Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish recently issued the following announcement.

“Love compels each of us to resist racism courageously. It requires us to reach out generously to the victims of this evil, to assist the conversion needed in those who still harbor racism, and to begin to change policies and structures that allow racism to persist. Overcoming racism is a demand of justice, but because Christian love transcends justice, the end of racism will mean that our community will bear fruit beyond simply the fair treatment of all. After all, ‘Within [the human] family,’ as St. John Paul II said, ‘each people preserves and expresses its own identity and enriches others with its gifts of culture.’”

“The roots of racism have extended deeply into the soil of our society. Racism can only end if we contend with the policies and institutional barriers that perpetuate and preserve the inequality – economic and social – that we still see all around us. With renewed vigor, we call on the members of the Body of Christ to join others in advocating and promoting policies at all levels that will combat racism and its effects in our civic and social institutions. ‘Even in the developed world,’ Pope Francis told members of the U.S. Congress, ‘the effects of unjust structures and actions are all too apparent. Our efforts must aim at restoring hope, righting wrongs, maintaining commitments, and thus promoting the wellbeing of individuals and of peoples.’”

“…there is no place for racism in the hearts of any person; it is a perversion of the Lord’s will for men and women, all of whom were made in God’s image and likeness.”

THANK YOU to all who took the time to complete our survey on racial injustice and provided some great feedback. The survey will be open for another week. So, if you didn’t get a chance to participate last week, we invite you to check out the link found in our weekly email. Paper copies are also available by the entrances to church. We would love to get your ideas on how we can move forward as a faith community. We also invite you to pray this prayer daily for an end to the sin of racism.

Original source can be found here.