Fr. Ron Rolheiser on a Chrisian Response to Protest Opportunities

"Dreaming is sometimes the most realistic thing we can do. Or, is there still something else we might do, like public protest, or something else?

"In his book on prophecy, Commandments for the Long Haul, Daniel Berrigan offers this advice. Prophetic gestures aren't always politically effective. Often they accomplish nothing that's practical; but he adds: If you can't save the world at least you can save your own sanity.

"Sometimes that's all that can be accomplished by our protests against injustice. Moreover struggling to salvage our own sanity is not as privatized as it first appears. When we protest something that's wrong, even though we know our protest is not going to practically change anything, the sanity we are saving is not just our own. We're also saving the sanity of the moment."

In a recent commentary, Father Ronald Rolheiser, O.M.I. reflected on an appropriate Christian response to issues that appear to call for protests - sometimes following up accordingly and sometimes "hold[ing] our own moral ground, humbly, prophetically - and perhaps quietly."

To access Father Ron's complete post, please visit:

The Boston Pilot: Protest, Sanity, and a Christian Response (9 MAY 18)