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June 21, 2017
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
By now I am sure you are very much aware of the fact that St. Hyacinth is on the picket schedule of the Westboro Baptist Church for Sunday, June 25th.
We do not know any logical reason as to why the Westboro Baptist Church chose St. Hyacinth and the surrounding area Churches as a place to protest. The most important thing is not why they chose us, but how we should act in response to their presence.
I believe that we should respond in a wise, godly way and loving, Christ-like manner to hateful protestors. I do not want the people of St. Hyacinth and the community of Deer Park to react in an angry way, with a feeling of defensiveness or victimization; instead, I want us to exemplify the love of Jesus Christ. We are privileged to have presented to us the opportunity to show others, including the protestors and everyone else, the way that Jesus’ followers respond to hatefulness.
Some (not all) of the steps that we have taken and will take are as follows:- Mobilize the parishioners of St. Hyacinth to pray especially for our parish and the Deer Park community on June 25th.
- Encourage our members NOT to confront the protestors or engage in any conversation but rather to ignore them and stay considerably away from them.
- Encourage our members NOT to meet or congregate on the campus of St Hyacinth to counter protest in response to the Westboro Baptist Church Protest.
- Utilize the Deer Park Police Department to maintain the distance between the protestors and our parishioners.
I pray that how we respond to this circumstance fully reflects what we believe.- We believe that we serve a mighty God. I pray, therefore, that we will be present in record numbers in attendance on June 25th instead of staying away due to some unfounded fear.
- We believe that prayer is always important and we are encouraging all parishioners of St. Hyacinth on Sunday, June 25th, to spend 40 minutes in prayer to pray especially for our parish and the Deer Park Community.
- We believe that Jesus instructs us to love everyone; as a result, we should not act like those who poorly reflect upon God. In contrast, we will love even those who act as if they are our enemies.
- We believe that Jesus holds us accountable for our words.
On Sunday June 25th , we all can all be on our way to be the great Saints that God has called us to be. Please join me in praying for our parish and our community.
God Bless,
Fr. Reginald Samuels