Sisters Monica McKenna and Violet Belair were visiting the Mother House when the Covid-19 restrictions around travel came into effect. Consequently, their visit was extended ... for a few months! May 31st was not only the Feast of the Visitation and Pentecost, but it was also Sister Violet's 90th birthday...
Racism and discrimination in any form cannot be tolerated. At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is taking its toll on society, we cannot forget that a more insidious evil has been eating away at us for too long. Racism and all forms of exclusion cause irreparable harm to all of humanity. Racism feeds on fear and ignorance, it divides instead of unites, it isolates when, in order to survive, humans need one another.
The priest was a former business man who had owned and operated a construction company with his brother. During the unrest following the murder of George Floyd last week, work was being done on the large inner city church of which the priest was pastor. His brother had to bring in a crane with a lift for the work. Since the equipment was already on site, both brothers, with hard hats and strapped in for safety, went up ninety feet to the top of the church. From that viewpoint they were immediately in front of the statue of Mary, to whom the church is dedicated. Their view of the city was all-encompassing. They began praying the rosary for the city suffering from the pandemic of the coronavirus in bodies and the pandemic of racism in souls. They filmed it life stream on Facebook. 2400 others joined them. At the end of the Rosary, the priest blessed the city with Holy Water praying for peace and justice for all.
