On the Feast of All Saints we celebrate men and women of every place and time who lived with great sanctity. Many of them are known to us and are among our great heroes of the Faith; even more are unknown to us.
The most common hymn for this feast day is “For All the Saints.” It is interesting that the name of the tune to which the lyrics are set is “Sine Nomine” (without name). In other words, this feast celebrates those who, although they attained great sanctity, are largely unknown to us. They lived in ordinary circumstances and were fairly hidden from the world at large, but God knows them and has awarded them the crown of righteousness. They, too, are part of the rich tapestry of this feast and the glory of the Communion of Saints.
It is fitting, then, that on the Feast of All Saints, Donald Cardinal Wuerl of the Archdiocese of Washington released a pastoral letter on racism entitled, “The Challenge of Racism Today.” We are all well aware of recent racial tensions in our country and the Cardinal would have us reflect on this problem as Catholics. This reflection should come from the perspective of our faith more so than from politics and worldly culture.
I’d like to review a number of the Cardinal’s teachings under three headings.
I. God’s Vision – Cardinal Wuerl begins by noting our daily experience here in the Archdiocese of Washington:
The sight from the sanctuary of many a church in our archdiocese offers a glimpse of the face of the world.
Indeed, our parishes are ethnically and racially diverse. The rich beauty of diversity in the unity of our faith is manifest everywhere.
“Catholic” means universal and it could not be more obvious in Washington, D.C. as it is in many other regions. Catholics come from everywhere!
This diversity is from God Himself, who has not only created the rich tapestry of humankind but also delights in uniting us all in His Church.
Babylon and Egypt I will count among those who know me; Philistia, Tyre, Ethiopia, these will be her children and Zion shall be called “Mother” for all shall be her children.” It is he, the Lord Most High, who gives each his place. In his register of peoples he writes: “These are her children,” and while they dance they will sing: “In you all find their home.” (Psalm 87:1-7)
It was always God’s plan that people from every nation would find their home in His family. St. Paul spoke eloquently of this plan:
The mystery was made known to me by revelation;…. the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the people of other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. And the mystery is this: that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. (Ephesians 3:3-6)
By God’s grace, by His plan and vision, we are called to be members of the One Body, the Church, through the grace of shared faith.
Jesus sets forth the realization of God’s desire in his great commission: Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you (Matthew 28:19-20).
This is order number one from Jesus: Go everywhere; call everyone; make them disciples by teaching them what I have taught and baptizing them into the one Body of Christ, the Church.
This is God’s vision, His plan, and His command.
II. Sinful Revisions – We human beings are often slow to hear and even slower to do what God commands. When it comes to reaching across racial and ethnic boundaries to make disciples, we often give in to fear and the hostilities that result. We also give in to pride and notions of racial superiority. This has been an ugly tendency throughout human history.
As people of faith, we cannot ignore God’s command to include all in His Kingdom. The Cardinal tells us that we must confront and overcome racism. This challenge is not optional.
Jesus warns us against wrathful disparagement of others: Anyone who says to his brother, “Raca,” will be subject to the Sanhedrin. And anyone who says, “You fool!” will be subject to the fire of hell (Matt 5:22). He counsels us, So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift (Matt 5:23-24).
The Cardinal cites the Catechism and bids us to remember this:
This teaching is applied to our day with clarity in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. “Being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but someone …” (CCC # 357). … There is no basis to sustain that some are made more in the image of God than others.
Cardinal Wuerl cites the pastoral letter, “Brothers and Sisters to Us,” published by the United States bishops in 1979:
Racism is a sin. … [I]t divides the human family, blots out the image of God among specific members of that family and violates the fundamental human dignity of those called to be children of the same Father.
We have no right or capacity to overrule God or reject the dignity He Himself has established. The Cardinal describes racism as a denial of the goodness of creation.
