My primary problem with the parade wasn’t just that it broke a norm. My problem is that it reminded me how easily we tell ourselves comforting stories instead of asking hard questions.

It is fair to say that the global tab for addressing the world’s acute humanitarian or ecological needs pales in comparison to the eye-watering amounts governments unabashedly dole out for bombs and bullets.

With the Gaza death toll rising and entire families obliterated as Israeli forces seek to strike diminishing numbers of Hamas targets, more impassioned appeals for an end to the violence have come from ecclesial and political leaders from around the world.

The Holy Spirit "writes in our hearts before all else the commandment of love that the Lord has made the center and summit of everything,” the pope said.

The war in Gaza has become one in which “the heart-rending price is being paid by children, the elderly and the sick.” Israel, along with its allies, especially including the United States, must reckon that cost as well.

In processing the extent of the suffering, it is helpful to recall the foundational principle of our Catholic social teaching—that everyone possesses inherent dignity and the God-given right not just to survive, but to live well.