Today we not only celebrate the Octave of Christmas, and Mary the Mother of God, but today is also the 49th World Day of Peace. Pope Francis proclaimed the theme as "overcome indifference and win peace."
The first part is hard for us to hear but true. One of the great myths that is constantly proclaimed his how much money we give other countries. About 1% of the US Budget is non-military/economic aid. But it is not all about money.
Indifference is a lack of concern. Justin Bieber or any Karidasian gets more news coverage than the suffering of people on the entire continent of Africa. And as for the Middle East, except for the concern over who might attack us, what do we really care? How much do we really care about the number of Muslims killed by ISIS?
These are harsh question, but on this first day of the New Year the Holy Father challenges each of us to look into our hearts focused specifically on that particular sin of omission called indifference. How much does my genuine concern extend beyond myself, my friends, my city, my country?
There was an old bumper sticker "If you want peace, work for justice." Today we have to one step further back, "If you want peace, overcome indifference"
