A month after fatal arrest in Memphis, St. Augustine and St. Monica Parish assures Tennessee community of Detroit's prayers
DETROIT — Msgr. Daniel Trapp led a prayerful — and admittedly exhausted — congregation during a Mass on Feb. 3 at St. Augustine and St. Monica Parish in Detroit, praying for Tyre Nichols and the people of Memphis.
Nichols was beaten to death by five now-former members of the Memphis Police Department after a violent confrontation following a traffic stop Jan. 7, succumbing three days later to injuries he sustained during his arrest. The five officers have been charged with second-degree murder.
Along with other members of its Family of Parishes, the St. Augustine and St. Monica community came together for a Mass of Justice and Peace, praying for God to comfort the Nichols family, for calm in the Memphis community — which has been rocked by the fallout of the incident — and for a country that continues to be embroiled in controversy surrounding policing and the Black community.
“We are here to pray, to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for Tyre Nichols and his family, but will also be sending cards to his family and families of the police officers and the churches around the area where Tyre Nichols was killed,” Msgr. Trapp said in his homily.
Msgr. Trapp said it's important for the Christian community to be the presence of Christ in the world, a world that desperately needs to see the image of its Creator in every man, woman and child, Msgr. Trapp said.
“I know not all of us looked at the video or listened to the audio, but it took me a long time to figure out what I was seeing,” Msgr. Trapp said. “It didn’t take me long for me to see what I was not seeing. For me, this is the most important reason why we are getting together tonight. What I was not seeing was the presence of Jesus in the officers.”
Along with praying, Msgr. Trapp said the parish plans to send cards and pictures of the Mass to the families and community affected by Nichols' death.
Beyond praying and sending cards, Msgr. Trapp said the parish can bring together those from different backgrounds to communicate and understand the strife that is causing harm in the local community.
Msgr. Trapp noted how St. Augustine and St. Monica, along with other parishes in the Renaissance 2 Family of Parishes (Nativity of Our Lord, Sacred Heart, St. Charles Borromeo and St. Elizabeth), already brings together diverse groups for Bible studies, faith sharing and community partnerships — 10 in total across the Family of Parishes — but more needs to be done in encouraging individuals to unite with one another in Christ.
“In these small groups, we learn how to follow Jesus, how to discern his voice,” Msgr. Trapp said. “If you have been following the Holy Father’s visit to Africa (last week), he’s given a strong message of peace and reconciliation and forgiveness. But as I watch these communities, I see the message of Jesus is already living with them, that message of faith is just shining forth. That is what our country needs, this kind of faith that leads us forward.”
Fr. Norman Thomas, longtime pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, was in the congregation and spoke after Mass, encouraging the faithful to call out injustice when they see it and hold officials in elected office and law enforcement responsible when people's civil rights are violated.
“A change has to come; a terrible, brutal act of violence was committed on Tyre Nichols. Change doesn’t just come by prayer; we need to do things," Fr. Thomas said. "We don’t need many lessons to be tuned in; the lesson is all around us.”
Beyond sending condolence cards to the Nichols family and to the families of the officers charged, St. Augustine and St. Monica Parish is writing letters to be sent to churches in the Memphis area, assuring those communities of Detroit's prayers and solidarity.
“It’s important for the community to gather together and pray for one another, especially in times of turbulence and times of social unrest,” Joseph Jones, a St. Augustine and St. Monica parishioner, told Detroit Catholic. “Prayer is the greatest tool, the greatest weapon we have against social ills. It was important for us to get together to express our love for the Memphis community, the Nichols family and the officers’ families as well.”
The next step, Jones said, is for the parish to reach out beyond its own community, bring in people of different perspectives and opinions to discuss the societal ills that have caused so much suffering across the country.
“Even though there are those who choose to be isolated in their own ideological stance, we still have to open our hearts and pray for them,” Jones said. “Didn’t Jesus tell us to pray for those who despise us, to pray, to love our enemies? Didn’t he tell us to do that? We are not enemies in our communities; we are brothers and sisters. But there are times when evil manifests itself. We need to identify those things, and call them out as they are.”
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