Denver Catholic

8 AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 9, 2016 | DENVER CATHOLIC BY AARON LAMBERT F erguson. Baton Rouge. Charles- ton. Dallas. The list of places where violence has occurred in the U.S. within the last year goes on and on. Right now, people need hope. Each day seems to bring a new headline of a shooting or a killing, and it's easy to become numb to what is occurring around the community, nation and world on a daily basis. As Catholics, we are called to pro- mote justice and uphold the dignity of all people. However, with the narratives the media feeds into, knowing how to approach some of these issues through the lens of the Gospel can be di cult. Still, hope perseveres, be it through prayer or acts of compassion. Cure d'Ars is one example of a local parish that's relying on the power of faith to spread hope throughout the community. Last summer, they began embarking on prayer walks in the local neighbor- hoods, and on Aug. 4, they held a prayer vigil for peace and prayed for an end to the violence that has been occurring locally, nationally and internationally. TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS Skeet Johnson is a cradle Catholic and a longtime parishioner of Cure d'Ars. He is also a former Colorado State public defender of 23 years. John- son retired from his post as a public defender in 2007, but he's kept plenty busy. He helped to facilitate the prayer walks last summer along with several other local churches, and he volunteers as a basketball coach at Smith Elemen- tary, working with kids. "I've seen a lot of stuŒ ," Johnson told Denver Catholic. "I've seen a lot of carnage and wasted potential. I've seen a lot of courage and I've seen evidence of redemption and true contrition and changing even in the face of situations that would require that a person give up a substantial portion of their freedom." As an African American who grew up in the projects of Chicago, Johnson has lived in two diŒ erent worlds. He has seen racism fi rsthand, but has always viewed it through the lens of the Gospel. "There's a lot of circumstances that exist as a consequence of racism, and those circumstances are beyond the personal kind of racism, but are rooted in the institutions. That can, in some way, answer the question of why black and poor people fi nd themselves very close to the same position they were in historically," he said. "But, there comes a time when you have to make a deci- sion as to what kind of person you're going to be, how you're going to deal with your circumstances." Johnson also looks at these issues as a former public defender who dealt with criminals and police on a regular basis. In his career, he saw police o cers who were "about protecting themselves to the exclusion of protecting the com- munity," and he also saw police who "amazed me with the kind of commit- ment they had." Johnson recalled one case he handled where he was defend- ing a man who attacked a police o cer with a knife. "Nowadays, you'd be reading about how many bullets entered his body," he said. "But this one cop did not do that, and he ultimately disarmed the guy. I asked him at the preliminary hearing, 'man, why didn't you [shoot] him?' And he said, 'Skeet, my job is not to take life, my job is to protect life.' That attitude is what it ought to be about." When speaking about the numerous incidents that have occurred around the nation, he said the point isn't how numerous or not they are; the point is how it's breaking down the relationship between the community and the police. "All I can talk about is a mistrust that exists between the police com- munity and the black community," he said. "What is occurring and how it's aŒ ecting other people, in how it's break- ing down the relationships between the community and the folks who are to protect them — that's the issue. Although statistically that may be one situation, that's a situation that's like a cancer that spreads throughout the body politic." Even so, Johnson refuses to let fear stop him from doing what he believes is his God-given duty to love others and make the world a better place. "As a Catholic, my challenge is to break away from my fear and to go out Around the Archdiocese DOO-WOP SHOW THE ULTIMATE As Seen on PBS! 7 ARTISTS Over 200 Million Records Sold! SAT. 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