2016
Introduction: You are more
“Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.” Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy, p. 17
This summer, I had the immense pleasure of interning for a federal judge. A large part of my internship was to observe anything that took place in the courtroom. This included criminal sentencing. This was the part of the job I was least looking forward to. As an aspiring public defender and current criminal justice reform advocate, the idea of watching people being sentenced to prison had always left a bad taste in my mouth. However, I will never forget the time that, during one sentencing, the judge quoted Bryan Stevenson, saying, “Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.” This line stuck with me the first time I read it, but it will never mean the same after hearing a judge say it to a convicted criminal, encouraging him to not let his conviction define the rest of his life. If this is not the exact definition of just mercy, I am not sure what is.
Think for a minute about who Jesus surrounded himself with. We hear in the Gospels about how Jesus would preach to the tax collectors and sinners, but do we really think about that? When we do process that Jesus went out to the margins, do we feel called to follow the example? How many people do we look at as Jesus did and remember that they are more than the worst thing they have ever done? Who do we refuse to see as more than the sum of their actions? Who do we hold grudges against?
When we mess up, how long do we let our mistakes ruminate in our minds before we are willing to forgive ourselves? How many times do we drive ourselves crazy with regrets and pain? Say it aloud. I am more than the worst thing I have ever done.
Being merciful does not mean pretending that nothing happened. It does not mean that we have to let people walk all over us. But just mercy—the type of mercy we see from Jesus, the mercy that we should strive for during the Jubilee Year of Mercy, and the mercy that is the center of this book—is based on this central, very significant sentence. Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.
Maggie Larin
Maggie is a Junior at the University of Michigan studying Sociology with a focus in Law, Justice, and Social Change. She hopes to one day become a criminal defense attorney, defending those without representation and, if the need continues, those on death row.
2016
Just Mercy Reflection Series
“Jesus’s concern for the care of the hungry, the thirsty, the homeless, and prisoners sought to express the core of the Father’s mercy. This becomes a moral imperative for the whole of society that wishes to maintain the necessary conditions for a better common life. It is within a society’s capacity to include the poor, the infirm and the imprisoned, that we see its ability to heal their wounds and make them builders of a peaceful coexistence.” – Pope Francis to prisoners at Centro de Readaptación in Juarex, Mexico
Welcome to St. Mary’s reflection series on Bryan Stevenson’s book Just Mercy. Whether you’re just beginning Just Mercy, finished it six months ago, or have it on your to-read list for winter break, it is our hope that this series of reflections is relevant and meaningful to you, and moves you to think about mercy, compassion, and our justice system in new ways; we want this space to be the starting point of a parish-wide conversation about the collective responsibility we have to create a more merciful and just world.
Pope Francis consistently calls each one of us to stand in solidarity with the incarcerated people of our world. He celebrated his first Holy Thursday as Pope at a juvenile detention center in Rome, and in 2015, celebrated Holy Thursday mass at the Rebibbia Prison in Rome. During his visit to the United States, Pope Francis spent time visiting and praying with prisoners at the Curran-Cromhold Correctional Facility in Philadelphia, telling them “I am here as a pastor, but above all as a brother, to share your situation and to make it my own.” What a beautiful invitation to each of us to stand as brothers and sisters with the imprisoned.
On behalf of the Social Justice Ministry at St. Mary’s, thank you for reading, and we look forward to the start of a transformative dialogue!
If you are interested in gaining some background before reading the series, we encourage you to watch this moving 20 minute TED Talk by the author of Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson: