Day of Prayer for Peace in Our Communities

Race relations in the United States have reached a new low according to recent surveys. New York Times/CBS News and Washington Post-ABC News polls conducted in July confirmed that a majority of U.S. Citizens believe race relations are bad and are getting worse. Though most people agree that there is a high level of racial discontent, there is no consensus on what to do about it.

That’s one reason the U.S. Bishops have created a task force to promote peace and healing. This task force, led by our own Archbishop Wilton Gregory, will look at ways the bishops can address the issues that underlie racial tensions by listening to the concerns of members in troubled communities and law enforcement, and building strong relationships to help prevent and resolve conflicts. As the chair of the U.S. Bishops, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz said, "I have stressed the need to look toward additional ways of nurturing an open, honest and civil dialogue on issues of race relations, restorative justice, mental health, economic opportunity, and addressing the question of pervasive gun violence.”

Dialogue is only one part of the task. Another is prayer. The bishops have designated this Friday, September 9, as a Day of Prayer for Peace in Our Communities. September 9 is the Feast of St. Peter Claver, a Jesuit priest and missionary, who was born in 1581 in Catalonia, Spain. Claver left his homeland in 1610 to become a missionary in the port city of Cartagena (now in Colombia), which was a center of the slave trade. Thousands of slaves from West Africa crossed the Atlantic every year in ships that were filthy and disease-ridden. Claver would meet the ships, eager to offer food, medicine, and spiritual support. In his 40 years in Cartagena, it is estimated that he catechized and baptized some 300,000 slaves. At a time when the slaves were treated like animals, Claver saw them as his brothers and sisters and encouraged others to do the same. Claver is the patron saint of slaves, the Republic of Colombia, and ministry to African Americans. His work continues through the Knights of Peter Claver, (the largest African-American Catholic Fraternal Organization in the United States), the Apostleship of the Sea, (a Catholic charity that supports seafarers worldwide), and through the various parishes and schools that bear his name. By having the Day of Prayer for Peace in Our Communities on the Feast of St. Peter Claver, it is hoped that his mission—to work for justice and to embrace the outcast, continues through us.

This Friday evening, September 9, at 7:00pm, the community of St. Thomas Aquinas will gather, dialogue and pray for peace and for the humility and the courage to imitate the example of St. Peter Claver.