The sisters and brothers of Sacred Heart Church in Pahoa have watched at least one cherished member of our parish family withdraw after many years of devoted, loving service.
The reason this dedicated parishioner gave for leaving the family was what they saw as our numerous pastors’ reluctance to address the horrific magnitude and endlessness of war-making we, the United States, pursue.
Every week, our church bulletin contains a long and growing list of our young men and women serving in one or another branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.
Every time we offer Prayers of the Faithful we ask for guidance for world leaders and protection of our young people in uniform.
These things are appropriate and good, but we hear very little if anything from the pulpit condemning our insatiable appetite for making war.
This is not politics. This is a matter of our faith and we are obligated to address it and yes, to condemn it in the strongest, clearest terms possible, and condemn it often.
Please, dear pastors, hold our feet to the fire on this so we are not made indifferent to it by the way of the world.
We are hawks and we are doves and perhaps the collection basket will suffer but protecting the collection would be a very shabby excuse for not practicing our faith as we’ve been taught to practice it and especially under the mandate we are held to by our Confirmation.
William D. Cesaletti, Keaau