I am walking through a so-called “changing” neighborhood and my eye catches a block-printed sign from inside a ranch house window: NOT MY SON.
A jolt goes through me in the split-second of “Oh, I know what this means.”
A glimpse into the window and the face and voice of the wringing heart-worry of every African American mother when her post-adolescent son leaves the safety of her home.
The heart anguish realized now in the mother of Ahmaud Arbery.
The pandemic has magnified the truth that race and class inequality is our country’s bondage. What does this mean for a healing ministry?
Imagine a sign inside the window of a house in Niederbrönn, France where Blessed Alphonse Maria and her Sisters lived. Might it have read YES, GOD’S SON.
The soul of the Community glimpsed through that window of Blessed Alphonse Maria praying before the Crucified Redeemer, uniting all suffering, all inequality, with his suffering, redeemed and restored.
In our Redeemer Spirituality, God’s love is described as a movement from captivity to freedom.
When people suffering inequality of race and class come to us, will they be freer because of our welcome, sensitivity, compassion, non-judgmental acceptance, and unconditional love?
The sign: YES, GOD’S SON.
– Fr. Joe Driscoll
Please note: This issue of Everyday Redeeming Love was written prior to the acts of racism that have occurred this week in our country including George Floyd’s killing.