Priest forgives he who trespassed
Scripture scholar Alice Camille points out in Exploring the Word that partaking of the body and blood of Christ is also signing on for the suffering that Christ’s body encounters in the world. A pair of Phoenix priests recently experienced that suffering . . .
Scripture scholar Alice Camille points out in Exploring the Word that partaking of the body and blood of Christ is also signing on for the suffering that Christ’s body encounters in the world. A pair of Phoenix priests recently experienced that suffering in their rectory in the form an intruder who shot and killed one and seriously wounded the other.
Police announced the arrest of Gary Michael Moran, 54, on suspicion of having broken into the Mater Misericordia Mission rectory the night of June 12, attacking Father Joseph Terra and killing Father Kenneth Walker in what appears to have been a burglary gone wrong.
Phoenix Police Chief Daniel V. Garcia described Moran as a “career criminal” who had just completed a five-year prison term in April for a 2005 burglary at a home in which he stabbed the homeowner with a knife. After his release, Garcia said, Moran “immediately went back to business—his business, criminal activity” and lived on the streets, bouncing in and out of homeless shelters.
Terra and Walker's conservative order, the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, was created in 1988 in response to the Second Vatican's council modernization of the liturgy, with the fraternity's priests preferring to celebrate the Mass in its “extraordinary," older Latin form. When asked about the man who is accused of injuring him and of killing Walker, Terra said, “I have forgiven him.”
Since the attack the fraternity's priests have spoken out for spiritual forgiveness, even for the seemingly unforgivable. “There is always forgiveness. It’s important for us to remember the man who committed this act. … We should pray for him,” said fraternity member Father Carl Gismondi. “The hardest part of Catholicism [sic] is to pray for those who persecute us.”
Homily hint: Forgiveness helps us let go of what we can’t change—the hurt that has been done or the evil that has transpired—and focus on what we can work on: healing and moving forward in hope. Is there someone you need to forgive in order to move on in your own life?
Police announced the arrest of Gary Michael Moran, 54, on suspicion of having broken into the Mater Misericordia Mission rectory the night of June 12, attacking Father Joseph Terra and killing Father Kenneth Walker in what appears to have been a burglary gone wrong.
Phoenix Police Chief Daniel V. Garcia described Moran as a “career criminal” who had just completed a five-year prison term in April for a 2005 burglary at a home in which he stabbed the homeowner with a knife. After his release, Garcia said, Moran “immediately went back to business—his business, criminal activity” and lived on the streets, bouncing in and out of homeless shelters.
Terra and Walker's conservative order, the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, was created in 1988 in response to the Second Vatican's council modernization of the liturgy, with the fraternity's priests preferring to celebrate the Mass in its “extraordinary," older Latin form. When asked about the man who is accused of injuring him and of killing Walker, Terra said, “I have forgiven him.”
Since the attack the fraternity's priests have spoken out for spiritual forgiveness, even for the seemingly unforgivable. “There is always forgiveness. It’s important for us to remember the man who committed this act. … We should pray for him,” said fraternity member Father Carl Gismondi. “The hardest part of Catholicism [sic] is to pray for those who persecute us.”
Homily hint: Forgiveness helps us let go of what we can’t change—the hurt that has been done or the evil that has transpired—and focus on what we can work on: healing and moving forward in hope. Is there someone you need to forgive in order to move on in your own life?
Source: An article by Cindy Carcamo and Matt Pearce for the Los Angeles Times