Newspaper Page Text
The Southern Cross, Page 8 IPsHttln AlEV^o
Thursday, May 18,2000
A multiracial, multiethnic
parish story
All contents copyright ©2000 by CNS
By Andrew Lyke
Catholic News Service
X-Jess than a year after our wed-
ding, Terri and I moved from urban
Chicago to a community in the urban
area’s western suburbs. That was in
1977.
Our townhouse was in a quaint
subdivision of mostly young profes
sionals, with few people of color. And
the Catholic parish in the area seemed
unwelcoming. The parishioners
wouldn’t give us eye contact. When
our eyes met, theirs quickly turned
away, as though they wanted us to be
invisible.
So we traveled 35 miles to an Afri
can-American Catholic parish in Chi
cago where the hospitality was pro
fuse and the welcoming heartfelt. St.
Sabina’s became our church home for
several years.
When our second child was born,
we wanted to move into a community
that had more diversity. Sending our
children to school in what we felt was
a hostile environment was out of the
question. So we selected the south
suburban community where we live
today.
Matteson was known for its racial
diversity. We wouldn’t have to be pio
neers there. When we visited nearby
St. Lawrence O’Toole parish, how
ever, the people again had difficulty
looking us in the eye. So, continuing
our travels to St. Sabina’s was rather
easy.
After a year or so, we happened to
be at a social gathering with the
newly assigned pastor of St. Lawrence
O’Toole. Father James P. Finno was a
very personable man who couldn’t
hide his puzzlement upon discovering
that we lived in the geographic bound
aries of his parish but traveled into
the city for Sunday worship. Our im
pression of him was so favorable that
we decided to give the parish another
try.
On our second visit, we experienced
the same ambivalence as before. How
ever, one woman approached us and
welcomed us to the parish. Her simple
gesture wasn’t enough to change our
impression much. Nevertheless, it did
suggest to us that there might be
some who would welcome our mem
bership.
It was that possibility that opened
our minds and hearts to looking for
something that perhaps wasn’t evi
dent at first glance. Shortly after that
visit, we attended a party at a
parishioner’s home. There we met
many others in the parish and felt
genuine hospitality and welcoming.
Bishop Wilton Gregory, who now is
bishop of Belleville, Ill., but then was
the episcopal vicar of that part of the
Chicago archdiocese, encouraged us to
stay with this parish “because there
are good people there.”
Interestingly enough, when we be
gan to reach out others reached back.
■ ■ m
After 12 years at this parish, we see
clearly in hindsight that what we ex
perienced as unwelcoming was really
uncomfortableness. There’s a differ
ence. Unwelcoming says “we don’t
want you.” Uncomfortableness says,
perhaps, “we don’t know how to relate
to you.”
We have worked through much of
the uncomfortableness by opening
ourselves to the people of the parish —
not by proving we’re just like everyone
else, but rather by sharing the gifts of
our differentness.
As members of this parish we have
made it our personal ministry to
reach out to others and share our “Af-
rican-Americanness.”
Sometimes it is difficult. However,
when I think of the many hearts con
verted, including my own, I know that
I’m in the right place.
Today St. Lawrence O’Toole is a
multiracial, multiethnic family of
faith and fellowship that embraces the
challenges of diversity. We celebrate
our diversity in our summer festivals
where a variety of foods are prepared
and served by different cultural
groups. We celebrate Kwanzaa,
Simbang Gabi, Our Lady of Gua
dalupe and St. Patrick’s Day as par
ish events, not just for persons of the
ethnic cultures those holidays repre
sent.
We still have much more work
ahead of us as a parish. Recently Fa
ther Finno was reassigned elsewhere.
Some still long for the “good old days”
when parish life was simpler and
there were fewer hues in the pews.
God loves them, and so must we.
That’s what Jesus would do.
a ■ m
Racism is a major obstacle to our
Christian community. The U.S.
bishops, for example, issued a state
ment in 1979, “Brothers and Sisters
to Us,” that unequivocally de
nounced racism as a sin. More re
cently the bishops of Illinois issued
a pastoral letter titled “Moving Be
yond Racism: Learning to See With
the Eyes of Christ,” in which they
expressed their “desire to proclaim
the Gospel of Jesus Christ by speak
ing to a grave personal and social
evil: the sin of racism.”
Personal experiences tell me that
racism is very complex, illogical and
difficult to grasp when it’s in your
face. The most effective approach to
this requires time and patience, for it
involves forming relationships — one
at a time — that reshape the culture
of parish life.
What happens then is that our dif
ferences become our treasures.
(Lyke is the coordinator of mar
riage ministry for the Archdiocese of
Chicago.)
FOODFORTHOUGHT
What can parishes offer to people who feel rootless and anonymous — even discriminated against — in modern
urban regions?
The response to that question is critical, Pope John Paul II indicated in a speech May 4, 1999, to bishops from
Canada’s province of Ontario.
The city “provides new opportunities, creates new modes of community, stimulates many forms of solidarity,’’ the
pope said. But, he added, there is a “dark underside of urbanization. ”
“The city promises so much and delivers so little to so many,” the pope commented. People may experience “a
world of great absences” where “the heavens seem closed, and God seems a long way away.”
So parishes must offer these people “a fresh and more profound experience of community in Christ, which is the
only effective and enduring response to a culture of rootlessness, anonymity and inequality,’ the pope said.
He warned that the city’s anonymity “cannot be allowed to enter our eucharistic communities.” Instead, “new
ways and structures must be found to build bridges between peoples so that there really is that experience of mutual
acceptance and closeness that Christian fellowship requires.”
David Gibson
Editor, Faith Alive!
21
We see clearly in hindsight
that what we experienced as
unwelcoming was really
uncomfortableness. There’s
a difference. Unwelcoming
says ‘we don’t want you.’
Uncomfortableness says,
perhaps, ‘we don’t know how
to relate to you. 5 ’ 5
CNS photo by Bill Wittman