Connections
Call To Action of May 2002 Issue
Coming Events.
May 9 (Thursday) World Peace is
Inevitable;
May 13 (Monday) Uneasy Neighbors; 6:00 to 7:30 P.M.; documentary film & discussion on migrant conditions in North County; at U.S.D., Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice; see details on page 18.
May 15
(Wednesday) Regular C.T.A. Board meeting;
May 18 (Saturday)
May 25
to June 2; Memorial Day recess for
May 26 (Sunday);
The Holy Trinity: God Beyond Gender; an ecumenical
feminist liturgy, part of "Voices of Eve 2002" series;
June 8 (Saturday) Day of Recollection,
focused on the Beatitudes;
June
15 (Saturday)
June 15
to 20; Fellowship of Reconciliation National Conference; "The Power of Nonviolence:
Exploring Alternatives";
June 29 (Saturday) An
Ecumenical Gathering of Women;
July 21 (Sunday); Mary of Magdala Celebration;
July 26 to 28; Pax
Christi USA National Assembly; Detroit, MI; theme: "In Times of Terrorism,
Casting Out Fear, Building on Hope, Living Nonviolence"; Speakers include
Joan Chittister & Bishop Tom Gumbleton; for more, go to info@paxchristiusa.org
Voices From the Past
We
talk eloquently about our commitment to the principles of Christianity, yet the
lives of most of us are filled with the practices of paganism. We proclaim our
devotion to democracy, but we sadly practice the very opposite of the
democratic creed. This strange dichotomy, this agonizing gulf between the ought and the is represents the tragic theme of the
earthly pilgrimage of humankind. [For example], during W.W.I and W.W.II, most
churches even functioned as lackeys of the state, sprinkling holy water on
battleships and joining in the singing of "Praise the Lord
& Pass the Ammunition". A weary world, pleading desperately for
peace, has often found the churches morally sanctioning war. (Martin Luther
King, Jr., in "Strength To Love", 1963) PAPAL RESPONSE TO SEX ABUSE
INADEQUATE: In response to the Pope's statement
condemning child sex abuse by clergy, the largest grassroots Catholic Church
reform organization in the country called for uniform standards in dealing with
allegations of child abuse. Linda Pieczynski,
spokesperson for Call To Action, said, "The policies
in place in the past have failed. We must drastically change the way in which
the church handles allegations of child abuse. The Pope didn't say he was going
to hold bishops accountable or make disciplinary responses transparent. Bishops
must not be the ones to investigate these cases. Only experienced child abuse
investigators are trained to interview the alleged victims and perpetrators and
weed out false allegations. In most states, people who are required by law to
report child abuse must contact child abuse reporting agencies when they
suspect a child has been harmed, not when they believe that they have
"probable cause", a standard that many dioceses use. Members of the
clergy should report allegations of any kind of child abuse to the local law enforcement
authority whenever there is a suspicion that child abuse has taken place. This
is the standard to which doctors, nurses, psychologists, teachers and other
people who have numerous contacts with children are held. There is no logical
reason that clergy should not be held to the same standard. This would relieve
the local church of any potential conflict of interest and prevent the
temptation to downplay the seriousness of the offense or cover-up the offense
due to the fear of scandal or financial liability." Rev. Bob Silva,
President of the National Federation of Priests' Councils, easily distinguishes
the respective roles of law enforcement and church authorities: "Let the
police handle the crime, and the church handle the sin. Trust in church leaders
will be restored only if the people require their leaders to be accountable to
them." (Received by email from
ACTION SUGGESTION: Stop "Usable"
Nuclear Weapons
The Bush Administration plans to target
non-nuclear states with nuclear weapons.
Such a policy decision is shocking and unthinkable, but some official
circles in
* A new, "usable" nuclear
weapon, such as a bunker-buster, would be designed. The use of any such weapon would violate the
U.S. commitment made in 1978 by Secretary of State Cyrus Vance at the UN
Special Session on Disarmament, where he stated that "...the U.S. will not
use nuclear weapons against any non-nuclear weapons state [that is] party to
the Non-Proliferation Treaty ..."
