Race, age, sex, tribe or country should not be our foremost identifier, Dr. Celestin Musekura told a group of about 30 clergy and lay leaders during a diocesan Ministry Day about forgiveness at Saint Michael and All Angels. “Our primary identity is Christian,” he said. “Our shared identity in Christ must precede our other identities."

Musekura lives in Dallas but is from Rwanda and still has ministries in Africa. During the seminar, he discussed the recent shooting of Dallas police officers and compared tense race relations in the United States to tribal disagreements in Africa. “Your group might have committed evil and you have not, but you are punished because you are part of the larger group. We can be proud of who we are, but the problem is we use our gifts from God to repress others who do not have that gift.”

Christian leaders are the peacemakers and must teach the message of reconciliation and not get distracted in “tribal” disputes. “Justice has mercy and grace. Restorative justice desires to rebuild rather than seek punitive justice or revenge, he said. The basic idea of restorative justice is not to achieve compensation or satisfaction from individuals but rather to establish equality, human dignity and respect among members of the community. 

A couple of years after the Rwandan genocide in the 1990s, Musekura’s father, other family members and about 70 members from his tribe were killed by those from another tribe. He was told about the deaths about a week later in an email. “When I read the email I asked God where were you when my family was murdered? I was asking ‘who did this?’ so I can avoid them because avoidance is part of revenge. Hate is part of revenge. Those who were killed were my neighbors. Some of them I had led to Christ. 

“I said, ‘Lord I cannot forgive.’ The Lord said, ‘you are a hypocrite.’ That’s the most difficult thing God has ever asked me to do was to forgive them. The Lord reminded me that only when I’m able to forgive am I able to live my life.” Musekura said he eventually met the family of the people who killed his father and forgave them. He said it’s not enough to just pray for someone you forgive but to show your forgiveness. He is now paying to educate six of the girls from the family that killed his father. 

In a slide presentation about forgiveness, Musekura underscored the Biblical messages about forgiveness and grace. “Forgiveness is one of the essential teachings of Jesus Christ and a subject of emphasis in the community life He shared with his disciples. In the Lord’s Prayer, for the disciples, forgiveness is placed next to the basic human necessity of daily nourishment. Like daily food for the sustenance of our bodies, we need daily forgiveness for the maintenance of our communities.”

Deacon Pam Dunbar said Musekura’s seminar was an uplifting and important reminder of how Christians should live their lives. “After listening to Dr. Celestin Musekura speak on different types of justice and on the forgiveness that is needed for true justice to prevail, the words of this song ran through my head for the remainder of the day: ‘Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me; let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be,’” she said. “I was convicted of the fact that we are all in this together and must all do our part in reconciling and transforming our communities. Under our skin, we are all alike: children of God.” 

Musekura told the group that the United States needs to have serious discussions about race relations and should be led by Christian leaders and not left up to the government. Forgiveness should be at the forefront of those discussions. “If we practice forgiveness every day, our families will be different and Dallas will be different, “ he said. “We would have more joy in our families and less brokenness.

Dr. Celestin Musekura is President and CEO of African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries in Dallas.