{"id":6656,"date":"2020-06-30T17:30:28","date_gmt":"2020-06-30T21:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.staindy.org\/church\/?p=6656"},"modified":"2020-06-30T17:31:16","modified_gmt":"2020-06-30T21:31:16","slug":"june-26-2020-parish-paves-path-overcome-deep-pain-racism-profound-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.staindy.org\/church\/june-26-2020-parish-paves-path-overcome-deep-pain-racism-profound-faith\/","title":{"rendered":"STA paves a path to help overcome deep pain of racism through a more profound faith"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

June 26, 2020<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Parish paves a path to help overcome deep pain of racism through a more profound faith<\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Patrice Payne, left, Tim Nation, Joseph Smith and Eileen Walthill are some of the members of the Race and Culture Committee at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Indianapolis that has strived to increase diversity in the parish and improve race relations in the community. (Photo by John Shaughnessy)<\/em><\/p>\n

By John Shaughnessy<\/h5>\n

On the road to change regarding race relations in America, Patrice Payne offers one part of the road map needed to get there.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the story of how two families from different cultures and backgrounds came together through their efforts to understand and appreciate their common humanity.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwenty years ago, we moved into a neighborhood that was a mixture of various races, cultures and religions,\u201d says Payne, a member of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Indianapolis who is African-American.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur family was very fortunate to have a family from India move in as our next-door neighbors. I had never had any previous experience with anyone from that culture. As the years progressed, we socialized often and shared meals and music and customs. Our children played together, and we went camping together. We met each other\u2019s extended families.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Related story: Can change lead us from fear to fairness, friendship?<\/a>)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The mother of four added, \u201cOur family approached our relationship with our neighbors with open hearts and minds. We loved learning about each other\u2019s culture. When I learned about Sikhism and found out that some of their tenets were, \u2018belief in one God, and the way to become closer to God is to be of service to each other,\u2019 I was fascinated by the similarities.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though we are no longer neighbors, we still get together several times a year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The closeness and beauty of that relationship has guided Payne as she has helped to lead the Race and Culture Committee at St. Thomas, an effort that started in late 2018 when parish leaders thought their church-and-school community was no longer as diverse and as active in working to improve race relations as it was in the 1970s and \u201880s.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was felt that parishioners and families needed to become more informed and more active in the area of race relations,\u201d Payne says. \u201cIt was hoped that parishioners would then go out and make a difference in their communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 1 1\/2 years later, the committee has created a road map that offers directions for how Catholics and their parishes can work to improve race relations in their community and the country. At a time of riots, peaceful protests, despair, hope, senseless deaths and calls for the need to listen and live together, Payne shares some of the parts of that road map.<\/p>\n

\u201cWork to integrate neighborhoods,\u201d she says. \u201cEducate yourself about the daily struggles of African-Americans. Find ways to make a more just and equitable society. Keep an open mind and heart, and have a desire to change, learn and grow.\u201d (Related: Recommendations offered for improving race relations<\/a>) <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

She includes another direction that\u2019s especially personal to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cDevelop meaningful relationships. Doing so can help lives become fuller and more complete\u2014just like ours did because of our neighbors from India.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listen. learn and share<\/h2>\n

Eileen Walthill is one of the 10 women and the 10 whites who are part of the 17-member committee at St. Thomas.<\/p>\n

Jose Samperio is the only Latino on the committee, which also includes six members who are black.<\/p>\n

Walthill and Samperio have been part of the committee\u2019s efforts to provide parishioners with opportunities to listen, learn and share\u2014including being part of dinners with people from different races and ethnic backgrounds, having discussions of books and movies on the issue of race in America, and inviting speakers to the parish to provide training on improving race relations.<\/p>\n

Samperio and Walthill say they have grown from such experiences, including growing in humility at times.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have learned that there are wonderful humans of all different backgrounds, cultures and social status that have an amazing spirit to help,\u201d Samperio notes. \u201cI have also learned that it is incredibly difficult to decide what actions one should take to channel this helping spirit.<\/p>\n

\u201cMostly, I have learned that effective change is within me\u2014and the actions that I take every day\u2014to make a difference. This country needs Martins [Luther King], Rosas [Parks] and Susans [B. Anthony]. But it also needs everyday people effecting a change within their community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walthill believes that people who are white have to make a commitment to create and support changes that will lead to equality in jobs, education and healthcare for people who are black.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things I have learned about race in our country is the lack of interest, support and will of white people to actually walk alongside black people and do the work needed to change the systemic racism in this country,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2014whites\u2014must be willing to educate ourselves on the inequality in our country, to accept that we created the issues in our country and then fight for change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Walthill and Samperio believe their Catholic faith has an important part in helping work toward the committee\u2019s goal, \u201cThat They All May Be One.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a white female who often does not have patience for my faith to catch up with my actions,\u201d Walthill says.\u00a0\u201cYet, I realize if I don\u2019t have my faith front and center in my life then I react to situations in a very frustrated and angry way.\u00a0Which usually gets a very negative result.\u201d<\/p>\n

