April 10, 2008

This Far By Faith

A New Kingdom for Lester Street

By Most Rev. J. Terry Steib, S.V.D.

Easter has caught most of us by surprise. Even though buds are starting to appear on the trees and the azaleas are showing signs of life and the daffodils are peeking up all over Memphis and across West Tennessee, it is still early to be celebrating Easter. Nonetheless, on Sunday, we will celebrate the Resurrection of Christ and the new life He brings to our world once again.

But the message of new life is perhaps muted because we recognize that the call for new life for the people who were recently killed on Lester Street will not be heard this year. Their families are struggling with the reality of losing six members all at once, and having three members hurt physically and psychologically in ways that we cannot know. The alleged killer is in the custody of the police. And the temptation is for us to be grateful that the police have done their work and go on about our daily lives. But something tragic happened on Lester Street that we cannot ignore. That tragedy causes us all to look to each other to find the root causes and to make a difference in the lives of our people.

Our Church has for many years taught us the importance of solidarity with the "other," whether the "other" is an individual, a number of individuals, a city, or even a nation. We are called by the gospel to be in solidarity with that `other' and particularly when the other is less fortunate than we are or is hurting in some way. There is no doubt that the family of the people on Lester Street is hurting. Therefore we are called by the gospel to be in solidarity with them. That means that somehow we must all realize that our neighbors are not just objects to be exploited. We should not look on our neighbors as marketing targets only, but instead look at them as people who have genuinely human needs. As the people of God in our society, as Catholics, we are called by our gospel commitment to help our neighbors. Every single one of us shares in the banquet of life which God deigns to share with us; Easter time reminds us of that.

Solidarity demands that we recognize that it takes a village to raise a child, as the African saying goes; and it will take a community to come to grips with a crime such as the one that took place on Lester Street.

We all understand the ruthless destruction of human life that took place on Lester Street. We can detest that destruction and the anger in the alleged shooter who caused it. We call it personal sin. But, we are seldom willing to face the fact that we, too, are responsible for what happened on Lester Street. This is the social sin. As Brother Eugene Frank reminds us: "Every sin against the common good and its demands, in the whole broad area of rights and duties of citizens, is … social sin."¹ Could it be that so many of us are bent on living the "American Dream" that we fail to realize that young people in cities of our country have little chance of escaping the situations in which they find themselves and their frustration leads to anger which boils over into using drugs, shooting guns and joining gangs? Could it be that we have come to see violence and abuse and a lack of discipline in parental guidance as normative in our society? Perhaps it is time for us individually and collectively to look at the social dimensions of sin in our world and to recognize that we do bear a responsibility to transform our society. Social sin tells us that there is something going on in our society which does not resemble the Kingdom of God. Someone who is angry, hopped up on drugs, and carrying a gun does not resemble the Kingdom of God. When we contribute even in small ways to that lack of kingdom principles in our world, to that extent we are responsible for what happens in places like Lester Street.

The wonder of Easter is that it helps us to remember again that Jesus came to save all of us. Easter reminds us that the world is transformed by the actions of Jesus. And that means that we, who are the face of Jesus to the world today, have the opportunity to transform our society and rid it of the social sins that seem, at times, to be overwhelming. Let us live in the glory of the Risen Christ! Let us sing Alleluia to the Risen Christ! We know that the world can be transformed because of His Resurrection. And in solidarity with our brothers and sisters, we can be assured that the world will be transformed today because we will follow the Risen Christ into the new kingdom that he promises right here on earth.

Blessed Resurrection!! Happy Easter !!