While some dispute the particulars of racism in this or that specific situation, we cannot simply brush aside the consistent experience of so many of our brothers and sisters. The Cardinal reminds us:
To address racism, we need to recognize two things: that it exists in a variety of forms, some more subtle and others more obvious; and that there is something we can do about it… even if we realize that what we say and the steps we take will not result in an immediate solution to a problem that spans generations.
As we are reminded by St. Paul, There should be no division in the body, but that its members should have mutual concern for one another. If one member suffers, every member suffers with him (1 Cor 12:25-26).
As a Church we have not always lived up to the call that God has given us. The Cardinal writes:
Saint John Paul II in the Great Jubilee Year asked for the recognition of sins committed by members of the Church during its history. He called for a reconciliation through recalling the faults of the past in a spirit of prayerful repentance that leads to healing of the wounds of sin. So acknowledging our sins and seeking to remedy what we can, we turn with sorrow to those we have offended, individually and collectively and also express gratitude for the tenacity of their faith…. We also recognize the enduring faith of immigrants who have not always felt welcome in the communities they now call home.
It is a remarkable testimony that so many who have felt spurned by fellow Christians and Catholics did not reject the faith, but tenaciously held on to it. Even in the midst of great pain, so many stayed in the faith; through forgiveness and great patience they have helped to purify fellow Christians and work for ongoing reform within the Church.
III. Overcoming Divisions – The Cardinal also writes:
Because God has reconciled us to himself through Christ, we have received the ministry of reconciliation. Saint Paul tells us, “God has reconciled the world to himself in Christ … entrusting to us the message of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).
Thus the Cardinal invokes a key dimension of the apostolic office: reconciling us to one another and to God. As a bishop, Cardinal Wuerl urges us to seek reconciliation where it is needed.
Reconciliation requires first that we acknowledge our sins. As Jesus says, we must go and be reconciled to our brother or sister. If we have in any way fostered division, if we have scorned, mocked, excluded, or derided others, we should admit the sin and seek to be reconciled.
While there are often grievances on all sides when it comes to race, this need not stop us from hearing and pondering the consistent and widespread experience of those who feel excluded or scorned. Sometimes it just starts with listening, before rushing to judge whether the experience of others is valid.
There are wounds that go back decades and even centuries. Reconciliation takes time. Recognizing another’s pain and experience is an act of respect. Listening is a very great gift.
Please consider making a careful, spiritual reading of the Cardinal’s pastoral letter. See it as an honest assessment of our need to recognize racism and repent for any cooperation we have had in it, past or present. Consider, too, his call for us to entrust our hearts to the Lord, so that we can, as the Cardinal says, envision the new city of God, not built by human hands, but by the love of God poured out in Jesus Christ.
In the weeks ahead, other initiatives and gatherings will be announced in the diocese. Among them is a recognition of the many African-Americans who were enslaved and who were buried in our Catholic cemeteries without any headstones or markers. You might say that they were buried sine nomine, without any recognition of their names.
It is fitting, then, that on this Feast of All Saints, when we acknowledge the many saints whose names we do not know, that we also remember those buried in our cemeteries whose names are known only to God. They were called slaves but were in fact God’s children, possessed of the freedom of Children of God. May they rest now with God in the peace and unity of the Communion of Saints.
I think the Catholic Church should issue a public invitation to all those in your face professional athletes basking in the limelight to come to mass and we will all be more than willing to take a knee with them.
I love every single person on this earth, as I pray for ALL to repent (conversion & salvation) and make it home to our Fathers house. I do not love everyone’s actions. In fact I hate – yes HATE evil actions. Love the sinner, hate this sin! Therefore, there are people of ALL RACES that I don’t like! Love yes – like no. That said, racism absolutely exists on all sides, white on black, black on white, etc, etc.
