Each new generation must take up the struggles and attainments
of past generations, while setting its sights even higher.
This is the path. Goodness, together with love,
justice, and solidarity, are not achieved once and for all;
they have to be realized each day.
Pope Francis from Fratelli Tutti

About a month ago, my daughter, granddaughter, and Adela, our 18-year-old Czech “daughter” who is living with us as an International student this year, went to Minneapolis for a “women’s weekend.” We arrived at the downtown hotel in which we were to stay after dark. The next sunny morning I opened the shades on our eighth floor window and beheld this amazing mural painted on the opposite wall of the building.

I stood there pondering it for a very long time, overcome with emotion. What struck me the most were the words painted on the mural, The Times They Are A-Changin’. I noticed the paint dripping down from the letters. To me, they looked like tear drops falling. I immediately felt a deep sense of sadness, and my own tears began welling up. Yes, the times ARE changing, and it sure doesn’t feel like many of the changes are for the better!

Where are we as Christians in all that is happening in this country? So many in our country say they are Christians and that we should be a Christian nation, but to call oneself a Christian is to say we follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, yes? What did Jesus teach?

Come, you who are blessed by my Father: For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. I tell you the truth, whatsoever you did for one of the least of these of mine, you did for me. Matthew 25:35;40.

“Pro-life” seems to have become only about anti-abortion in much of the current Christian realm. BUT, as Christians, we must believe that we are to do whatever is needed to protect and foster ALL human life throughout the whole of the human lifespan! This includes people of ALL races and religions, not only in our own country but also in the whole world. This includes the widow and the orphan, the homeless and the immigrant, the drug addicted and the abused, those struggling with their mental health, the sick and elderly, those with physical or mental special needs, those who are struggling to feed their families, those who live under repressive governments and are not really free. We are to do whatever each of us can do to care for the needs of EVERYONE EVERYWHERE!

If you say you are a Christian but support exploitative and demeaning policies which diminish the ‘least ones’ for the sake of your own gain or the financial gain of others, then do not call yourself a Christian. Go back and study the Gospels, and especially what Jesus said. I think going back to the one-time fad of WWJD would be useful. Stop and look deeply at any issue that arises before us, in our country, or in the world, and seriously consider “What Would Jesus Do?” This might be a good daily practice for all of us to test our willingness to really follow what Jesus taught and to authentically call ourselves Christian.

I encourage all of you to read and digest Pope Francis’ encyclical, Fratelli Tutti: On Fraternity and Social Friendship. The version by OSV, Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, www.osv.com, is very readable and includes questions for pondering or for discussion with others. EVERY Catholic should read this and take it to heart if we are truly serious about professing and living as Catholic Christians. WWJD?

– Rita Simon