By Father William J. Byron SJ | Catholic News Service

Recent weeks have brought violence and senseless killings to this nation; I am thinking in particular of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Dallas. It intrigues me that the Dallas assassin bore the names Micah and Xavier.

What were his parents thinking when they gave those names to their infant son? Did Micah Xavier Johnson ever read the Book of Micah? Did he ever learn anything about St. Francis Xavier?

I was asked to deliver the invocation at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on the evening of July 27. I chose to lace the words of both the prophet Micah and St. Francis Xavier into that invocation because our nation stands in need of an interpretative framework through which to process our present thoughts and plans for building unity and establishing peace in our times.

God, of course, is the creator and ruler of the universe. God cannot be anything but interested in the decisions we as a nation decide now to make about governance in the immediate future. And God cannot be anything but faithful to us.

So, mindful that God holds our destiny in his hands, it makes a lot of sense to turn to him for guidance. Life is God's gift to us; what we do with our lives is our gift to God. Our decisions are important.

As we look to the future of our nation, we pray for the elimination of hatred and violence from our lives. And we need protection too from confusion. So the words of St. Francis Xavier are just right for us at the present time: "In you, O Lord, have I put my hope. Let me never be confounded."

And the prophet Micah quite literally enables us to listen now to words God has spoken to us: "You have been told, O mortal, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: Only to do justice and to love goodness and to walk humbly with your God" (Mi 6:8).

Without faith, as we know, Scripture is an unlighted torch. But with faith, these words from Micah provide light for our path into an unknown future.

We simply have to decide now to work unceasingly for justice. We have to set our minds on the knowledge of what is good and seek it without fail. And we have to restore a good name to humility and let it put us on the path, with the Lord, to walk into a future full of hope.

It is idea time in America. Big ideas are needed.

They have to find their way into laws, policies and programs that will bring this nation together in unity and thus enable our nation to meet its responsibilities of helping a tired world, suffering now from so much poverty and violence, make its way toward peace and prosperity.

Micah and Xavier can help us find our way.

Jesuit Father William J. Byron is university professor of business and society at St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia. Email: [email protected].