“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” ~Maya Angelou
The mission and vision of Sacred Heart Schools is to inspire our students to become globally minded, compassionate leaders; leaders who are inspired and empowered to change the world. At no time in recent history have we felt the need for change more than right now. We stand with the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville, our SHS community, our black community, our city and our country in the outrage and sadness at the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and the countless before them.
We pray for equality and justice for the black community, and all who are marginalized in our country. We pray for real and lasting change, in our systems and in our hearts. And we stand today, knowing that prayer is the beginning and action must follow.
We commit to asking the hard questions; to seeking out those who differ from us, in race, religion, thought and deed; to finding resources and avenues for growth. We cannot just listen, we must hear. We cannot just read, we must learn. And then, we must act. We must search our hearts and examine our conscience to find ways to heal our community and our country.
We will join the Ursuline Sisters who have called for June 6, 2020 to be “a community-wide day of prayer, mourning and self-examination on racism and how we are called as individuals and a community to act now” and we implore our students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni and friends to do the same. Pray, mourn, examine; and then act.
We stand with the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville.
“We, the elected leadership of religious congregations of women in and around the Louisville area feel the rage and despair of this moment. As a majority white community, we recommit to prayer, self-examination, and advocacy. Specifically, we join with the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights in calling for fundamental reform in the way policing is done in the United States. We call for fundamental law reform to strip away protections for those who bring violence and death to unarmed black people. We call for and commit to REAL change to bring REAL peace, the peace that comes when all have enough, when all are treated with respect. Every person is a precious child of God. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Sandra Bland, Tony Robinson, Trayvon Martin… precious children of God.”
We stand with the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.
"Racism has rightly been called America's original sin. It remains a blot on our national life and continues to cause acts and attitudes of hatred, as recent events have made evident. The need to condemn, and combat, the demonic ideologies of white supremacy, neo-Nazism and racism has become especially urgent at this time. Our efforts must be constantly led and accompanied by prayer—but they must also include concrete action. People of faith call on the Divine Physician, Christ the Lord, to heal the wounds of racism throughout our land.”
And we Pray.
God of Heaven and Earth,
you created the one human family
and endowed each person with great dignity.
Aid us, we pray, in overcoming the sin of racism.
Grant us your grace in eliminating this blight
from our hearts, our communities,
our social and civil institutions.
Fill our hearts with love for you and our neighbor
so that we may work with you
in healing our land from racial injustice.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
I look forward to the time that we are together again in person. Until then, join me in prayer and action. Let us remain, together in heart.
Sincerely,
Dr. Cynthia R. Crabtree
President, Sacred Heart Schools
