St. Paul urged us to hold on to whatever was true, honorable, and just (Phil 4:8). Bartolomé de las Casas heard the preaching or Fray Antonio Montesinos OP about the evils of the Encomienda system and gave up his own encomiendo and slaves to become a Dominican friar and spent his life working to free the indigenous people of the Americas and develop and helping to develop what became the foundation of international law so that all people could be free. We owe it to God to relearn our own history to see what still needs to be done.
00:00 - Welcome and greetings.
00:03 - Introduction and setting the context.
00:12 - Reflection on the author's interest in history and recent reading.
00:22 - Mention of the book "America America" by Greg Grandin.
00:33 - Highlights about Bartolome de Las Casas and his sermon.
00:49 - Las Casas's stand against the encomienda system.
01:11 - The Dominican influence on human rights and international law.
01:26 - Connection to U.S. Independence and the message from Philippians.
02:00 - Call to learn and thoughtfully understand our history.