The Architecture of Mercy

Chartres Street at Night, New Orleans French Quarter 

Luke 10:25-37

"And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?” So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’^[a] and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.” But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?..." 

Since it has been ten years after I evacuated my home in New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina I guess that it is fitting that I discuss what I remember.

Shotgun house next to 712 Barracks Street in French Quarter. New Orleans, Louisiana,

"Then Jesus answered and said: “ A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead..."

I remember that after my federal government failed to respond following the biggest national tragedy in a generation the Mexican government sent troops with aid across the southern border. I remember Mexican immigrants (both documented and undocumented) coming to rebuild my city. I remember afterwards when many of them were cheated out of their due payment and were reminded that they were not welcome.

HOLY NAME OF JESUS CATHOLIC CHURCH (On the campus of Loyola University in New Orleans) 6367 St. Charles Ave

"Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side..." 

I remember seeing televangelists of my own Evangelical faith on television and falsely asserting that this city of Roman Catholics, Southern Baptists and Full Gospel Baptists was being judged for practicing Voodoo. I remember when the Islamic Kingdom of Qatar donated millions to rebuild our Catholic colleges.  

Courtyard Hotel Downtown New Orleans

"But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed,^[c] he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’..."

I remember having to move 2,000 miles away to Rochester, Minnesota where few of the residents looked like me and even fewer voted like me but they took me in and freely gave to me like I was their own.

New Orleans Historic Wrought Iron in French Quarter

"So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

The greatness of New Orleans' past lies in it's nearly 300 year old blend of French, Spanish, Afro-Caribbean and American aesthetics and culture, but the greatness of its present is embedded in the architecture of Marcy. The promise of this city's future is even a possibility because the citizens of the global village willed it to be so. So when the clamor of the politics of division based on nationalism, religion and race drowns out the voices of brotherhood and mercy I just remember the lessons of Hurricane Katrina. Most of all I remember life teaching me that the meaning of the Good Samaritan parable was that often the help that God sends your way is in the form of someone that is nothing like you. This is the foundation that New Orleans was rebuilt upon: one that will withstand though the rain descends, the floods come, and the winds blow.