On Sunday, May 22, at 2 p.m. in Saint Charles Borromeo Church, Sicklerville, the diocesan Racial Justice Commission, in coordination with the Secretariat for Evangelization and Hispanic Ministries, will host a Multi-Cultural Concert for Peace and Racial Harmony.
Choirs from throughout the Diocese representing different cultures will come together in a concert for unity. The afternoon will feature testimony and witness from those of various cultures from throughout the Diocese who have experienced racism and prejudice. All are welcome, and there is no charge. Food trucks will be on site after the concert, and there will be time to socialize together as one family of faith.
Racism and prejudice are not easy topics to discuss. I know we have all witnessed and experienced racism and prejudice in our lives. At times, it is subtle. At times, it is very overt. At all times, it is sinful. To be clear, racism is not just politically incorrect. It is a sin. Frankly, a sin not very often confessed.
The “Catechism of the Catholic Church” spells this out: “Every form of social or cultural discrimination in fundamental personal rights on the grounds of sex, race, color, social conditions, language or religion must be curbed and eradicated as incompatible with God’s design.” (CCC #1935)
In their 2018 pastoral letter “Open Wide our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love,” the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote: “Racism occurs because a person ignores the fundamental truth that, because all humans share a common origin, they are all brothers and sisters, all equally made in the image of God. When this truth is ignored, the consequence is prejudice and fear of the other, and — all too often — hatred.” (p. 3)
As an attorney and now a priest for 10 years, I have witnessed the prejudice often faced by the immigrant community, in housing and in the workplace. As pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Camden, I have heard the sad stories of our Black Catholic sisters and brothers at Saint Bartholomew Church who have personally experienced racism and prejudice. In the news, we hear of an increase of racism against our Asian friends, a racism that is often anti-Catholic as well. I have Muslim friends who are so very faithful but are often looked down upon by others because of their dress, customs and an unwarranted concern that they are terrorists.
At the Multi-Cultural Concert on May 22, you will see and hear choirs from throughout our Diocese representing different cultures who are united in faith, as sisters and brothers of our Risen Lord. To speak and pray about prejudice and racism is not to inflict guilt, but to open our hearts to a need for ongoing conversion. All of us are in need of personal, ongoing conversion. As the bishops stated in their pastoral letter against racism: “Our churches and our civic and social institutions are in need of ongoing reform. If racism is confronted by addressing its causes and the injustice it produces, then healing can occur. In that transformed reality, the headlines we see all too often today will become lessons from the past.” (p. 7)
In this month of May, we turn to our Blessed Mother, the Mother of us all. We pray for the grace to follow her son so that prejudice and racism will no longer infect our minds or hearts. We pray that fear and racism is replaced with the love that respects the dignity of each person. Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us.
Father Guest is pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, Camden, and coordinator of the Black Catholic Ministry Commission and the diocesan Racial Justice Commission.
at the bottom and then tap “Add to Home Screen”
