A woman prays during the memorial Mass at the Cathedral of Christ the Light, April 1. CHRIS DUFFEY PHOTO

The Oakland community continued to grieve the loss of four police officers on March 21, while it honored their memory and prayed for healing from urban violence. A memorial Mass was celebrated at the Cathedral of Christ the Light on April 1, one of several services held for the slain men and their families.

Father Jay Matthews, a native of Oakland, grew up in St. Benedict Parish, where he has been pastor since 1989. He offered the following commentary.

By Father Jay Matthews
Special to The Voice

It’s Saturday afternoon around 3 p.m. exactly one week after the horrific tragedy of the killing of the four Oakland police officers. Once again I hear a helicopter over my head. What’s going on?

Police officers salute as the coffins of the four slain officers arrive at the Oakland Arena for a city-wide memorial service, March 27. More than 15,000 officers attended. GREG TARCZYNSKI PHOTO

There’s a standoff on MacArthur Blvd. near Ritchie Avenue where six or seven patrol cars have blocked the streets, and the police officers with weapons drawn are pointing to several suspects lying prone on the ground. For nearly an hour tensions run high; thankfully the standoff ends peacefully. Out of the darkness of violence and grief of the previous week comes a ray of light, a wisp of hope.

As a community of faith who celebrate the feast of rebirth and renewal at Easter, we know that light is more powerful than darkness. We know when winter ends, and the life of nature, dead for many months, reasserts itself in spring: brown turns to green, gray to blue, darkness into light.

As Easter people we, too, experience rebirth: we arise from sleep refreshed; we get over most of our illnesses and experience the rebirth of physical health; and we come alive again after anguish and grief.

The parish community of St. Benedict’s, where I have been pastor for 20 years, has over the past three years experienced more than our share of anguish and grief.

Our parishioner Chauncey Bailey was cruelly gunned down on his way to work. John Dennis, another parishioner, was senselessly murdered in his own home. And little Kayla Romans lost her daddy, Sgt. Erv Romans, on that fateful Saturday, March 21.

Kathleen Rabbach of Alameda signs the memorial book for the families of the slain officers. The book was placed near the cathedral’s altar during the April 1 Mass. chris duffey PHOTO

These deaths, all as a result of gun violence, appear to be connected where the background of the perpetrators is concerned. There is poverty, the paucity of esteem, education and respect, easy access to guns, and a parole system that is truly broken.

We cannot completely absolve ourselves for the existence of poverty and deprivation in our society and communities. A Chronicle reporter recently wrote about our mayor and said, “Dellums shows no resolve, no gumption to use police resources to confront criminal elements in our city.”

At this time I do not want to argue the lack of truthfulness of that statement, but to acknowledge the sentiment behind the statement that applies to most of the leadership in our community who lack resolve and gumption.

Where is the resolve to fix the parole system in California? There is much talk, but rather than encouraging and preparing parolees to become productive citizens, hundreds of parolees weekly descend upon Oakland with $200 and a bus pass in their pockets and told, “You are on your own.”

Let me say this: not all parolees are bad. Many folks make mistakes, learn from them, and really want to better themselves. But there are not enough re-entry programs to serve the great number of parolees who come back home to Oakland, and the resources earmarked for these programs are stretched to the max.

Thank God for Catholic Charities of the East Bay, the Oakland Private Industry Council, the Men of Valor of Acts Full Gospel Church, and the Re-Entry Program of Allen Temple Baptist Church, who all consistently demonstrate resolve and will to do the work of restorative justice in our midst.

Oakland, designated some years ago as an All-American City, is one of the most diverse and accepting places in this nation. We have natural beauty and wonderful people. We also have a serious problem: part of our black and brown communities distrust law enforcement. And in some cases the distrust is legitimate.

There has been pro-active policing, and racial profiling still exists benignly. But there are many neighborhoods in our city that have come to personally know many of our community policing officers who have given a great deal of assistance with neighborhood problems.

Two legendary officers come immediately to mind — Sgt. Crawford in East Oakland and Lt. Berlin in West Oakland. I hope the present leadership in the police department will have the resolve and gumption to increase community police officers a hundred-fold.

Father Jayson Landeza, Catholic chaplain for the Oak-land Police Depart-ment, celebrates the memorial Mass, April 1, at the Oakland cathedral. With him is Father Paul Minnihan, cathedral provost. Father Landeza is pastor of St. Columba Parish in Oakland.. chris duffey PHOTO

At the recent Chrism Mass at the Cathedral of Christ the Light, Bishop Salvatore Cordileone in his homily reminded us that we are all priestly people in the image and likeness of Jesus Christ, who serves the People of God, “by proclaiming liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and to set free the oppressed . . .” (Luke 4:18)

We, like the leaders of our city, must resolve and possess the will to create opportunities for poor youth and their families to receive a quality education and to develop strong parenting skills. It makes no sense in our city that, each day, 4,000 students are unaccounted for regarding their attendance in school.

We must invest energy and time as a community in creating jobs with a living wage for people living on the edge. At the same time we must work for decent and affordable housing where one takes pride in the place they live. We must have affordable (and sometimes free) physical and mental services for poor and working class people.

We must work together, crossing-over racial, social, economic and way- of-living lines, to heal our communities by seeking equality and justice for all and to really eliminate racism and degradation from our existence.

The resurrection of Jesus confirms our hope that we, as his priestly people, can start again, renewed, refreshed and recommitted to the transformation of our lives and the life of our city.

In conclusion, we must be about the business of caring enough, loving enough and sharing enough to bring light to a city that is struggling to overcome darkness.

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