Editorial: Responding peacefully and lovingly in the month of June

As the month of June arrives, we know what we’re in for — what color schemes, let’s say, will dominate the corporate advertising and media that bombard us. 

As this particular June approached, it became obvious by the headlines that social tensions are escalating over issues like homosexuality and gender ideology and especially how those topics should be approached with children. 

In addition to states, including our own, passing major legislation for good or ill on these matters, we have seen companies that aggressively push a particular viewpoint on them, often driven in part by activists, have discovered that the pressure sometimes flows the other direction too, and customers don’t always appreciate the activism. Anheuser-Busch has reportedly lost billions of dollars as a result of a boycott of Bud Light beer after an ill-advised marketing decision. Target is similarly facing a massive backlash for products it had put out on its shelves. And the Los Angeles Dodgers found itself in the lowlight reels in choosing first to honor, then to disinvite, and then to reinvite an activist group that blasphemously mocks elements of the Catholic faith for its “pride night,” in the process alienating many of its own fans and drawing rebukes from Catholics and other Christians across the country, as well as some of its own players. 

Times of rising social tension should always cause us to stop and reflect and pray and guard against allowing ourselves to be swept away by the passions of the moment. 

When people use their power to advance policies and beliefs that we don’t believe serve the common good or that we believe may even cause harm, and especially when they mock and attack our faith, it can be frustrating and hurtful. But even in the midst of that, we have to respond as Christians, bearing witness to the truth while also remaining a voice of reason, of good will, of patience, of love, and of mercy. 

In Catholic piety, June is considered the month of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, who allowed his heart to be pierced with a lance on the cross out of his most profound love for us sinners. It’s fitting to pray, then: Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!