June 1, 2020
Saint Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ.”
These words, which we heard yesterday at Mass on the Feast of Pentecost, are a powerful reminder that we are all one in Christ. Each person has been created by God and is endowed with the inherent dignity of being a child of God. Far too many times and in far too many ways we have violated the dignity of our brothers and sisters. As Missionaries of the Precious Blood we hear the Cry of the Blood coming from those who have been oppressed by racism, poverty, and violence through the years.
Our charism of reconciliation and renewal requires us to confront those actions and ideologies that are antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The recent, senseless killing of George Floyd calls for a response. Our response is not more violence and destruction, but instead flows from the deep wellspring of our spirituality. St. Paul writes further in his letter to the Corinthians, “Is not the cup of blessing we bless a sharing in the Blood of Christ?” Fr. Bob Schreiter reminds us in many of his writings that by sharing in the Blood of Christ, we are committing ourselves to a life of solidarity with those who suffer and those who hope.
To live a life of solidarity with those who suffer is not easy. To stand in the breach, in the liminal space of our society, calls for an inner strength which comes only from a strong relationship with Christ.
As our society continues to face violence in its many forms, how will we respond? How can we be like St. Gaspar, and proclaim the redeeming power of the Precious Blood to all who struggle to find hope in our world? The answers may not come easy, but our charism calls on us to seek for answers from our God, from inside ourselves, and from each other.
In the Blood of the Lamb,
V. Rev. Jeffrey S. Kirch, C.PP.S.
Provincial Director