Building Peace with Justice

Building Peace with Justice is a brief, weekly bulletin reflection written by members of a Diocese of Rochester Public Policy sub-committee that links the Sunday readings to Catholic social teaching. Many parishes publish them as space allows.

For Sunday Bulletins on April 15, 2007
Love is the outward sign that heralds God’s participation in the world; the apostles cure the sick and Jesus reaches out in love to doubting Thomas.

In 1987, Pope John Paul II wrote an encyclical reflecting on the church’s commitment to justice, called On Social Concerns. Despite the sin present in the world, he saw in all individuals “a fundamental goodness” and called on each to work for a more just world. “However imperfect and temporary are all things that can and ought to be done in order to make people’s lives ‘more human,’ nothing will be lost or will have been done in vain. It will all serve for the coming of the kingdom of God.”

Reflection: How can I be a sign of God’s love to another today? Do my words reflect my “fundamental goodness” or am I swayed by the language of hate and disrespect that pervades many media sources?