Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: October 04, 2020
Apparently LSU’s first game of the season was such a disappointing loss – for which the pass defense was incredibly unprepared – that few people were eager to read last Sunday morning’s newspaper. Although I thought maybe somebody might mention it after Mass, nobody did: a small item in its second section, reporting damage to some property here on Cathedral Square a few days before.
On Thursday morning, September 24, an alert neighbor discovered that the statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus next to the Parish Office on 4th Street was defaced with vulgar graffiti. It was quickly cleaned and covered over, and I have to thank those members of the office staff and our Knights of Columbus Council for working hard and quickly to get that done.
When we told Bishop Duca, he was quick to note we do not know the mind of the person who acted so hurtfully. For this reason he was sad that it got any publicity at all. He said he didn’t want it to become yet one more thread in the online, hateful conversations that divide Americans especially in these pre-election days. Frankly, I don’t think it was done with political motive: the rude writing included expressions offensive to both black and white peoples, as well as to all persons of faith and civility. It’s a mystery as to why some people feel the urge to destroy things that don’t belong to them, especially if other people prize them.
The bishop insightfully noted that it’s best to take the attention off the graffiti and put it back on the subject of the statue: the meaning of the symbol of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a heart depicted as crowned with thorns, manifesting His love to the world. The Lord’s sacrifice of His life took place in an ugly fashion, via a most horrendous, unjust death on the cross, yet still He forgave those who crucified Him.
So this is what frames our response to the affront of damage to our property: the love we need to show in the face of such an action. Our message is one of radical mercy and forgiveness, for even this is an opportunity to share the distinctively Good News of the Catholic Christian faith. Ironically, just as Christians have always felt grateful for the opportunity to suffer for Jesus’ sake (see the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 5, verse 41, for example), so do we. We will continue to witness to that sacrificial love of the Lord until the end of time.
Oh, one last thing on this subject: if you don’t even know where that statue is, don’t feel bad. It was relegated to perhaps the most out-of-the-way corner of the property over 50 years ago, before Monsignor Stanley Ott became pastor here. Over the years it’s been overgrown in an out-of-control garden, and damaged both accidentally and on purpose; this is at least the second time it’s been graffitied, for instance. Perhaps it was not wise to attempt to place the statue outside there, but our little section of downtown generally has been safe and definitely worth maintaining in an attractive way. We’ll reconsider this.
In the meantime, continue to live your own life of faith in the spirit of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: never return insult with injury, never provoke hatred instead of suggesting peaceful solutions, never make things worse but be willing to suffer injustice and indignity. Such penances accepted or even chosen in reparation for our own sins are hallmarks of virtue, and accepting them in reparation for the sins of others – even sins for which they will not repent – is the most Christ-like of all.
Yours in the spirit of Jesus’ own heart,
Father Paul Counce
