In class this week we read & discussed Genesis 1. I asked my students what it meant to them to see themselves & others as made in the 'image and likeness' of God. All the students who spoke up said: it makes no difference at all. That's never happened in my classroom before. As I've been reflecting on this conversation, I continue to be stunned. Usually, in the face of so much depersonalization in our culture (so many ways to feel like we fail or don't measure up), students find comfort in this inherent dignity & feel challenged to honor it in others

A response to the two pieces in FT by @rr_reno and @matthewschmitz. The Catechism states that our vocation is life in the Holy Spirit, expressed by divine charity and human solidarity (CCC 1699). The Holy Spirit will not abandon us even while churches remain closed. 1/ Reno writes, “There is a demonic side to the sentimentalism of saving lives at any cost.” Is this sentimentalism? Or is it the care for the human person that Jesus showed by healing the sick? Jesus identifies his mission as the promotion of life in abundance (John 10:10). 2/

American Christians should rethink saying “God Bless America.” Too many Christians make Jesus into their own image, forgetting he was a dark-skinned Middle Eastern Jew subject to the occupation & oppression of the Roman Empire, executed as a *threat* to that empire. 1/12 If Jesus were around today, would we recognize him – much less listen to him? “God Bless America” sounds presumptuous: like God is blessing America. But God’s work in history has been in solidarity with the excluded; God’s signature deed is liberation. 2/12