Samperio says, \u201cWe need to continue to have faith in the better angels of our nature. I fundamentally believe in the good spirit of human beings. We need to channel the love for positive action and accept that we can be wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

A deep pain, a deeper faith<\/h2>\n

At 78, Joseph Smith is one of the six black people on the St. Thomas committee. He has seen more of life than the others, more of the struggles and inequalities that black people face in America.<\/p>\n

He has also felt the devastating pain that comes when people who share the same Catholic faith don\u2019t live that faith toward others. It\u2019s a feeling he learned early, as a child.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have had to bend and twist and turn every day of my life to exist in this world,\u201d Smith says. \u201cI have learned that from the first day I entered Holy Angels School as one of the\u00a0first African-Americans to walk into that previously\u00a0all-white Catholic school\u00a0in 1949.<\/p>\n

\u201cI looked for Christ, and I did not see him when we sang songs such as \u2018Ole Black Joe,\u2019 and the class turned to me and laughed at me. But being in America, I had to accept that humiliation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was my pain of being\u00a0a student in a Catholic school in America in the \u201840s. The integration\u00a0of\u00a0my church\/school did not remove racism in the \u201840s. And not a lot has advanced toward removing that deep, settled effect of racism.\u201d<\/p>\n

While that pain is settled deep in him, he has also stayed deeply committed to his Catholic faith through the years. His passion to work for change hasn\u2019t wavered either.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis parish really wishes to overcome the obstacles\u00a0of racism\u2014and tackle the root causes,\u201d he says. \u201cWe realize that there is a need for reconciliation, and we can begin to reach out to listen and lead. Our faith is strong, and we\u00a0truly\u00a0seek methods and approaches to educate our fellow parishioners with passion, with material such as books, films and workshops. And honest dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n

That honesty sears through in his effort to help white people understand what black people have to endure.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were born in a nation which identifies\u00a0humans by the pigments of their\u00a0skin.\u00a0And this is so ingrained in all of us that we do not know it.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo white brother of mine can truly comprehend what it feels like to be wrapped\u00a0in my skin. Why, you may ask? Because you, my brother, do not have to. It is something I have lived with for nearly 80 years now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith believes that all Catholics, all people have a part and a responsibility to end racism.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere must be an ability\u00a0to open up our own heart and head to the facts of racism,\u201d he says. \u201cAdmit that there is racism, and combat it together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Working to change hearts and minds<\/h2>\n

Payne shares that same belief.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have learned that it takes everyone working together on the issue of race,\u201d she says. \u201cEach person has wisdom and knowledge to share. If we don\u2019t listen with intentionality and compassion, plans and activities won\u2019t be as successful. You need as many voices as possible that represent all entities of the population.\u201d<\/p>\n

On an individual level, she says that working toward ending racism involves \u201ca lifetime of learning, reading, listening and doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

That approach continues to be imperative in the wake of recent events, she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs events within the last weeks have unfolded, many of our hopes have been doused,\u201d Payne says. \u201cBut hope springs eternal. After a period of time for grieving, members started to develop plans to lead our parish into next steps.\u201d<\/p>\n

A virtual prayer service was set up in early June for the parish to \u201cpray for and lament\u201d the loss of black lives at the hands of police officers. She says future plans include a proposed meeting \u201cfor police and civilians to calmly discuss ways to make changes, followed by prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all guided by a commitment to keep their Catholic faith at the core of everything they do.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave faith that \u2018God has this,\u2019 and that the Holy Spirit is moving within people now to make a change of hearts and minds,\u201d Payne says. \u201cPray without ceasing. Read the Bible, especially the Acts of the Apostles, and notice how the Holy Spirit touched the disciples to boldly proclaim the Word of God and live together in community.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinally, ask God to show you what actions to take, so that all may be one.\u201d \u2020<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

June 26, 2020 Parish paves a path to help overcome deep pain of racism through a more profound faith Patrice Payne, left, Tim Nation, Joseph Smith and Eileen Walthill are some of the members of the Race and Culture Committee at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Indianapolis that has strived to increase diversity in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6657,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.staindy.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.staindy.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.staindy.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.staindy.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.staindy.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6656"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.staindy.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6659,"href":"https:\/\/www.staindy.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6656\/revisions\/6659"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.staindy.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.staindy.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.staindy.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.staindy.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}