A book that taught me a lot about the devils tactics dealing with racism was “Left to Tell,” about the Rwanda genocide. Two black tribes one light skinned, one dark skinned – hating one another – divided largely by the media feeding the hate and the lies. It is most certainly NOT a one way street or a one race problem as our secular culture seems to often convey. The underlying cause – is real simple – sin. Think about that two black tribes hating one another. Why? I suspect principalities and powers delivering messages to their unwitting or in some cases perhaps witting human beings who may gain some power, pleasure, honors, or wealth. It is the work of the devil to divide – and conquer.
I particularly appreciate the above scripture when Jesus tells us: “Teaching them…. to …. (wait for it)….to “OBEY,” everything I have commanded you.” The following scripture came into my mind.
Matthew 12: 49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brethren! 50* For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
If you love the Truth, speak the Truth, and live the Truth – it matters NOT what race you are, you are my brother, my sister, my mother, you are my – family. Whoever “does,” the will of Our Father in Heaven is “obeying,” everything Jesus commanded.
I was raised in a home where ethnicity and race was never discussed. Then, I became an adult and it seems a times it is the most important subject of the day. I doubt that Cardinal Wuerl has anything new to say on the subject other than what I have already read and heard thousands of times. Am I suppose to feel guilt and remorse for what my ancestors did to subject other ethnicities to slavery and a myriad of other such atrocities? I think not. The problem I have with that reasoning is I hardly knew my immigrant grandparents and certainly didn’t know what people of my lineage did hundreds of years ago. For all practical purposes my family tree extends no further than my parents who not only did not exhibit any forms of discrimination, and most certainly never enslaved anyone.
I doubt that Cardinal Wuerl has anything new to say on the subject other than what I have already read and heard thousands of times. Am I suppose to feel guilt and remorse for what my ancestors did to subject other ethnicities to slavery and a myriad of other such atrocities?
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Before criticizing Cardinal Wuerl, why not read what he actually said – and did not say – and what he is asking people to do? Including asking what positive contributions each of us — you too — can offer to make this a better world?
There are millions of people around the world who want and are attempting to come to this country to live and here is another prelate of the Catholic Church talking about how bad things are. I wonder if he and his like minded thinkers realize that just by being born an American puts them on third base. This is something to be grateful for and not taken for granted. However, it appears many people and their leaders in the U.S are impervious to this fact. Instead they often get into a complaining habit which ill serves them and their constituencies. Per usual, nothing new or enlightening with the Cardinal Wuerl’s pastoral letter on racism.
I never knew Adam and Eve. I don’t know what they were doing in the Garden of Eden. I certainly never listened to the serpent or ate from the tree. Am I supposed to be baptized for their original sin? I think not.
Yes, racism is a real evil today, just as wolves were a real threat when the story about the little boy who cried wolf was written. As in that story, though, too many malicious falsehoods make one reluctant to accept claims of racism at face value. Anything and everything has been declared racist, from Christopher Columbus to Christianity to mathematics, and the threat of being called a racist is supposed to make anyone so accused collapse in fear and beg for mercy.
I’ve been a big fan of Cardinal Arinze, and I’m currently reading Caradinal Sarah’s book, “The Power of Silence.” I’ve also been a friend of African and black US priests and fellow Catholics. The priest I’d like to officiate at my burial is a black priest that I’ve known since he was a junior seminarian.
Why do I feel I have to give my bona fides to speak? Is it because society and our Catholic hierarchy tell me I”m a racist?
All holy saints pray for us. Happy feast to all.
Not a lot of humility demonstrated in the posts to date. I had hoped the premise of a faith perspective would generate greater love. Instead there’s the usual barely concealed undercurrent of resentment.
Observing this issue over the decades from outside the USA racism is truly a diabolical & insidious disease there.
Just imagine yourself in front of Jesus saying exactly the same thing that’s in your posts…unthinkable!
Why is race shown with white and black photos? Again the non black Latinos,mostly Mexican are ignored though they are 30% of the USChurch. I am not Latino.
Is it possible to find out the names of the slaves buried there and set up a fund to provide them with grave markers? I’m poor but I would contribute something, and I bet lots of other people would too.