The New Wine Press vol 25 no 4 December 2016 | Page 12

PBMR: the New Creation

The First and Greatest Commandment
by Fr. Dave Kelly, c.pp.s., pbmr Director

We were driving home after giving a talk at
Dominican University and Anthony was more quiet
than normal. Usually that means he is deep into his
phone—on Facebook or some other social media app.
But no phone…head toward the passenger window of
the car.
“Hey, Anthony, anything the matter?” I asked. He
shook his head no; he still was staring out the window.
“Anthony, look at me,” I said. He turned toward me
with tears in his eyes.
“What’s up?” I asked. “What’s hurting you?” And
through the tears he spoke of how alone he felt—like
everyone left him.
Anthony has his issues, has been locked up a couple
of times. He accompanies me quite a bit when I am
asked t o give talks on the neighborhood and the
violence. He is an excellent speaker, talks from his
heart, keeps it real. Today was no different. The college
students were captivated by his story. He spoke of his
life and the struggles. “I am still struggling,” he told the
10 • The New Wine Press • December 2016

group. “I just don’t want to end up like my father or
my brothers.”
That was what was bothering him. He spoke well. He
told the truth. But on the ride home, it came tumbling
down on him. He felt the words he shared so openly.
His father, whom he barely knows, has been locked
up most of his life. His older brother is doing 55 years;
his little brother has been locked up for six months
and will probably have to do a few years (he’s only 16);
another brother, who is just a year and a half younger
than he, got locked up a couple weeks ago.
Anthony feels like they all left him.
“You know we gotcha’, right Anthony?” I said. “Yea,
Fr. Kelly, I know you got me. It is just like, I don’t
know, like nobody is thinking about me. My ma’, she
doin’ her thing. I just feel alone.”
Luckily (I can say this now) the traffic was Chicago
traffic—stopped. We had time to talk. And talk we did.
We offer many programs at pbmr. People want
numbers, structure, success rates—but we know all the
programs in the world can’t take that feeling of being