Yesterday, I was at the Cathedral of St Peter in
Jackson for the Catholic Day at the Capitol.
This year, the cause that we are advocating as a diocese with the state
legislators is prison reform, which looks like will come into a reality this
legislative session. Bishop Kopacz preached on the reading from the
letter of James in the homily at the mass that we had as a group at the noon
day hour in the cathedral. He mentioned that while most of the letters of St
Paul were written to specific communities in the early Church, James was a
universal letter written to all believers. The letter of James addresses issues of living out
of faith, especially of living the values of the Gospel through our works and
actions. It is interesting in our world to see how people
are treated so differently by others based on who they are and their status in
society. I remember once when I was in Milwaukee in
seminary. For spring break, I had taken
the Greyhound bus up to Winnipeg to visit some friends. When I returned, it was about 4:00 in the
morning, and I was waiting at the bus stop to catch one of the city buses to
take it to the seminary. I guess I looked pretty disheveled, because a van
pulled up to me and a couple of young adults got out, offering me a sack lunch
or a ride to the homeless shelter. They
assumed that I was a street person or homeless person hanging out on the
streets because I had nowhere else to go. Hopefully, all are welcome in our community of
faith no matter who they are. Hopefully
we treat everyone with the dignity and respect that God expects of us. The Lord does have a special heart for the poor,
for those going through different circumstances in their lives, for those who
struggle to make it in our Lord. We are
called to hear the cry of the poor as well.
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