St. Patrick Catholic Community issued the following announcement on June 11

Dear Friends,

I enjoy the challenge of preaching, to try and touch the hearts and minds of people to be more like Christ. I have a passion for preaching, and yet, it can be tiring over the many years and many Sundays. Those who preach can often learn so much from responses of the people. 

One example would be preaching on a particular topic from that day’s Gospel or on a particular faith teaching. Knowing that there is limited time to preach, it is impossible to cover every angle on every topic. If the Gospel talked about marriage and I spoke on it, that topic could lead to an interesting response by some, if I did not include divorced people in the homily, did not mention single people and how they need to live, and widows and widowers were not mentioned. There could be an assumption by some, that because it was not mentioned specifically, then the preacher must not care about such people. 

When Jesus preached about the poor, it didn’t mean that rich people do not matter to Him. Or those who mourn are not important to him. And it’s like Christians saying, “Well do not ALL people matter to you Jesus”? 

We cannot have the assumption that if attention is given to one group or topic that all other people or topics do not matter. All truth from Jesus Christ and preached in His name, is like a “seamless garment”, it is called together. 

When the term Black Lives Matter first came out, my first reaction was, well all lives matter. Yet, the story of the African American community has been calling out for many decades that things still need to change in how they are treated. We all know all lives matter but it too is like a seamless garment. The truth is all lives matter but at this very moment the call of the people is the Black community needs our attention. All lives do not matter if any race is not valued and respected. 

The response of all lives matter gives the permission that we really do not have to address the problems and challenges that the black community endures. To use that term at this very moment is not helpful. When people are hurting, yearning and struggling they do not need to hear words like “Well what about other people”? When anyone is hurting they need to hear words like “How can we help? What can we learn and do? What is your story? Tell me that story again so that I may listen differently”. 

When I would preach on mercy to those in prison, I would get some comments saying, “What about the victims of crime”? Because I care for those in prisons and their families, does that mean I do not care for victims? Of course not, but that is how some people see things. Paying attention at a particular moment does not mean we do not believe or live our entire faith. In the moment, what is in front of us may require our full attention. 

So what can we all do at this very moment? I would invite everyone to consider how we treat other people. In Scottsdale, and of course other places too, but I am addressing our community, we can struggle with treating the help with respect. Our servers, our cashiers, our service industry people and our office personnel can be people that we speak rudely towards. We use foul language towards them and project our anger towards others. I see it all the time so I am speaking truth. Some even are cruel towards fellow parishioners and staff. This behavior is never acceptable. This might be the first step in changing our attitudes and behaviors when it comes to racism, discrimination and cruelty. 

It is not enough for one to say, I am not racist. One needs to live our lives with giving dignity and respect to everyone we encounter. 

Of course all lives matter but at this very moment in history our Black brothers and sisters are asking for our full attention to address serious issues. They are asking that the same love and respect we show people we care about, be shared with them. It is their moment in history, let’s honor their story for their lives matter to. Thank you for reading this column today.

Original source can be found here.