On a bright morning Feb. 6 in Minneapolis, Jesuit Father Christopher Collins and Bishop Kevin Kenney led a prayer service outside the Diana E. Murphy courthouse for federal judges. About a dozen people attended.
Bishop Kenney, not far from his parish of St. Olaf, shared that Diana Murphy, when alive, was a devout Catholic and a parishioner of St. Olaf. Gathering in the plaza of the courthouse bearing her name, Bishop Kenney said that the United States of America is still one nation under God, despite ideas opposed to this.
Both he and Father Collins, pastor of St. Peter Claver in St. Paul, recognized God’s law during the prayer service. From his Bible, Father Collins read Nehemiah 8:3, which details Ezra bringing the law of God before an assembly of men, women and children old enough to understand. Father Collins reminded everyone that God’s law is a resource still present, one that was given thousands of years ago.
“There’s something about that image of being regathered as a people of God based on what we know,” Father Collins said. “Maybe sometimes we lose it, we get consumed with our own agendas and power plays of different kinds. So, we come again under the law, under the promise of God.”
Bishop Kenney said that the role of a judge can feel isolating. He asked for prayers for wisdom for judges and elected officials. Prayers were offered so that children of immigrant families might heal and be courageous and strong amid increased immigration enforcement actions, as well as prayers for specific people apprehended by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Bishop Kenney offered prayers for “those perhaps we may have a hard time praying for,” he said.
“God does something for us when we step together,” Father Collins said. “When we step together with our neighbors.”
Gatherings such as this, Father Collins said, give people hope. Bishop Kenney agreed.
“We pray to have great hope, to have great confidence that we will maintain who we are as a people of the United States, as people of Minnesota, and that we remain strong in our faith and in our values,” Bishop Kenney said.
