Imagine someone who refuses to stay informed about what is happening in the world—someone who simply does not watch the news and, surprisingly, has a social media algorithm that does not show them the latest injustice, the most recent saddening story, the latest political act that outrages. Who can blame this person for not wanting to know what is happening? After all, what difference would it make to know if we cannot do anything about it?

Knowing that injustices are occurring in the world touches our souls, but perhaps what truly wounds us is our powerlessness in the face of them. But who made us believe we are powerless? When did we buy into the idea that the answer to injustice is inaction? We can pray for God to do something, but perhaps he is praying for us to do something. When injustice comes to us, how can we ask God for justice if we turn a blind eye to the injustice of others? How can we ask our Lord to be here when we were not there when he needed us?

Brothers and sisters, I have decided not to give examples of any injustice because we all have specific injustices in our minds that we have experienced and witnessed, that we have suffered, and that we have ignored. Can we truly do nothing? Faced with the great problems of nations, we of course feel small, but if each of us stood up against the injustices we see around us, something would change. No injustice is too small for anyone to remain silent. At the beginning of Lent, God calls us, as he always does, to fight injustice. And let us not think that this entails an aggressive struggle; giving bread to the hungry or clothing the naked is also fighting injustice with charity. Forgiving those who have hurt us or guiding those who have erred is also fighting injustice with love.

Choosing a sense of peace based on ignorance of what is happening around us is, I fear, merely an illusory peace. By choosing to ignore what is happening around us, we are also choosing to ignore what God is asking of us. Let us not turn our backs. Remember that maybe the weariness of knowing about injustice lies in powerlessness; let us act when we have the opportunity. And let us not feel small; let us remember the mustard seed. Even the great problems of our nations have solutions if we do not ignore God’s call, a call that comes every day. Just as we want God to say to us, “Here I am,” let us also say, “And here we are.”