The right to hope
On Monday, June 16, an undocumented immigrant with no criminal record and the father of three Marines was violently detained and injured by ICE agents and is now in federal custody facing an uncertain future. This event reminder me of the pasta store in Rome that employs ex-criminals in an effort to provide them a path to restarting their lives. Pope Frances left his entire estate ($200,000) to the store to continue their work.
On each package of pasta they sell, the store attached the following message attributed to Pope Frances. “Do not let despair rob you of hope.”
In these uncertain times where due process rights are being ignored, voting right and women's reproductive rights are under assault, where immigrant groups, the trans community, universities and the courts are the target of hateful language and elected officials in Minnesota are murdered and injured, it is beyond challenging to be hopeful. But hopeful we must remain.
While various rights are being abridged, the right to remain hopeful is a choice each of us can make. It is this spirit of hopefulness that will sustain us in the quest for a more compassionate and caring society for all of us.
William J. Filstead
Arlington Heights