Padre’s Ponderings for February 2026
I cannot speak for any of you, but my heart and soul are aching. Renee Good and Alex Pretti were both murdered by federal officials of the United States. School children were used to lure their parents toward ICE. Children have been abducted by ICE. Minneapolis children are unable to attend school due to the dangers of ICE. Yes, I realize there are plenty of other statements that could be added to this list, but this is more than enough.
A quote often attributed to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 20th-century theologian and resistor, German Lutheran Pastor, author, and anti-Nazi dissident, on resisting injustice, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” Bonhoeffer was eventually executed at Flossenburg concentration camp, just weeks before the end of the Second World War in Europe.
Today calls for moral clarity, much as it did for D. Bonhoeffer in 1933-45. What we are experiencing as citizens of the U.S. is far from the norm. More importantly, though, the rise of our current administration is antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To ridicule people, to condemn beloved children of God as ‘illegals,’ to treat others inhumanely, to mock and lie, and ultimately, to murder, stands in direct opposition of what I know to be the Beloved Community, to following Christ in love and humility, to seeking out the least and the lost on the margins as the ‘margins’ are made to grow. The city and people of Minneapolis are witnessing one atrocity on top of another, and the tyranny inflicted on their children is reprehensible.
Often in times like these, we do not know what to do. We are afraid. I know I have been afraid to speak up in the past for fear of who I might offend, what parishioner might leave because I’m ‘getting political,’ and today, because of watch lists I can be put on for speaking out. It is imperative that Christians speak up and out today about the hateful actions of ICE and the leadership deploying ICE. Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. What we are witnessing is opposed to living our Baptismal Covenant, to proclaiming the Good News of God in Jesus Christ. For the sake of Christianity, for the sake of those targeted by ICE, for our children, and for Renee and Alex, we cannot be silent. Are we prepared to speak out, to speak truth to power in one of the reddest states? Are we willing to risk our comfort for the sake of the Gospel?
Our prayers matter greatly. God wants to hear our hearts. And, action is paramount. Attend some of the protests. We can’t attend every single one, but surely we can attend some. Give to The Solidarity Fund, providing critical support to individuals and families impacted by mass deportation in West Virginia. Call our senators. Speak to our children and grandchildren about the abomination of ICE and other hateful atrocities of this administration. The state of our dear West Virginia and our country has gone beyond the challenge of politics. We are moving further and further from God’s reconciling love with each beloved child of God’s abduction and terrorization.
Stand with me; speak truth to power in the name of Christ, not in a way that looks down upon other religions, but in a manner that lifts one another, that respects those seeking justice and mercy, regardless of the God they know and love. For justice and mercy are never wrong. Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.
