RESPONDING BY TAKING STEPS TO PUT GOD’S LOVE FOR ALL INTO ACTION
BY KIM MCMILLAN, DIRECTOR OF YOUTH MINISTRY
As a response to the death of George
Floyd and the tension and awareness about racism his death illuminated, our parish held an evening of prayer and reflection. During the prayer service we were invited to look into our own hearts to eradicate our own racist ideas. After each person spent time looking into their own heart about where the sin of racism might be present, as a community of faith, we began conversations on Zoom. Each person in the Zoom meetings was invited to listen, empathize and become aware of the inconsistency in the treatment of people of color and called it what it is: racism. Then, St Benedict Parish began an anti-racism ministry whose mission is to help each person recognize their ability to change the culture and create Pathways Toward Peace. During the initial prayer service, Collins Hunter offered thoughts about our value as people of God and led a prayer and reflection to begin our journey toward recognizing the sin of racism within ourselves. Using the Bishops’ document about racism: Open Wide our Hearts, The Enduring Call to Love, we began a journey to become better people. As we read the document together we grew in understanding and began to recognize that we could not just accept racism as a part of our culture, anymore. The group continues to meet via Zoom twice a month. During the conversations we try to listen to each other with empathy and compassion with a desire to grow in knowledge and understanding about racism and its many forms. We have learned much about history, complacency, Saints, inclusion and subliminal racist behavior. As an offshoot of the Pathways toward Peace conversations a group of parents was moved to help other parents and families understand about racism, its presence in our world and its many forms. With the desire to empower parents with the tools to combat racist ideals, the Black Lives Matter: Family Rally for Racial Justice moved from an idea to a reality.
MAY 16, 2020 When planning began for the 2020 Gala, we were excited to be returning to the beautiful space at Rockwell on the River. But that was not to be during the pandemic and we knew the event had to move forward in some capacity. We had 3 weeks to plan, coordinate and pull off something that St. Ben’s had never done before - a virtual Gala.
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Thank you goes to all those that donated to both the silent and live auction, purchased tickets and supported our teachers through teacher tickets...your generosity truly made a difference. We had far fewer auction items to offer this year as a result of the pandemic and ticket sales were able to bridge that gap.
