Use opportunities to show hope, love,
Having celebrated the arrival of the blessed Savior, we have the opportunity to show hope and love to people impacted by COVID-19 — parishioners and neighbors experiencing illness, death, job loss, hunger, eviction and homelessness.
“After seeing the wounds of the city in which we live, mercy invites us to have ‘imagination’ in our hands. This is what you have done in this time of the pandemic,” Pope Francis reflected in September with members of St. Peter’s Circle, a charity of the diocese of Rome.
Our parish, St. Elizabeth, Richmond, has adapted our social ministry for social distancing and seen the demand for assistance double during the pandemic. Like COVID-19, housing and food insecurity are disproportionately impacting communities of color.
I have spent the last 17 years working with people experiencing homelessness witnessing the effects of historic injustices and racism. After living on the street for more than a decade, one of our residents – Kevin – found “peace and serenity” exclaiming, “God told me that he was going to ‘make my mess a message.’”
There has never been a greater opportunity for us to acknowledge inequities and create a more just future. Over the past year we all have faced challenges we could not have foreseen; yet, we have also witnessed a surge of resilience and compassion that demonstrate our collective power to change and care.
Please support organizations serving our neighbors in need – your donations will save lives and provide hope. – Allison Bogdanovic, Richmond
Don’t publish political attacks
I am a regular reader of The Catholic Virginian, including letters to the editor. However, I am growing weary and profoundly disturbed by the use of our diocesan newspaper as a forum for political attacks on President-elect Joseph Biden on the singular issue of abortion.
While I yearn for a secular world in which the sanctity of all life is secured and respected, I no longer wish to read political attacks on the religious faith of state and national politicians, especially from readers whose own politics allow them to endorse or support a politician without any faith or moral belief or character but who nevertheless seem to pass the single issue abortion litmus test by reversing 50 years of public statements.
Lumen Christi. – Marc A. Turner, Charlottesville
Stop rejecting others; work for betterment
After reading the letters to the editor (Catholic Virginian, Dec. 14), I asked myself how can we as brothers and sisters in God’s family work together for the betterment of all of us if we insist on rejecting one another as we try to achieve positive influence in our country?
Cardinal Wilton Gregory’s hopes to work with President Biden (Catholic Virginian, Nov. 30) are attitudes Jesus Christ would hold while working with our incomplete and growing selves.
Another letter to the editor in the Dec. 14 issue, which criticizes other bishops for their Christ-like outreach, sounds hurtful to me as we come together to rebuild our American community. I am proud of the many bishops who have recognized their roles as shepherds guiding the flock and not closing the gate to those who need assistance.
– Maureen Marroni, Norfolk
‘Do real journalism’
I was horrified at the “COVID-19 vaccine ‘act of charity’” article (Catholic Virginian, Dec. 28). True journalism is no longer a thing.
Anthony Fauci himself has stated that the vaccine will not stop transmission, lasts for about two months and only protects the receiver by reducing their symptoms which might actually make them an asymptomatic carrier.
Do some real journalism please and stop spouting the official narrative. You have a moral responsibility to do the right thing regardless if it’s popular or not.
– Jennifer M. Anderson, Norfolk