We are neighbors to all. Each person is created in the image and likeness of God. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, calls us to love our neighbor. The parable of the Good Samaritan is clear, everyone is our neighbor (Luke 10:25-37). Pope Francis in his Encyclical Letter, Fratelli Tutti, which uses this parable as a guiding image, says:

“If every human being possesses an inalienable dignity, if all people are my brothers and sisters, and if the world truly belongs to everyone, then it matters little whether my neighbor was born in my country or elsewhere” (125).

We are called to love our neighbor as ourselves (cf. Mark 12:29). Love, according to St. Thomas Aquinas, is “willing the good of the other.” As Christians, we will the good of the other, even if others do not will our good. This is not the way the world tends to function, though. Too often, we divide in various ways. Such division is not what Christ wants of us, especially within the Church, as well as among all humanity. He prayed that we “may be one” (John 17:21).

Pope Francis, in Fratelli Tutti, puts it this way:

“Love, then, is more than just a series of benevolent actions. Those actions have their source in a union increasingly directed towards others, considering them of value, worthy, pleasing and beautiful apart from their physical or moral appearances. Our love for others, for who they are, moves us to seek the best for their lives. Only by cultivating this way of relating to one another will we make possible a social friendship that excludes no one and a fraternity that is open to all” (94). ... See MoreSee Less

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Thursday October 3 @ 6pm
Season of Creation Celebration
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, Indianapolis
4600 N. Illinois St
Indianapolis, IN 46208

6pm Mass, followed by "Advancing Environmental Justice in Indiana" presentation and discussion with Paula Brooks, Hoosier Environmental Council. ... See MoreSee Less