Sunday mornings in the United States are a time when many faith traditions offer a time of community prayer and worship. We, as Catholics, join in the Sacred Liturgy at our very revered Churches. This past Sunday we gathered and prayed with our family, friends, fellow parishioners and clergy. The Sikh Community in Milwaukee, Wisconsin gathered just as we did. Instead of a place of peace and comfort, their temple was violently attacked. Once again, people were killed, people were injured and everyone involved will never be the same.
Many people including myself are very unfamiliar with the Sikh religion. This tragedy led me to educate myself about some of their teaching to bring me into more conscious solidarity with them. The Sikh?s have teachings similar to our own regarding religious tolerance and the respect for human life. Sikhism teaches to respect all other religions and that one should defend the rights of not just one's own religion but the religion and faith of others as a human right. At the end of every Sikh prayer is a supplication for the welfare of all of humanity. Our prayers of the faithful engage us in prayers for all humanity as well.
The chairman of the U.S. Bishops' Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs expressed the bishops' prayerful solidarity with all of the Sikh community throughout the United States following the shooting. He said, "The U.S. Bishops stand with the Sikh community and reject all violence, particularly violence inflicted out of religious intolerance. We are especially saddened that this horrendous act was carried out in a house of worship against people joined together as a family to worship God. Our prayers are with everyone touched by this, especially those who've lost family members and loved ones."
On that very same Sunday in Hiroshima, the people of Japan remembered 67 years ago, when the atomic bomb was dropped on their homes, their places of worship, their city. Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata from the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue spoke words of remembrance and hope for peace among the members and peoples of a still-divided humanity. ?We are called to overcome suspicions and fears,? said Archbishop Celata, and to recognize that, ?despite our differences, [we are] all members of one human family with a common destiny . . . We are called to accept and respect each other: in the sacredness of life, in the choices of conscience - especially in religious matters - and in the dignity of every person.?
I am shocked and deeply saddened that this past Sunday as I prayed with my husband, and my parish community, respect for life, respect for differences and respect for religious freedom were severely abandoned in my hometown of Milwaukee. Once again the Culture of Death took over and the results are devastating. We as Catholics are called to rise above this culture and love instead of hate. We are to uphold and not destroy. We are to respect and not be intolerant of religious practices that differ from our own.
Most importantly we are called to love as God loves. Just two days before the shooting in Wisconsin, Pope Benedict gave us perfect instructions for our reaction to this horrendous act. He said, ?According to the Christian perspective, the love given to those who suffer is a reflection of the divine charity of God who so loved the world that he sent his only Son Jesus Christ."
August 8, 2012
The above perspective was written by Peggy Gerovac, Director, Pro Life Office, Diocese of Cleveland.
Click HERE to visit the Pro Life Office web site.
Click HERE to visit the facebook page for the Pro Life Office.
E-mail Peggy at pmgerovac@clevelandcatholiccharities.org