Walking Away From Omelas

Last updated on: August 3, 2025 at 9:52 am by Kate O'Hare

Walking Away From Omelas 2025-08-03T09:52:36-08:00 Kate O'Hare

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

There are some stories that, while not dramatic or grand or full of explosions and people with superpowers, can awaken minds and shatter souls.

St. Francis of Assisi and the Sinful Priest

I’ve told a version of this little story to many people — orthodox Catholics, lapsed Catholics, non-Catholics — and it never fails to get the same wide-eyed, awestruck response. There are few things more powerful than reminding someone of who he or she really is:

A story from the life of St. Francis of Assisi illustrates how the awareness of a priest’s hands can help bring about a deeper purification in the heart. The saint was close to the end of his life, unable to walk and suffering from an eye disease and the stigmata. As he was brought through a region, some people from a nearby town came to ask for his help with their parish priest. They had discovered that their priest was involved in a scandalous relationship with a woman of that town. The saint was brought to the town and placed before the priest in front of everyone. They thought that the saint would upbraid the fallen priest. St. Francis instead fell to his knees, took the priest’s hands into his own stigmatized hands, kissed them and said, “All I know and all I want to know is that these hands give me Jesus.” It was said that the priest was converted.

It’s easy to look away, to pretend not to see things in the world. The priest looked at his hands every day, watched them bring Christ to his people and watched them commit sin. What Francis did was remind him that the consecration and the sin were both things that he did, but that his priestly duties were who he was.

The Scandal and the Cost

As the Planned Parenthood scandal continues to unfold — centered on videos depicting officials of the organization casually discussing the disposition of the vital organs and other body parts of aborted babies — we are reminded that whatever sort of a nation we think we are, this is the nation that we really are.

We’re a nation that has enshrined abortion in law and uses taxpayer dollars to support the major provider of it. As we look down at our hands, what do we see?

And once you’ve seen, you can’t unsee. This is how columnist Ross Douthat begins his latest op-ed in The New York Times:

IN an essay in his 1976 collection, “Mortal Lessons,” the physician Richard Selzer describes a strange suburban scene. People go outside in the morning in his neighborhood, after the garbage trucks have passed, and find “a foreignness upon the pavement,” a softness underfoot.

Looking down, Selzer first thinks he sees oversize baby birds, then rubber baby dolls, until the realization comes that the street is littered with the tiny, naked, all-too-human bodies of aborted fetuses.

Later, the local hospital director speaks to Selzer, trying to impose order on the grisly scene. It was an accident, of course: The tiny corpses were accidentally “mixed up with the other debris” instead of being incinerated or interred. “It is not an everyday occurrence. Once in a lifetime,’ he says.

And Selzer tries to nod along: “Now you see. It is orderly. It is sensible. The world is not mad. This is still a civilized society…

“But just this once, you know it isn’t. You saw, and you know.”

The advantages and pleasures our society offers are sometimes bought at a terrible price, and too often it’s children who pay it. They are victims of not just abortion, but abuse, exploitation, neglect and indifference.

Individuals commit these sins against children, but all of us share in some way in the guilt.

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas

Perhaps no one better encapsulated this concept than author Ursula K. LeGuin, in her 197 short story, “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas.”

I don’t want to tell you anything about it. I just want you to read it. And once you’ve read, I want you to share it.

Click here to find it as a downloadable PDF.

Don’t miss a thing: head over to my other home at CatholicVote and like my Facebook page.

Politics and Religion

Previous Post

July 22, 2015

Archbishop Gomez Welcomes Bishop-Elect Robert Barron to Los Angeles (Video)

Next Post

July 26, 2015 Roma Downey Offers 'Answered Prayers' for TLC

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category books breaking news digital media Faith practice food interview jane the virgin media movies music NFL Pope Francis Showbiz 101 social media sports technology television Uncategorized video

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz