Being Catholic

I was thinking how much being Catholic means to me.  Recently, with everything that’s going on in the USA – with the leading political parties being at odds I am so thankful to have a Catholic vision.  Don’t get me wrong, I am so proud of my culture- being Mexican-American has always been such a huge part of my identity.  I love my roots and the possibilities that this country has given immigrants like myself.  However, in times of crisis, I am glad that my faith has given me a more integral vision.  A few weeks ago, when I used “All Lives Matter” to express my views I have been told that I lack empathy for the black community.  I reflected on that comment for some time and finally concluded that when you put a color in front of “lives matter” it states the side you are in the argument.  As a Catholic, I believe in the sacredness of each individual.  Simply put lives matter!

That’s why you won’t see me with a banner for black or blue lives- because God tells me that all lives matter.  It’s easy to get emotionally involved and pick a side - forgetting that as Catholics we are meant to love everyone.  This is no way negates the suffering of a group.  As a child my heroes were Martin Luther King Jr and Frederick Douglass- I have loved studying the Civil Rights Movement because as a person of color I understood their fight. I too, have felt different and at times suffered racism and discrimination.

When I was a child, I also wanted to become a police officer.  At the time my father was an alcoholic so I would joke, “I probably won’t be a police officer or else I will be jailing my dad daily.”  However, as I got closer to college I research what it took to be a police office and when I saw that starting salary was almost the same as a teacher even though they risked their lives I quickly put a lid on that dream.  Recently, I researched the cops responsible for the death of George Floyd and I discovered that most of them were rookie cops, they were new on the job.  While I don’t know their hearts and maybe they are racist – I got to thinking how many mistakes I have made when I just started a new job.  However, some mistakes can cause a person’s life.

In the end, I realized that I just couldn’t take sides, I stuck by my “all lives matter” comment because as a Catholic (which is how I most identify myself) my faith challenges me to not side, but to love all.