* Nuclear weapons testing will be resumed
in order to test the design of this new nuclear warhead. This would break the ten-year international
moratorium on nuclear weapons test explosions.
It would violate
* The
Announcement
VOTF, Voice of the Faithful, in Boston,
has secured the
9-6.
The goal of the event is to provide to
attendees with hope, specific
actions, and a plan on how to re-claim their
Church. Speakers and agenda are being
finalized. Keep the faith. Change the church.
More info at www.votf.org .
Women Deacons By Tara Dix I recently wrote an article
for
* * *
* *
ACTION SUGGESTION:
Recommit yourself and your community to
nonviolence through a public proclamation of the "Vow of
Nonviolence." Suggestions include:
setting aside a Sunday to have your parish incorporate the "Vow of Nonviolence"
into the liturgy or in some other setting; having your family study the
"Vow" together at dinner then take the "Vow" as a family;
making the "Vow" available to groups in your church or community and
encouraging them to consider some form of public recitation. The "Vow of
Nonviolence" can be viewed at: http://www.paxchristiusa.org/news_events_more.asp?id=55
Pax Christi
Easter
By Tom Jordan, OP
Division is a fact of life; the West is
divided from the East, the North from the South, rich from poor, healthy from
sick - the list goes on. When it comes to the followers of Jesus, it is not so
much division that is the stumbling block; rather, it is the fact that the
sublime teaching of Jesus has had so little effect on the divided parties. One
would have expected more evidence of reconciliation, justice and peace. Have we become too comfortable? Have we allowed the values of the market, of
greed, of public opinion to push out the values of the Gospel? It ought to be
the other way around! If division is to be resolved among Jesus' followers, it
is surely along the lines of recovery of the Gospel teaching, not just as an
intellectual exercise, but as a matter of the heart and of real feeling. It
happened to Oscar Romero quite unexpectedly, when he suddenly realized that the
Gospel had to take precedence over everything else in his life; nothing else
mattered. He had discovered, perhaps for
the first time, the pearl of great price. Renewal took place in him in
mid-life. If Christian spirituality is what results when one's life is nakedly
challenged by the Gospel, then Romero is a prime example; hopefully, he will
soon be recognized by the Church as a saint. It is such people who help to keep
the faith alive in others; they are an encouragement to those of us who are
disappointed at the seeming failure of church authority to give flesh to the
vision of
The Creator gave each culture a path to
God. To us, it was revealed that the Creator is in everything. Everything is
alive with the Spirit of God. The water is alive; the trees are alive; the
woods are alive; the mountains are alive; the wind is alive. The Spirit's
breath is in everything and that is why it is alive. All of nature is our
church; we eat with our families in church; we work in church; we go to sleep
in church. My Creator, let us allow people to worship you in the way that you
have taught them. --Sitting Bull, HUNKPAPA LAKOTA
Remarks on Married Priesthood
Celibacy, a cornerstone of the Roman
Catholic priesthood for a thousand years and a [supposed] symbol of ordained
holiness, is being questioned with a new urgency as the church's sexual abuse
scandal sweeps across the nation. In a sharp departure from Pope John Paul II's insistence that the celibacy issue is closed, Cardinal
Roger M. Mahoney became the first American cardinal to declare that discussion
of a married priesthood remains open. Mahoney's willingness to debate celibacy
is further evidence that the widening sexual abuse scandal is forcing church
leaders to examine the nature of the Catholic priesthood. The archbishop's
candid remarks are certain to reach the
rights: Who would inherit the estate of a dead
priest, his wife or the church? The issue was settled by the Lateran Council,
which declared that priestly orders were an impediment to marriage and marriage
an impediment to priestly orders. But rules on celibacy in the priesthood can
be changed. The ban is considered church discipline, rather than dogma, said
Linda Pieczynski of Call to Action; "The
openness with which Cardinal Mahony is approaching
this issue shows that the bishops are starting to realize what the people in
the pews have been saying for years." (Received by email from IMWAC)
Department of Peace
A bill has been introduced into the House
(H.R. 2459) to establish a cabinet-level Department of Peace in the Federal
government. Your editor wrote to Senator
Dianne Feinstein concerning it, but it has not yet been introduced in the
Senate. However, she advised me that
there already exists a U.S. Institute of Peace that is an independent,
nonpartisan Federal institution created and funded to strengthen the country's
ability to promote the peaceful resolution of international conflict. The
Institute has an array of programs, including grants, fellowships, conferences
& workshops, library services, publications and other educational
activities. Interested parties may contact the Institute at
Many of you have asked me about my situation with the Srs. of
I want you all to know how grateful I am for all of the prayers,
letters, words of support and encourage-ment, humor,
hugs, articles for reflection, insights, flowers, your own courage and faith,
and especially the love that you have showered on me over the years, and
especially during the last three years.
