16th Sunday of Year B
July 2006
The theme today is Christ the shepherd. Christ the shepherd teaches his sheep. He teaches them by word and example. Christ breaks down the barriers, which used to keep people apart and unites them into a single people. Christ's teaching brings peace, love and unity to his sheep. The teaching and example of Jesus unites his sheep into one flock. This does not mean that there must be only one Christian Church, only one way to worship and praise God, only one formula to express our understanding of God. It does mean that all of us who are truly Christian will respect one another as one family, irrespective of what name we go under. In the same way the different Christian Churches, if they are truly Christian, must respect one another without requiring them to change and `become like us'.
This is the opposite to all forms of racism.
To a greater or lesser degree we are all racists. It doesn't matter what colour we are or from what ethnic background we come. It doesn't matter what gender we are, how old we are or what our training and education is - we are all racists to some degree.
The first step in the constant and ongoing struggle against racism is for me to admit that I am a racist. That initial admission puts me on my guard and gradually I become aware of the many ways I fall into racism, in my everyday life.
Racism is not just about colour or different ethnic groups. It can also be about circumstances of birth, upbringing, social background, schools attended, what church I belong to, what sport I follow. It is about looking on another person or on other people as, in some way, inferior to me. Basically racism, in whatever form, is my refusal to accept any person who looks, talks, dresses, or thinks differently to what I regard as acceptable.
Racism is also a refusal to adapt or to change.
Racism is a refusal to tolerate the greatest glory of creation - its diversity.
God made everything. God made everything to be different. Every person, every blade of grass is different. `God saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good.' Who am I to say that God was wrong?