I never really understood graffiti until I went as a young priest to LaPurisima Parish in El Modena, California. The Missionary Servants had gone there originally to take care of the Mexican farm workers who labored in the orange groves. However, over time the orange trees were cut down and housing developments grew up. These developments inevitably would have walls erected around them. The barrio was soon surrounded by walled communities — which they read, correctly, as “stay in your place, this is ours, keep out.” It was then that the graffiti started to adorn those walls. No matter what was written what it really said was, “We are here. We still matter. Don’t ignore us.” Do you remember an old Simon and Garfunkle song: “the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls?” During their exile ancient Israel was feeling like a nation put aside by the mighty Babylonian empire. Graffiti changed that. Suddenly, opposite the lampstand, the fingers of a human hand appeared, writing on the plaster of the wall in the king’s palace. The message: God had not forgotten Israel. Hang in there and wait for the Lord. It might not be graffiti but there are signs of God’s presence and action in the world if we have the eyes to see.
