St. John Bosco Parish Bulletin Letter for August 13, 2017

There are many joys and blessings I experience as a priest. From baptizing babies to officiating at weddings the Lord has allowed me to share in special moments of grace in the lives of the families  we serve. In the Sacrament of Reconciliation I help reunite a wounded soul with Christ.  Even funerals, as sad as they are, allow me to comfort and reassure people who are passing through a dark time, to let them know that the grave is not the end, that Jesus holds out for us the promise of eternal life. 

But there is one service I and the other Salesians here perform that I find hard to take comfort in, or find joy. It is when we have to offer the funeral rites for a young person killed on the streets of our community. To have to stand by the grave of a 20 or 21 year old, and see the tears of his or her mother, and hear her screams cuts me through my heart. Sometimes the victims are gang members. Sometimes they are friends who get caught in the middle of a dispute. Sometimes, like a young man who I buried out of St. Philomena’s last year, was just walking home from work, targeted for no reason in particular. Being off the street doesn't always insure our safety.  We have all read about children and others who are shot by stray bullets while sitting at home. While we live in one of the safer neighborhoods of Chicago we are not immune from this scourge. I find no comfort in the idea that we do fewer of these types of funerals than other parishes. The bitterness of the tears and the sting of a mother’s cries doesn't allow me that consolation.

I write this sobering message this week, because as we begin our new catechetical year I would like us to reflect a bit as a community. How are we already helping to form our young people to value life? How are we already instilling in them, both at home and in our parish, the values of respect for others and the need to resolve conflicts peacefully? How are showing them that the life of the gangs leads to death, and that there is another way to live? We need to reflect on how we are doing these things now, and how can we do them better in the future.

Cardinal Cupich has recently begun an anti-violence campaign for the archdiocese. Much like we have made great strides in organizing Pro-Life and Pastoral Migratoria initiatives in the parish, we need to join with the Cardinal in his efforts to offer a faith filled response to the problem of street violence we face.  I will be speaking with members of the community about forming a new ant-violence group in the parish. We should not think that this is a South Side problem. I know first hand that it isn't. But united in Christ, I have confidence that we can make a difference, and maybe we can keep one more mother from mourning her child.