ALL are Welcome at All Saints

The following comes from Open Wide Our Hearts – The Enduring Call to Love – a pastoral letter against racism from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:

Holy Scripture boldly proclaims, “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God.  Yet so we are” (1John 3:1)   This love “comes from God and unites us to God; through this unifying process it makes us a ‘we’ which transcends our divisions and makes us one, until in the end God is ‘all in all’ (1 Corinthians 15:28)” 

Racism arises when – either consciously or unconsciously – a person holds that his or her own race or ethnicity is superior, and therefore judges persons of other races or ethnicities as inferior or unworthy of equal regard.  When this conviction or attitude leads individuals or groups to exclude, ridicule, mistreat or unjustly discriminate against persons on the basis of their race or ethnicity, it is sinful. 

Racist acts are sinful because they violate justice.  Racism occurs because a person ignores the fundamental truth that, because all humans share a common origin, they are all brothers and sisters, all equally made in the image of God. They reveal a failure to acknowledge the human dignity of the persons offended, to recognize them as the neighbors Christ calls us to love.  

When we begin to separate people in our thoughts for unjust reasons, when we start to see some people as “them” and others as “us”, we fail to love.  Yet, love is at the heart of Christian life.  When approached and asked what is the greatest commandment, Jesus answered:  “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind.  This is the greatest and the first commandment.  The second is like it:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39).  This command to love compels each of us to steadfastly resist racism.

We warmly welcome you to join our All Saints school community for the upcoming 2021-2022 school year.  We invite you to contact the school by calling (630) 961-6125, or email pbajek@ascacademy.org. to schedule your visit.  We humbly thank you for your consideration and your trust.