WASHINGTON D.C.

At National Cathedral, Hands Joined in Healing During Memorial Day Observance

L.A. bishop, cross-country travelers bring homily urging violence prevention
By Bob Williams

(Washington, D.C., Sunday, May 26, 2002) ­ Lives lost to violence, whether in the course of military service, terror attacks, or street-gang warfare, are known to God "by name," and best honored by actions of compassion and peacemaking to save lives at similar risk.

This was the message preached today during the principal Memorial Day observance of the Washington National Cathedral, where seven voices from Los Angeles, each informed by experiences of teaching violence prevention in a cross-country mission these past six weeks, were blended in a homily that called listeners to extend "hands in healing" both to soothe and to stop cycles of abuse and aggression.

"Keep your hands held together," Los Angeles Bishop Jon Bruno asked the congregation, having invited its many hundred members to intertwine fingers with one another to feel palpably the sense of cohesion and solidarity that is achieved "in community -- in knowing who we are and to whom we belong."

PHOTO: DONOVAN MARKS

"I wonder what it would be like if all of us in this cathedral knew each other by name," asked Lester Mackenzie, 27, when invited by the bishop to speak during the sermon and to recount highlights of the "Hands in Healing" journey, which has taken Mackenzie and some 12 fellow young adults across more than 4,500 miles from Los Angeles on April 19 through Las Vegas, Laramie, Omaha, Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, New York and Newark, among other sites. At each location the group has facilitated community forums and dialogue on the prevention of domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, hate crimes, misuse of guns, gang activity, elder abuse and terrorism.

Noting that she truthfully had "no idea" of the depth of that love or its power to heal personal circumstances that have beset her life, Warnock called the Hands in Healing travel group a "community of love and strength that has held us up, and through this love we are changing everyone we meet. It is my firm belief that only through love and patience and understanding can we heal this world."

PHOTO: DONOVAN MARKS

PHOTO: DONOVAN MARKS

"Every time we hear our name," added Mackenzie, "God is saying that She loves us."

With God's love comes responsibility, the bishop emphasized throughout the sermon, during which he wove together not only the travelers' vignettes, but perspectives from the day's scripture lessons, both the Genesis account of Creation and the gospel record of Christ's Great Commission. Christians are guided in that responsibility by "God, Creator, Redeemer, and Holy Spirit," said Bruno, pointing to the day's simultaneous significance as Trinity Sunday on the church's calendar. The bishop also noted that today is, interestingly, the 106th anniversary of the founding, in 1896, of the Diocese of Los Angeles. Calling the congregation to reflect upon not only domestic violence waged against women and children but also upon hate crimes perpetrated against victims "because of their race, gender or sexuality," Bruno said that no atrocity should be ignored through indifference or inertia. "When I see my brother or sister put upon, it is my responsibility to respond to make a difference to say "no more."

The Pentagon visit came Friday when Bruno and a delegation of the Hands in Healing travelers were taken on a private tour led by two enlisted servicemen and specially arranged by an aerospace executive, a parishioner of Christ Church in Alexandria, who was on site in the morning hours just before Flight 77 struck the building on Sept. 11. Inside the Pentagon, the Hands in Healing travelers joined in prayers offered by the bishop for all those who lost their lives, including Christopher Newton, who grew up as a parishioner of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Long Beach, Calif., and was aboard the plane that hit the Pentagon after taking off from nearby Dulles International Airport.

The sorrow of the terror attacks was also noted by the travelers as they climbed the National Cathedral's central tower today and noted, while reading the register of the Washington Ringing Society, that the cathedral's great bells were rung half muffled last Sept. 14 for the service of prayer and remembrance at which President Bush and the Rev. Billy Graham addressed the nation.

The same bells were heard this morning as Bishop Bruno offered the blessing to conclude the 11am Eucharist as a visiting ringing society attempted a full peal. While a full peal, a four-hour combination of athletic endurance and mathematical prowess--has been achieved more than 100 times at the National Cathedral, it has been attempted more than 4,000 times, said Greg Rixon, the cathedral's public affairs director, who hosted the Hands in Healing group on site.

The Hands in Healing travelers will continue their journey here tomorrow with a Memorial Day pilgrimage to the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial, a visit that follows their walk last Wednesday through the military cemetery at Gettysburg, Pa. Looking ahead, the travelers will on Tuesday accompany their bishop on a specially arranged visit to the Supreme Court.

Against the Memorial Day backdrop of remembering loved ones killed while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, Luis Garibay Jr. of Los Angeles also took time during today's observance at the cathedral to honor the memory of his two brothers who died in circumstances of gun violence and gang activity. The first traveler called upon by the bishop to speak during today's homily, Garibay, 26, said that he knew instantly, when invited by Bruno to embark on the cross-country trip that he would go. "I said: 'I must go, because my life has been transformed.' "At age 11, I lost my brother Roberto to suicide, and my life began speeding away," Garibay said. "Then a year and a half later my brother Salvador was killed" in a shooting related to gang activity. Subsequent events resulted in Garibay's own arrest and time served under the California Youth Authority, but upon his release he was employed by Bruno, then rector of the Episcopal Church of St. Athanasius and St. Paul, which now forms the heart of the diocese's Cathedral Center, where Garibay still works and serves as the congregation's junior warden.

In addition to the satisfaction that the Hands in Healing trip has allowed him in teaching violence prevention cross-country, Garibay said the trip has helped him to make new strides of personal healing. On the road, he said, "I've discovered my childhood again -- It must be God, God's healing hands."

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