Half mast

One thing the US has plenty of is flags. So you can't not notice when they are at half-mast, as they are today. Again. They've been down more than up in the past month. First Orlando. The the two black men shot by the police. Then the five police in Dallas.

And now the eighty people in France. And the 250 people in Turkey. And the nameless many who won't even make the headlines for a day.

Last weekend when I went to my old parish of St Thomas in Chicago the homily and the prayers were about gun violence. When I was last there eight years ago they often focused on gun violence too. It was awkward and uncomfortable. But it was also necessary to be reminded that if life is good and safe and enjoyable, then this is what God wants for us and it makes him happy, but it is not the way life is for everyone. We need to be reminded of the suffering and tragedy of the world at church, by lowered flags, and by good journalism so that we stretch our hearts in love and reconciliation.

A good example of this is the now defunct Al Jazeera America news site which says:

The core principle driving the journalism that distinguished Al Jazeera America online as a unique voice in a cluttered news landscape was the simple — yet radical — proposition that no single human life is worth less than any other.

I often find that www.aljazeera.com and www.bbc.com/news/world help to give a broader perspective on what's going on in the world and what we need to pray for.


Comments

  1. Unknown17 July 2016 at 04:42

    Powerful Jim;thanks for reminding us that we are all equal before God

    ReplyDelete
  2. Veronica17 July 2016 at 15:29

    Love the link… thanks for the reminder to be the disciple we want to see in the world!

    Veronica

    ReplyDelete

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