Bishop Donald J. Hying of the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin wrote to the priests of his diocese.  As we approach the season of Lent, his words challenge all of us to “look within, rather than outside ourselves.”  What better way to prepare ourselves for Lent than to repeat the words of one of our popular hymns: “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.” Here is the part of Bishop Hying’s letter I found compelling:

“I have a suggestion for everyone, including myself. Let’s spend these months leading up to Easter in deeper prayer, penance, and almsgiving. Instead of pointing accusatory fingers at others, let’s point one at ourselves. How can I be more patient, kind, gentle, and compassionate to others, especially those I disagree with? Get off social media and get in front of the Blessed Sacrament. Stop watching so much news and start reading the Good News. Spend the time on volunteer service to help the poor instead of writing angry emails. Examine your conscience regarding the sins of calumny, rash judgment, violent anger, and malicious speech. And then go to confession.

I am not implying that we should be silent in the face of evil, injustice, and wrongdoing, but we need to stick with the moral issues and refrain from the personal attacks. If we do not even desire to heal the divisions among us, how can we ever rediscover our unity in Christ? The painful experience of these past months tells me that we as fallen human beings can become divisively tribal. We instinctively associate with the people who think, act, and live as we do. While this may be a reflexive human response due to our fallen nature, Jesus Christ calls us to a far greater reality, indeed a supernatural unity, founded in the very life of the Most Blessed Trinity. Jesus served, loved, died, and rose from the dead to establish a New Covenant in His Blood, a redeemed humanity of every race, tribe, and tongue, incorporating every culture, nationality, class, and people into the Church. For us Christians, water is thicker than blood, for the communion we discover in the waters of Baptism is far deeper and significant than the ties of race, nation, political party, and even family. If we are bound together in Christ as His Mystical Body, then how can we keep tearing each other apart? We are brothers and sisters in Christ.”

“But if you go on biting and devouring one another, beware that you are not consumed by one another.” Galatians 5:15

Fr. Gary