Murder Most Foul
- Aug 12
- 2 min read
Summer 2020. Covid lockdown, social isolation, George Floyd, “mostly peaceful
protests”, city set on fire, racial tensions. Businesses closed, churches closed. Murder
rate explodes. Murder most foul. In Hamlet, “murder most foul” is not just any killing-it
is strange and unnatural. A crime revealing something already rotten, exposing and
accelerating a time of despair. Hamlet freezes at the enormity of the corruption he
faces. Bob Dylan, in his song Murder Most Foul, speaks to the wound of the murder of
JFK and how it contributed to ongoing despair and cultural rot. Both Shakespeare and
Dylan express as only poets can the enormity of murder.
Jack Shockley was murdered August 12, 2020 at 5:05 am. His murder was one of
hundreds that year; the 117th in our city that year. There were 3 murders on the day he
died. A society, a city on overwhelm. A murder most foul. A murder too common, too
frequent. The bodies pile up, the killings more brazen, desperate people with nothing to
lose. Hurt people hurting people. The problem of gun violence in our urban communities
feeling too big to solve, society’s response becomes disorderly and ineffectual.
The murder of our Jack is deeply personal. It was not a random street crime. It was
targeted, execution-style outside a McDonald’s on the east side. No robbery. No
argument. No words exchanged. A young man of deep faith and a life full of promise
killed in a deliberate act. We confronted our civil leaders for not protecting our city, for
allowing it to burn, and for granting parole to the violent gang member who killed our
son. We were lost in our shock and grief wanting the killing to end but not knowing what
to do.
Our faith and faith leaders especially Monsignor Stumph pointed our way forward.
Focus on one life at a time. This focus has come to define our peacemaking efforts. It
keeps us disciplined as provide Peacemaker Scholarships and mentorships to center-
city students; Vagabond Missions and the vulnerable teens they minister to; and the
Father Tolton project and its ideal of racial healing. One life at a time is our antidote to
despair and hopelessness. If we focus on loving the people in our lives and partner with
others doing good, we can become the change this world needs.
Our response is the refusal to let love itself become defeated by the brokenness of
our times. The larger brokenness is not ignored, it is answered in the only way we can,
through individual, small acts of kindness done with great love. On the anniversary of
Jack’s entry into Heaven Above, we have a tradition to PAY IT FORWARD. We honor
Jack’s life with a random act of peace.
We grieve in hope. We celebrate Jack as the ultimate peacemaker that he was. And
we stand in solidarity with all victims of gun violence, their families and friends. May
those who commit violence come to know the love of God, come to understand the
great love that God has for all sinners. We continue to stand at the foot of the Cross, the
Cross that redeems our suffering. Glory be to God! BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!
