A NEW YEAR BEGINS … 2019

Father John Walsh

At the beginning of 2019 please take the time to reflect on the importance of interfaith dialogue. Perhaps in these turbulent times it may well be indispensable. Sorry! It is indispensable. The world demands it of our religions of the world to come together and, despite our theological differences that may well exist forever, the only commonality we all share should be our deep concern for our sisters and brothers throughout the world. Too many of them are suffering and in pain, suffering and pain that has lasted more than any human being can possibly accept and manage. In the scriptures we read: No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through.
To understand this passage we must not interpret he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit as if directed at an individual; it is only a communal response that leaves us with no other option than to know that it is only when we work against injustices that we will know the limit beyond which we cannot be pushed. Only together will we make it through whatever we have to face. If God has brought us to these moments, he will bring us through them. Today the limit beyond which we cannot be pushed poses many threats to divide us rather than to unite us. The world awaits a united from to work against the most pressing issues, indicators of the limit beyond which we cannot be pushed: poverty, famine, climate change, pollution, broken relationships, disrupted families, failed leadership, and the greatest threat, indifference on the part of all religions.
Liz McMillan, CEO of Dictionary.com, said in a press release. “We continue to see a direct correlation between trending word lookups and current events, and we find it encouraging that our users are dedicated to understanding the language and words that pop up in the biggest news stories of the year.” Many newsworthy 2018 moments facilitated the use of complicit, including times when people called out the powerful for misdeeds and for silence in the face of wrongdoing. In the scriptures the word complicit is used many times, three will suffice to question us about how complicit we are.

He who is a partner with a thief hates his own life; He hears the oath but tells nothing. Proverbs 29:24
Although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. Romans 1:32
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds. 2 John 1:10-11
Ut plures unum sint … That they may be one … religion is about morality and religion is about ethics … but it is quintessential to religion to care for humanity … to humanize all that we say and do and speak to the inhuman treatment our sisters and brothers before it goes unnoticed. These sisters and brother are without culpability; culpability is on our part, and it may go unnoticed but that doesn’t lessen our complicity.