September 12, 2020 - Pastor Message
04/16/2024“Jesus said in reply, ‘Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and cling to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate’” (Matthew 19:4-6).
“We disrupt the Westernprescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and “villages” that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable” (What we Believe statement on official Black Lives Matter website, https:// blacklivesmatter.com/what-we-believe/).
Probably second only to COVID19, the most impactful social event of 2020 has been the work of the Black Lives Matter movement, or BLM. While predating 2020, the movement has become more widespread following the death of George Floyd. The Black Lives Matter logo has become almost omnipresent, appearing everywhere, from professional and college sports, to yard signs and painted streets, and it isn’t hard to understand why. Who, other than the most ardent racist, could argue with the need to protect black lives? While reasonable people can disagree with the narrative that launched BLM, namely that police are part of an inherently racist institution that hunts blacks down in cold blood, no one who cares about the dignity of all human life from conception to natural death can deny the horror of watching blacks being killed by police on the nightly news, nor the desire that we need to do something. It is that desire that evokes the response we have seen and that prompts people to support BLM.
Unfortunately, some people do so uncritically, without looking into what the BLM movement really stands for and what its goals are. BLM is not just a slogan, it is an organization, and one cannot promote the slogan without also promoting the organization. And what does that organization stand for? I would encourage you to check the link above to their official website to read for yourself. BLM goes far beyond seeking an end to police brutality. It also seeks an end to many ideals that we as Christians hold dear, including the God-given truth about human sexuality and the family. While Catholics can in good faith support some of BLM’s agenda, such as their call to protect black lives, we cannot support the rest of their agenda, which runs directly contrary to our faith as revealed by God. We also cannot support the violence and destruction that has erupted in several of the public actions of BLM. Whether it is BLM agents or outside agitators using BLM as cover, it is undeniable that BLM activities have resulted in much harm, including death.
I’m not making a political statement about BLM. I am challenging all of us to think and act more critically about the causes that we support, relying on the light of Christ’s Gospel to lead us to the truth. Shining that light on BLM, we see much that contradicts the Gospel. May that same light lead us to better, more faithful ways to protect black lives, following in the footsteps of great, unifying leaders, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., rather than the divisive and destructive movements tearing our country apart today.
Fr. Marc Stockton
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