You are awesome and I love you to pieces. I also want you to know that, though I am no
longer a Sr. of
In my final interview on Holy Thursday, I said that I was leaving with
no regrets about my decision of conscience which brought on such severe
consequences and that I also have no resentments or grudges against the Srs. of
Finally, my love and gratitude go to Sr. Joan Chittister, who has been a
mentor and a voice of clarity for me on this journey. Sr. Joan once said, "If you stay, stay
loud and if you leave, leave loud."
I am at peace and ready to get on with the work at hand. Our world is suffering and we need to bring
God's hope and joy where there is despair and pain. Love, Sr.
Margie. (Received by email from Spiritus
Christi)
Theological Conversation - Jesuit to Jesuit
By Kevin F. Burke,
S.J.
When we learn to listen, above all to
those whom we perceive as enemies, when we begin to find in their words light,
truth and hope, then we have truly begun to find God in all things; then we
have opened ourselves to the God of surprises.
As Ignatius wrote in 1546, "Any of our Jesuits should be slow to
speak and should show con-sideration and sympathy,
especially when dealing with doctrinal definitions. Along with this reticence,
they should rely on a readiness to listen, keeping quiet so as to sense and appreciate
the positions, emotion and desires of those speaking. Then they will be able to
speak or keep quiet, [as appropriate]; in these and other discussions, they
should admit both sides of the question, and not appear to be self-opinionated,
trying to avoid leaving either party disconcerted." (From
Leaven, April/May 2001). Commentary In 2000, the
Colorado Council of Churches admitted to membership The Universal
Fellowship of
* * *
* *
The Poverty & Race Research Action
Council publishes a bi-monthly magazine on this subject, as well as an extensive
list of resources. Interested parties may contact them at
Did You Know?
By Peter M. Kopkowski
The moderate government of
process)
Restorative Justice: Responsibility &
Forgiveness
By Bo Losoff
For decades, our
Some Philosophy
The most obvious oxymoron is military
intelligence; as Will Rogers said, "Common sense ain't
so common around those parts". Also, I believe that it is true, that one
person can make a difference; think of the impact on a recipe of leaving out
one main ingredient or adding a different one! If it is to be, it is up to me. (Submitted by email by James Yellowhorse).
