A Personal Reflection from Fr. Brian:

When I was young, in high school, I would ride to school with my father who worked in downtown Indianapolis. My high school was located in the inner city, fourteen blocks north of the center of the city. It was an all boys Catholic high school located across the street from the Archdiocesan Cathedral, therefore giving it the name, Cathedral High School. It was run by the Holy Cross Brothers from Notre Dame.

I will never forget how, when we would drive from the suburbs through the very poor Black ghettos of the city, my father would tell me to lock my door. I would always ask him why? He would answer, “Just do it!”

So, growing up I saw what the Black ghetto looked like with poor housing, lots of kids, crime, drugs, etc. I wondered why was this? Why did these people have to live like this.

I was between my freshman and sophomore years, in the summer of 1968, when all hell broke loose in America. There were riots in the streets and ghettos ablaze, one not too far from my high school. I can also vividly recall the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis and the assassination of Sen. Robert Kennedy in Los Angeles. It was a scary time!

Take a moment here to view Sen. Robert Kennedy’s speech the day Dr. King was shot (he delivered his speech from the back of a flatbed truck). He had to announce to a mostly black crowd in Indianapolis that Dr. King had been shot and killed earlier that day in Memphis. It is powerful!

Before I was ordained a priest, I spent 21 years as a Brother in my Congregation. Several of those years I had the opportunity to attend the National Religious Brothers Conference. One year it was in Atlanta. During the Conference, we had the opportunity to visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park and Ebenezer Baptist Church, Dr. King’s church. When you stood in that church, you could feel the presence of Dr. King and all he stood for, racial equality and peace among peoples. It was inspiring!

Blessings, pono and pule!

Fr. Brian Guerrini, ss.cc.
Priest
Molokai