In light of the need for our society to heal from the sin of racism, we offer a simple “racial examination of conscience” to help each of us reflect on how we may grow as persons and children of God in our hospitality, love and mercy for all our brothers and sisters, regardless of race or religion. This is not intended to implicate anyone as a racist. It is not a “test” to see how racist you are or not. It is offered in all charity and humility as an opportunity to reflect on our daily lives and how we may be unaware of the impact that our everyday decisions have on ourselves, members of our community, nation, and world.
Research shows that many of us act toward others based on implicit, or unknown, bias. Most of us believe in the equality of all people and assume that such a belief is enough.
From We Are Salt & Light
Examination of Conscience
- Have I taken the time to listen to the voices of others who don’t look like me or have a different background or life experience than me?
- Do I dismiss the concerns or observations of others as simply being “overly sensitive” or “PC?”
- Do I ask someone who I am an acquaintance of in social or professional settings to speak for their entire culture?
- Have I ever witnessed an occasion when someone “fell victim” to personal, institutional, systematic or social racism and I did or said nothing, leaving the victim to address their pain alone?
- Have I ever said “I’m not racist, but…?”
- Have I prayed earnestly and regularly for an end to racism and an increase in the understanding of the equal dignity of all those created in the image of God?
- Do I pray that those in positions of power may have the will and the courage to change the systems that oppress others?
- Do I set a good example in my own family, respecting the dignity of all people, especially those unlike myself?
Racial Justice Prayer
This prayer was written by the parish Racial Justice team in order to focus our attention as a faith family to the need for love among all our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Loving and merciful God,
who created us all in Your image,
help open our eyes to the dignity and inherent value of all Your children.
Awaken in us a passion for inclusion, reflection, and justice,
so that, with Your grace,
we may live and act in peace and solidarity with one another.
We ask this, and all prayers of the Universal Church,
in the name of Christ our Redeemer and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Stations of the Cross: Overcoming Racism
This Stations of the Cross resource on overcoming racism, provided by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), can help you, your family and your friends reflect on the bishops’ pastoral letter against racism, Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love. A rich Lenten reflection, this prayer resource can help open our hearts to the persistent nature of racism and the call to help overcome it.
Catholic Charities Prayer for Racial Justice
God of justice, in your wisdom, you create all people in your image, without exception.
Through your goodness, open our eyes to see the dignity, beauty, and worth of every human being.
Open our minds to understand that all your children are brothers and sisters in the same human family.
Open our hearts to repent of racist attitudes, behaviors, and speech which demean others.
Open our ears to hear the cries of those wounded by racial discrimination and their passionate appeals for change.
Strengthen our resolve to make amends for past injustices and to right the wrongs of history.
And fill us with courage that we might seek to heal wounds, build bridges, forgive and be forgiven, and establish peace and equality for all in our communities
In Jesus’ name, we pray.
Amen
Peace Prayer for the Privileged
Lord, make me an instrument of your holy discomfort
Where there is privilege, let me sow equity,
Where there is violence, let me work for peace,
Where there is division, let me seek unity,
Where there is racism, let me pursue racial justice,
Where there is environmental degradation, let me care for creation,
Where there is political discord, let me seek the common good,
And where there is economic inequality, let me seek justice.
O God of Justice, grant that I may not so much seek comfort,
as to welcome hard truths,
To be heard, as to listen,
To hold power, as to empower,
To seek control, as to follow,
For it is in humility, that we learn,
It is in seeking forgiveness, that we are reconciled,
And it is in dying to self, that we are born to new life.
Amen.
Fr. Daniel P. Horan, O.F.M
Prayer for Open Hearts and Conversion
Good and gracious God, you love each of us with a wide-open love.
We pray for our own conversion
and the conversion of all your faithful people.
Wake us up to justice!
Racial injustice in our nation and in the world surrounds us and infects us.
We hear it in the media, see it in our communities
and recognize it in our mistrusting relationships and personal divisions.
We bring these experiences and our broken hearts to you now.
Wake us up to justice!
We ask you for humble spirits and open hearts
to journey from the shackles of racial oppression into the joys of a just community.
As a eucharistic community united in Jesus’ self-giving love,
impassion us to embody justice in our lives together.
We are embraced and secure in the breadth and depth of your wide-open love.
Wake us up to justice!
Amen
Alison M. Benders
