- June 25, 2020 Social Justice
by Sister Jeanne Janssen
On the evening of Juneteenth, Kansas City sisters and associates
joined our co-workers, neighbors, and parishioners along with hundreds
of others to stand in prayer on the east side of the 10-mile-long Troost
Boulevard. Organized by religious leaders in the community, the goal of
the event was to use the city’s racial dividing line to bring unity and
racial healing through a human prayer chain.
In respectful distance and a generally quiet atmosphere, people used rosary beads and prayer beads, songs, silence, gestures, and shared prayers to pray for racial healing. We wrote words symbolizing what we were praying for and about across our masks. Thus, the words “equality,” “justice,” “hope” and “unity” were seen—but also “hurt,” “forgiveness,” and “reconciliation.”
The invitation to the event reads, “We are a city divided by a street running from north to south, a street that has chained us to injustice. It’s a street that has grown into a wall, a border of fear that keeps us apart. It’s time to make our voices heard in heaven. It’s time for the faith community in Kansas City to take a stand. Let’s turn this place of pain into a place of prayer.”
Sister Ann Landers reflected: “Personally, I did visit, and I did stay quiet and it was all in a prayerful context which again showed me that there are many ways to be prayerful. Hearing and seeing the visible affirmation of solidarity from those driving by was so very touching to me.”
Sister Marie Joan Harris commented: “The noise made it difficult for me to pray until I realized that each passing car held the lives of Spirit-filled people being God’s presence now ... Drivers and passengers gave the peace sign, held up fists in solidarity, hung out of windows calling ‘right on,’ stood up through sun roofs taking pictures ... I was so grateful to be part of this and only pray that laws and behaviors will change.”
We were there to witness to our conviction that prayer is surely one of the most powerful bridges over a dividing line.