Get Involved & Be Present

Last weekend, June 6-7, I had two opportunities to get involved and be present at rallies, i.e. “protests,” for racial justice, and against police and societal violence and racism. I watched peaceful young people speak on Saturday, June 6, in front of the police station. A high school student, a teacher from Milwaukee who was also a man of faith, a young white mother, and others spoke with passion about their desire for change. Notably, they did not speak against anybody. They spoke positively about their hopes for themselves, for others, especially racial minorities, and for the next generation. While I was there, Police Chief Andrew Smith quietly greeted me. He did not want to distract from the moment and withdrew to the station entrance. I walked with the group back to City Hall with another parishioner, a white man, who hoped for change, too.

Then on Sunday, June 7, in the midst of distributing Communion around 12:45 p.m., I heard the shouts of the marching crowd that passed our parish on Jefferson Street. When I finished praying with the group of communicants, I walked to the Jefferson St. side of the parking lot and went to one knee as the crowd moved past. They moved fast, I thought, and many called out to me saying: “Thanks for being here, Father,” and shouting “Black Lives Matter!” and other slogans. I replied to as many as I could with, “Peace, God is blessing us.” I remained on my knee until the last two women passed with their signs, some distance behind the main group. They, too, thanked me as I offered “peace.”

Being present and standing with the young people on Saturday, and kneeling as the crowd passed on Sunday, felt Eucharistic. If unity, peace, and reconciliation are the effects of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, then that is what I wanted to convey and to experience. I would say Eucharist happened on the streets of Green Bay this weekend. The Body of Christ
was visible.

Peace, Fr. Andy