Day 5: In a Desert Devoid of Compassion
BY PATRICIA MCGUIRE | February 18, 2018
First Sunday of Lent
Today’s Readings
Covenant.
We see the flood, a vast river of human need washing across borders, over walls, under fences, coming out of the desert so parched and thirsty for safety, for freedom, for justice.
We listen to the ancient words of God’s covenant with Noah, hearing the imperative to end the destruction, to create the necessary conditions for human life to flourish. We ask what the covenant expects of us in this modern age so infected with racial hatred.
Truth and Justice.
The covenant compels us to speak the truth, to confront injustice.
The truth is that no human life is less than another simply for want of a piece of paper, or because of nationality or language or skin color. The truth is that every human being has fundamental rights to life, to freedom, to economic and educational opportunity.
Justice demands that those of us who already enjoy these rights be passionate advocates for those whose rights are denied.
We advocate for Dreamers, immigrants and refugees, persons of color whose rights and freedom, whose very lives are at risk. Solidarity requires us to share our talents to relieve their fear, to ensure their safety, to give witness to their dignity and worth.
Desert.
This moment in our nation’s history seems like a desert devoid of compassion, of essential humanity, of care for the most vulnerable. We risk the withering of our moral sensibilities. We pray for the strength of social renewal.
Break Forth.
Faith compels us: we believe that we can, we must break forth to release those bound unjustly in a system that leaves them hungry, thirsty, homeless, oppressed.
Our fidelity to the covenant unmasks our light, illuminating the pathway to greater dignity, to hope and freedom for those who have been too long in the shadows.
Patricia McGuire has served as president of Trinity Washington University since 1989. By reaching out to the black and Hispanic women of Washington, she helped rebuild the dying college into a multifaceted university that serves as an example of how to successfully widen collegiate access and welcome students who have lived on the margins, predominantly students of color. McGuire holds a law degree from Georgetown University and previously served as the project director for the Georgetown Street Law Clinic. She was ISN’s 2017 Robert M. Holstein Faith Doing Justice Award honoree.
Thank you for “putting into words” what I feel in my heart but can’t always so eloquently express!
As I am now into the “retirement” stage of my story….I mightn’t go out and shout FREEDOM FOR ALL, but, what I DO is prayer, and whenever the opportunity happens, I agree and encourage support, help, hope for those who are needy….
Children in Florida are leading the way to say stop! No more! I am hoping the revolt-revelation- flows out to all. We need to bring back our country and be humane, loving and hope filled again
I would assert that as part of this covenant, that every human has the right to those things that support life. Human beings have a right to clean air, clean water, health care, adequate food, freedom from fear, the right to shelter, and the right of equal justice before the law. This should be part of any “pro-life” philosophy.
com passion – “passion with” the poor & oppressed
.
Faith is precious. May God strengthen our faith.