Monday’s funeral mourning the death and celebrating the life of Michael Brown represents a profound chance for the Ferguson community and the nation at large to begin the healing process and to move forward from the horrific events surrounding the August 11th killing of the unarmed teenager. The role of faith in this national healing process is crucial. Our legal processes and political solutions can give some answers and provide some solace, but these alone cannot heal our people and allow our nation to move forward.
Faith teaches us how important it is to encounter the suffering of others. In the Bible, the first two questions that God addresses to humanity are: “where are you?” and “where is your brother?” Today God asks the same of us. We must seek out and find our brothers and sisters in Ferguson. Though we can never completely grasp it, we must encounter their suffering. We must listen to their stories. And we must try to share in their pain. Pope Francis says this “culture of encounter” will even give us the ability to weep with those who suffer.
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