Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2009 / Local parish to offer Advent services to 'thugs'
Local parish to offer Advent services to 'thugs'
by Jared Field of The Michigan Catholic
Published November 27, 2009
Detroit - When Fr. Theodore Parker started thinking about how he could celebrate Advent, which begins Nov. 29, differently at St. Cecilia in Detroit this year, he didn't think he would have to quell the fears of his parishioners.
But, how would his so-called "Thug Sundays" strike you upon first reference?
"At first they were kind of taken aback by the term," said Fr. Parker, who recently heard about a special Advent service in Macomb County aimed at personal reconciliation. "But, I explained the fact that we're not asking people to come to church with guns blazing."
Advent for Thugs
During Advent, St. Cecilia Parish in Detroit hosting four “Thug Sundays” with 8:30 a.m. Mass and a community-wide gun buyback:
Saturday, Nov. 28 – The St. Cecilia gun buyback, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., 10400 Stoepel St., Detroit
Sunday, Nov. 29 First Thug Sunday Mass: “Making Room for God in Your Life”
Dec. 6 Second Thug Sunday Mass: “How to Prepare Oneself to Prepare for Jesus”
Dec. 13 Third Thug Sunday Mass: “Choosing to Live in Hope”
Dec. 20 Fourth Thug Sunday Mass: “Be Surprised by Joy” |
The concept is a simple one: Forgiveness and healing is for everyone, for "thugs" and "thugettes" alike.
Fr. Parker said that inner-city communities, like in Detroit, need reconciliation on a very personal level, and that people who are hurting often lash out in desperation.
"Around us there's basically a sense of hopelessness oftentimes," he said. "People don't have jobs. They're angry, angry at their situation ... angry when they're not able to improve their lives.
"It's just this violence that goes on and it has to stop somewhere."
Prior to the four "Thug" Sundays of Advent, St. Cecilia will be sponsoring a community-wide gun buyback program on Saturday. Last spring, when the parish, assisted by police, hosted a similar event, more than 100 guns were taken off the street.
"All these guns do no more than aggravate the problems in the city," said Fr. Parker, a former prison chaplain in New York. "People do resort to guns because of the anger and the emotion of the moment.
"We thought it would be a good way to extend our reach."
Fr. Parker, who also is the pastor at St. Leo in Detroit, says he's witnessed the continued decline of morality in the "hip-hop" culture of the inner city.
"It seems to be a culture that has flat-lined morally," he said. "Basically (the culture) is about what you can get, when you can get it. It's an African-American sort of expression of the general American experience."
Fr. Parker said the Advent services are a way of casting a net into the community, letting people know that there are people who care.
"If you're trying to find God in your life ... we want to welcome you, get to know you and become friends with you," he said.
For more information, contact St. Cecilia Parish at (313) 933-1439.
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