The Mission of the Society of Mary, the Mission of Marist School and the Shootings in Charleston

One of the core values of the Society of Mary is that of mercy. This core Marist value actually captures the heart of what the Society of Mary is all about, why it was called into being in the first place by God through Mary and why it is still relevant and urgently needed in our world. In short, mercy relates directly to the mission of the Society of Mary and, as such, to the mission of Marist School.

I should add that when we Marists use the expression, “Marist value”, we do not mean that a particular value is unique to the Society of Mary or that we Marists discovered it.  What we do mean is that a particular value, such as mercy, has been discerned to be constitutive of who we are or, perhaps more accurately, of who we strive to become. We have identified twelve such Marist values as capturing the best of what we are supposed to be. I suppose that if we could prioritize the Marist values or place them in a kind of hierarchy, mercy would be at the top of the list.

And this brings me to the shootings at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. that claimed nine victims. A twenty-one year old white supremacist, Dylann Roof, judged a whole race of African Americans as not being worthy of dignity and respect and, consequently, worthy of being eliminated on the sole basis that their color was not the same as his.

At his bond hearing, he was forced to listen to the family members of the nine victims he had murdered as they struggled to put into words the depths of their pain and the profound sense of loss they now must embrace in light of his actions. He had become in the eyes of the world what they had been in his: worthless, whose very existence posed a real threat and one whom many would say deserved the same sentence he pronounced on his victims: death. Instead, with tears streaming down their cheeks, they told him that they loved him and that they forgave him while they still sought justice.

Where most people would exclude him from any chance of redemption, this African-American community exercised divine mercy and embraced him in the very love and forgiveness that he denied them. By so doing, they paid what for some would be a heavy price: that of refusing to give in to their own desire for revenge by putting a hold on their feelings that would counsel otherwise. This is what it cost to redeem him. This is what they paid to buy him back from the despair that could very well cost him his own life as it did Judas when the impact of his actions eventually exacted its price for his complicity.

Jesus himself associated with those whom the social mores of his day dictated should be shunned and excluded and he was criticized extensively and brutally for doing so. Though they were sinners, the divine mercy that Jesus came to unleash in the world locked in on them and sought them out with the precision and force of a cruise missile.

The response of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopalian community is an example of the divine mercy at work. When Jesus ascended into heaven, at the same time he also disappeared into the Church. We should not be surprised, then, when a community of believers such as the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, baptized into and animated by the very Spirit of the Risen Christ, behaves like him and locks on to this man’s need for divine mercy, whether he acknowledges it or not, and aims their love and forgiveness towards him with the directness and force of a cruise missile seeking to break into a heart that was as hardened by hatred as any protected bunker.

Fr. Jean-Claude Colin wanted the Marists to be instruments of divine mercy. The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopalian Church’s response to the horrific violence and evil done to them is a powerful example of how the Society of Mary understands itself and the gift it brings to the world. Remember, I said earlier that what we name as being a Marist value does not mean we discovered it or that it is unique to us or belongs only to us. We are pleased to see it at work through the aegis of other believers because they serve as a mirror. When we look at them, we Marists see ourselves and are reminded as to who we are and what we are to be about. And sometimes we must humbly admit that others do it better than we do ourselves.

When onlookers see how the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal community of faith responds with mercy, many find themselves bewildered and astounded. Some may applaud this response while admitting they have a long way to go before they could be merciful to anyone who would do such a heinous crime to them or to someone they love. They might admit that this is the path they should trod even if they admit to being paralyzed when contemplating taking the first step. Such were the sentiments shared by Jonah Goldberg, a correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, who, after witnessing this extraordinary outpouring of forgiveness, wrote, “Not being a Christian, I can only marvel at the dignity and courage of the victims' relatives who forgave the shooter. If I could ever manage such a thing, it would probably take me decades. It took them little more than a day." (“In the South, grace and dignity after the Charleston church shootings,” Opinion/Op-Ed, Los Angeles Times, June 23, 2015)

Yet, this response is very much in keeping with the prophet Ezekiel, himself no stranger to suffering at the hands of those who wished him evil. He captured the divine perspective on this matter when he said, “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?” declares the Sovereign LORD. “Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?” (Ez. 18:23) And, of course, Jesus took on the penalty for sin which is death for our sakes so that we might not suffer this consequence but live and not just any old life but a new life of repentance and conversion.