Racial Justice / Justicia Racial

Our Parish is Responding to the Call for Racial Justice

In the wake of the death of George Floyd and the unrest that followed, we as a parish committed to confronting our own complicity in systemic racism. Many of you are committed to increasing your awareness of faults in your beliefs and thoughts. Here are some resources to help.

Words from Thomas Merton:

In the midst of the intense struggle for civil rights, Thomas Merton insisted that Christians had a moral duty to address racism—on a personal and systemic level. His words were prophetic at the time and continue to be relevant to this day. In “Seeds of Destruction”, he writes:

The race question cannot be settled without a profound change of heart, a real shake-up and deep reaching metanoia [Greek for repentance or change of mind] on the part of White America. It is not just [a] question of a little more good will and generosity: it is a question of waking up to crying injustices and deep-seated problems which are ingrained in the present setup and which, instead of getting better, are going to get worse.

The purpose of non-violent protest, in its deepest and most spiritual dimensions is then to awaken the conscience of the white people to the awful reality of their injustice and of their sin, so that they will be able to see that the Black problem is really a White problem: that the cancer of injustice and hate which is eating white society and is only partly manifested in racial segregation with all its consequences, is rooted in the heart of the white people themselves.

Prayer for Our Community:

O Great Love, thank you for living and loving in us and through us. May all that we do flow from our deep connection with you and all beings. Help us become a community that vulnerably shares each other’s burdens and the weight of glory. Listen to our hearts’ longings for the healing of our world. [Please add your own intentions.] . . . Knowing you are hearing us better than we are speaking, we offer these prayers in all the holy names of God, amen.

Recommended Books

Racial Justice and the Catholic Church, by Fr. Bryan Massingale
Enfleshing Freedom: Body, Race and Being, by Dr. M. Shawn Copeland
Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God, by Kelly Brown Douglas
The Cross and the Lynching Tree, by James Cone (or anything by James Cone)
The Fire Next Time, by James Baldwin (or anything by James Baldwin)