Fr Bernard writes…
Sunday 19th January 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time 2020
Wednesday 15th January would have been Martin Luther King Jr birthday, he would have been 91 but he died at the age of 39 having done more in 13 years promoting civil rights in America than had happened in the previous centuries. In one of his famous statements he said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’ And we think of regimes which continue to oppress their people, having no regard for their basic human rights and who rule by fear. Or, nearer home, we ask where is the justice when people have to resort to food banks because they haven’t sufficient on which to live? Where is the justice when people have to choose to heat the house or eat? Can we imagine our streets without the homeless sitting outside department stores waiting for a handout, or perhaps better, a friendly word. If we can we might want to recall another of Martin Luther King’s sayings, ‘Change does not roll on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through struggle.’ Throughout his life Jesus, the ‘Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world’ struggled against those who abused their power and championed the poor, for which he was put to death. But violence and death did not have the last word because the Father raised him from the dead. Injustice and violence will not have the last word today if we refuse to return violence with violence, but instead are prepared to walk the extra mile. That would be putting our prayer into action, recognising another of Martin Luther King’s sayings, ‘The time is always right to do right.’
This weekend the 2nd Collection is for Pax Christi.
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