This past weekend, while most of us suffered in the coldness of the snow, Father Liam snuggled up to his computer and attended a virtual ‘Centering Prayer Summit’ entitled, Learning to See in the Dark.
It might be a surprise to you to find out but Father and I speak almost every day. No, not always by voice, but we do speak. Sometimes we speak via email or text and sometimes by a telephone call. We speak to problem solve and we give input and we uplift when we are struggling. We vent our anger and our frustration and share our hope for a new tomorrow. It is here where an idea was born!
I survive because of good people like Father Liam. And, coupled with his virtual summit title, I knew we all do the same: we survive by having the strength of others around us. Those who believe like us and love like us and sacrifice like us and still believe – despite what the world may think – that the holy Church is still alive and desperately needed.
The death of Renee Good was overwhelming to me. A mom and not a radical, gunned down by our own government who then lied and disparaged her memory. But the execution of Alex Pretti was a proverbial final straw for me. It cut me deeply and wounded everything I ever thought good about our government and the law enforcement agencies that serve its agenda. I have long struggled with this administration and the power it exercises over many of us. I have long been a vocal advocate against their relentless and dehumanizing tactics against the weakest among us, especially the immigrant and the refugee. However, this most recent and obvious murder by a federal agent was the end I knew we needed to do something.
This is why we decided to honor Black History Month, despite this administrations removal of it from calendars (Note: our calendar has it emblazoned on every day through March 1st!) and museums and even the exhibit examining slavery at the President’s House in Independence National Historical Park right here in Philadelphia, but this time we will couple it with themes of fear and hope, darkness and light, struggle and resilience, and proclaim to the world we are a people of hope and love and no government administration will ever take away what we are. With the help of Father Liam and Dennis Rivera, we have created a liturgy and a voice of hope! We will open our doors and our hearts to others who need a place to share and sit and find balance and strength, too. Together, we will march every week within our hearts and minds right here within our Sanctuary through prayer, voice, word, candle light, scripture and song. Together, we will find hope and learn to see in the darkness until God’s light shines again in abundance.
Join us this February as we lead into Lent together with this special series we will entitle: Hope in the Night: God Still Hears Our Cry, This is the Moment: We can all do something.
Monsignor +Jim