Thorns and Roses

People, some I deeply love and respect, say I am making a fool of myself, destroying my creditability by constantly challenging institutions like the Milwaukee Catholic Church archdiocese or Marquette University on moral issues, not using money for poor and marginalized or teaching war and killing at a Catholic university. If it is someone I deeply love and respect I get more upset since they do not see or feel what I do.

In his essay, “Evangelization in the Contemporary World” by Juan Ramon Moreno, S.J. one of the Jesuit Martyrs in El Salvador, he talks about how different people can see or hear the suffering and plight of the poor and marginalized and have different responses. One can intellectualize and talk about the injustice while the other one can share in the suffering and feel solidarity with the person. I am blessed or cursed by being the second kind of person.

Sometimes when I see something like the letter from the pastor of Catholic Church neglecting the primary mission of the Church to poor and marginalized I get sick to my stomach. If someone tells me how great the letter is and how it settles everything and that I am sick for not accepting it I get angry, which certainly does not help.

Jesus, Gandhi, St. Ignatius of Loyola and many other great people tell us that we should take the insults and injury within our self, feel blessed and keep on speaking the ‘truth’ as we see it. This is tough but it is the heart of nonviolent love as I see it.

Yet being weak I often react instead of respond in a loving way. Being a brother and sister to so many persons, especially the poor, discriminated, suffering and sick is difficult. I know it is a blessing to be in solidarity with so many marginalized persons but being one of them, ignored, sick and marginalized feels more like a curse than a blessing. I need to realize that there are many persons like me living in solidarity with poor, suffering and marginalized. Peace comes with accepting our blessings and curses.

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