As part of her Lenten observance this season, Rev. Barb has set aside Thursdays from noon to 1 p.m. to fast for an end to gun violence, pray for those who have died or been injured in our community, and write a brief reflection on the issue. You are invited to join your prayer to hers each Thursday at noon by lifting your own prayer for an end to gun violence in our community and nation. An updated list of all those who have died or been injured by gun violence in Philadelphia can be found here.
Join me in praying for the victims of gun violence in Philadelphia where this week six died and 33 were injured. between March 14 and March 20. [1]
O God our Vindicator, come speedily to our help. Receive the souls of
the 44 year old man on N 66TH ST,
the 38 year old man on an unknown street,
the 37 year old man on BRIDGE ST,
the 54 year old man on E MADISON ST,
the 27 year old man on LEIPER ST,
the 19 year old man on WHARTON ST.
Receive your children into the arms of your mercy, and deliver their assailants to justice, that your holy Law may be served, and your peace renewed; through Jesus our Savior. Amen.
For survivors of violence:
Holy one, you do not distance yourself from the pain of your people, but in Jesus bear that pain with us and bless all who suffer at others’ hands. Hallow our flesh and all creation; with your cleansing love bring healing and strength to the …
the 36 year old man on W SOMERSET ST,
the 22 year old man on W SOMERSET ST,
the 30 year old woman on PASSMORE ST,
the 21 year old man on ELLA ST,
the 40 year old woman on WAYNE AVE,
the 21 year old man on S 60TH ST,
the 45 year old man on LANSDOWNE AVE,
the 16 year old teen boy on N FRAZIER ST,
the 13 year old teen boy on N FRAZIER ST,
the 16 year old teen boy on N FRAZIER ST,
the 29 year old man on N BROAD ST,
the 47 year old man on N 63RD ST,
the 28 year old man on W CLAPIER ST,
the 33 year old man on LANCASTER AVE,
the 47 year old man on DIAMOND ST,
the 21 year old woman on DIAMOND ST,
the 20 year old woman on DIAMOND ST,
the 15 year old teen boy on HARLAN ST,
the 28 year old man on N 40TH ST,
the 21 year old man on N 40TH ST,
the 23 year old man on N 40TH ST,
The man on S 17TH ST whose age is unknown,
The 40 year old woman on REINHARD ST,
the 30 year old man on W CAMBRIA ST,
the 16 year old teenage boy on JEFFERSON ST,
the 18 year old man on JEFFERSON ST,
the 30 year old woman on LEIPER ST,
the 31 year old man on LEIPER ST,
the 20 year old man on WALTON AVE,
the 32 year old man on WALTON AVE,
the 31 year old man on DICKENS AVE,
the 43 year old man on N ORKNEY ST,
the 38 year old man on N BROAD ST,
and the 20 year old man on N CARLISLE ST.
How do you prepare the names of the dead and the injured for a litany? I change the words male and female to man and woman. I add teen or child when they are under age 18. But to be truthful, many of those on the list are so young as to still be children, especially in the eyes of their elders.
I notice today how many were struck in groups of two or more, and imagine gatherings of acquaintances, or friends, or kids walking home from school, or people sitting together on a porch. There isn’t strength in numbers here, but increased vulnerability, a larger target. And while parents keep their children inside as much as possible, you have to leave the bunker sometime to go to school, or to the store, or to the hospital. And bullets still penetrate windows and walls. There’s no hiding place down here, in these neighborhoods especially.
And that makes me wonder where the hiding places are, and who is tucked safely inside them, such that they don’t have to think of these streets or neighborhoods. There are places so safe where the people hiding there don’t have to examine their own connection to the dead and the injured. They don’t have to think about how the people they elect can hide from the responsibility of crafting legislation that might limit the flow of guns into our community. They don’t have to think about how they benefit from the culture and industry in the city, while ignoring the impoverishing effects of tax breaks and gentrification and white flight to the suburbs. Others hide in public office, and in the gun lobby and the industry it protects.
There are plenty of hiding places down here, and plenty of people barricaded inside them who have closed the door to real and doable change. But how safe should they be really, from the consequences that wait for them on the other side? And how safe are we?
[1] The prayers can be found in Ministry with the Sick, Church Publishing Inc, 2005. The data on those who died and were injured in Philadelphia are released weekly by the city Office of the Controller at Interactive: Mapping Philadelphia's Gun Violence Crisis - Office of the Controller.