Columbus Day ...
Many of us will remember this day from our childhood and youth as a pleasant occasion for wearing distinctive hats, floating toy or model boats, and for attending a parade. Since this historical character and his cultural context were ostensibly Catholic, a rare element for American heroes remembered with holidays and parades, Catholic communities and Catholic parish schools could be found collaborating with the Knights of Columbus to do this up right!

In more recent times, a more questioning gaze has been directed to Christopher Columbus. There are cracks in the seams of our shared history as Americans which we did not know “back then.” Just as with the many other cracks in our history as a nation, we are challenged to own our history, but also to work with sincerity to create a healthy present and a hopeful future. Leaders and communities must commit.

I don’t know that broken, vandalized, or toppled statues contribute to an honest if difficult conversation, but if and when that happens how do we feel? How do we respond? What do we do with our sense of outrage, our anger, our frustration? “The vote” was given to women quite some time ago, but still there is an unsettled feeling, even anger that discrimination against women is rampant in many areas of American life. So, too, the vote was given to members of the African American community, but the outcry against racial discrimination in this country remains strong. We are still uncovering the injustices against the Native Americans who were found here when Europeans came to “discover” this new world.

For us, God’s act of Justice, in Christ, was Mercy. Not a wimpy mercy that “brushes aside”... Rather, it is a mercy that demands strength, honesty on both sides, and a renewed commitment that life will conform to that mercy.
Fr. Tom