Pray for victims, youth today and McVeigh

By SISTER MARGUERITE TIERNEY, CSJ

We are forever connected and in touch. Living alone now, I long for such community today. Sister Anne Leonard, who was superintendent of Catholic Schools in Oklahoma City, is still in my life. Looking back, I feel certain that my work and community with her and her staff have some part in my love for what I do every day here.

I teach in a private Catholic high school in one of the wealthiest communities in the United States. Every day, as I dialogue with students about their lives, I recall the surprise, even disbelief, that such a hateful crime could happen in Oklahoma City.

I revisit my own feelings while I was there. My life was changed there. Each time I hear of another act of violence in this same kind of community, and hear that same surprise and disbelief, I am sadly aware that the lessons I had hoped we might learn from the bombing were not learned.

I may be the only person in the world who thinks this, but I believe that school violence is very much connected with the Oklahoma City experience. We have not learned. I allow my experience to be that "place" out of which I teach and am taught by young women who come from the same kind of families as Tim McVeigh and many of the victims.

I am different since Oklahoma City. I stood with people who experienced the sin of the world, evil and hell. They do not leave me, so I reverence them in my teaching.

Another big part of my connection is Timothy McVeigh. I have prayed for him as often as I have for the many families left behind. When I watched the television interview with the two writers who interviewed him, it was like reexperiencing the entire six months again. He planned it, he did it -- and he is glad!

A ninth grade student asked me where I thought he would go after he is executed. Because my novice director told me that I need always to remind my students of God's mercy, I did that. And it was another moment to share the truth about God's plan and our freedom.

I am just mildly discouraged that we did not take the matter seriously enough. Since I live in Michigan, I hear and read about the militia all of the time. I do not want Timothy McVeigh to receive the death penalty any more than I want anyone to. Alive, he might feel the grace of his Baptism and Confirmation; he, too, might open up to the grace of God and begin to feel some remorse. As for the young women I teach, who have more of the world's goods than most, they are very needy when it comes to knowing God and feeling a connection. The good news is they are very generous, and the school provides many opportunities for them to share. They are most generous with material goods and time.

My greatest fear for them is the pressure they feel to be perfect. Therein lies their militant leaning. While I feel safe with them, I often wonder how much pressure it would take for them to harm themselves.

(05-10-01) [[In-content Ad]]