St. Joseph Catholic Community Hosts ‘The Forgiveness Project’
The St. Joseph Catholic Community out of New Hope is hosting “The Forgiveness Project” until Aug. 8. The exhibit shares stories of forgiveness and is free and open to the public.
“The Forgiveness Project is not about teaching forgiveness. It’s about opening up a space within ourselves to consider who we are and to learn from the other,” said Louisa Hext, one of the organizers. “Forgiveness is messy. If you ask one person what it means to forgive, it may be one thing. To another, they may say I’m not going to forgive and that’s okay.”
Hext will also be speaking at an event on July 14 from 7:00-8:30 p.m.
The exhibit is open on Tuesdays through Sundays and you can learn more about the times on the St. Joseph website.
New Commission on Peace and Justice
Bringing the exhibit, which has roots in the U.K., to the St. Joseph Catholic Community is largely because of a newly formed commission that focuses on peace and social justice.
“The peace and justice commission was started in response to the murder of George Floyd and the reaction of the world to that event,” said John Comer, one of the commission members. “The idea is we thought as part of our Catholic faith, we needed to preach some of the principles that the faith provides. We thought it was important to get that out to people.”
The group’s work is just getting started, and they hope people come to see “The F Word: Stories of Forgiveness.” The exhibit showcases a collection of stories of forgiveness, whether from small, traumatic events or larger, headline-grabbing one, like the Oklahoma City bombing or the death of journalist Daniel Pearl at the hands of extremists.
“This particular exhibit is a U.K. based organization that promotes forgiveness around the world and has gathered stories of people under unusual circumstances who have found a way to forgive each other,” said Comer.
