I love to read about the lives of different saints and to see the great variety of people that God has loved and called to serve Him – from the battle-tested St. Joan of Arc to the “Little Way” of St. Therese of Lisieux to the humble yet famous St. Teresa of Calcutta, and from the vibrant St. Francis of Assisi to the studious St. Thomas Aquinas to the charismatic St. John Paul II.
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Eccl 3:1). So begins the best-known passage in the Book of Ecclesiastes. Among the litany of appointed times is “a time to keep silence, and a time to speak” (3:7). For many today, especially people of color, the addition of George Floyd’s name to the lengthy roll of black victims of police brutality means the time for silence has passed. Now is a time to speak.