. Maybe accepting the bruises, hurt and dirty is what Martin Luther King Jr. was talking about as a “radical revolution of values.”
Comments
Please send any comments on this post to . Let us know which day’s post your comments pertain to. If the comments are appropriate we will post them here for you.