Forgive Us As We Forgive
By Kevin Seasoltz
At dinner one evening, the
priest-secretary of Cardinal Angelo Roncalli, the
future Pope John XXIII, spoke to him about a priest who was the source of much
scandal in the diocese. The young priest was basically questioning the
cardinal's willingness to tolerate this man's behavior. After remaining silent
for some time, seemingly studying his wine goblet, Roncalli
asked, "Whose glass is this?" Surprised by the question, the priest
responded, "Why, it is yours, your eminence". Without a word, Roncalli threw the glass on the floor, shattering it to
pieces. He then asked, "And whose glass is it now?" The young priest
replied quietly, "It is still yours, your eminence". The cardinal
looked into the young man's eyes and asked a final question,
"Is the priest about whom you questioned me any less my brother because he
is shattered and broken, than this goblet is still mine, despite its
brokenness?" We tend to be judgmental, self-serving, unforgiving people
who often try days to settle our differences through litigation; genuine
forgiveness does not come easily in our age. In fact, however, forgiveness is
the only door to peace and happiness. But it is a small, narrow door, one that
cannot be entered unless one becomes humble. Forgiveness has little to do with
human fairness, for life is often unfair and full of failures that cannot be
excused. When we forgive someone for a hurt, we recognize the hurt as such, but
we attempt to see beyond the hurt and to make an effort to restore our
relationship with the person responsible for our pain. Our forgiveness usually
does not take our pain away; perhaps our forgiveness is not even acknowledged
or accepted. However, forgiveness prevents us from being sucked into the
downward spiral of bitterness and resentment. (From Spirituality magazine,
January/February 2002)
Matthew 25: 31-45
By William Barclay
This is one of the most vivid parables
that Jesus ever spoke, and the lesson is crystal clear - that God will judge us
in accordance with our reaction to human need. God's opinion does not depend on
the knowledge that we have amassed, or the fame that we have acquired, or the
fortune that we have gained, but only on the help that we have given. Further,
there are certain things that this parable teaches us about the help that we
are to give. (1) It must be help in simple things, things that anyone can do;
there is no other parable that so opens the door to glory to the simplest
people. (2) It must be help that is uncalculating; those in the parable who
helped did not think that they were helping Jesus, but simply because it was
the natural, instinctive reaction of a loving heart. The attitude of those who
did not help was, "If we had known that it was you, we would have gladly
helped, but we thought that it was some common person who was not worth
helping". The help that wins God's approval is that which is given for
nothing but the sake of helping. (3) Jesus tells us the wonderful truth that
all such help given is really given to him, and all the help that is withheld
is really withheld from him. Clearly, the way to delight the heart of God is to
help God's children, all of the other humans in the world. When we learn the
generosity that without calculation helps people in the simplest things, we too
will know the joy of helping Jesus himself. (From The Gospel of Matthew,
[Westminster Press, 1975])
* * *
* *
The current Board of Directors of C.T.A.
of
President: Janet Mansfield, (858)
277-0259, ejmans@pacbell.com
Vice-President: Al Rauckhorst, (619)
284-6451, lualrauc@lvcm.com
Treasurer: Mike Magee, (760) 471-4305,
Mmagee@utm.net
Secretary: Rich Nirschl,
(858) 273-0213, richNMo@aol.com
Directors-at-large: Evi Quinn, (760)
434-3710, eviq@cs.com ;
Al O'Brien, (619) 222-5676, obrien1@sdsu.edu ;
and Ed Mansfield, (858) 277-0259, ejmans@pacbell.com .
(Visit our website: www.dignitypacific.org/ctasandiego/)
Peter Kopkowski,
editor, (858) 278-8800, ajpmk@san.rr.com .
The Editor's Travels
By Peter M. Kopkowski
My wife (A.J.) and I traveled to a Holy
Week retreat at the monastery of the Benedictine Sisters of
are) the final "message" was not to
be overlooked; it consisted of a simple
dialogue:
Human, praying to God: "Why don't you
DO 'something'?"
God, in response: "Why don't YOU do
'something'?"
Human: "When will you LISTEN to
me?"
God: "When will YOU listen to
ME?"
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* *
WORKERS AT MEX-MODE WIN A WAGE INCREASE
On April 1, the management at Mex-Mode and the Independent Union SITEMEX signed a new
contract for the 500 unionized workers in the garment-producing facility
located in south central
Mixing Politics & Religion
By Sr. Christine Vladimiroff, O.S.B.
The scriptures call us to involvement in
those issues that affect the poor and needy. The prophets do not offer
reflections about "ideas in general"; their ideas clearly rebuke and
question "prudence & impartiality" if people are hungry, if
children are denied protection, if the alien must live in the streets & beg
at the city gates. The prophets' words question the authority, the laws, the
institutions and the policies that bring this violence of poverty and
oppression into the human family. Do religion & politics mix? Of course
they do. Scripture compels us to come into the new century with the energy and
vision to reshape the reality of our lives. Do they mix? They must, if the
reign of God is a reality and if our worship has integrity. "God loves
justice and right; of the kindness of God the earth is full". (From
"Risking Hope: Finding Light in Dark Times", an O.S.B. publication,
for second week of Lent, 2002)
* * *
* *
Another possible resource for readers of
Connections is The
(619) 263-9301 or by email at prcsandiego@igc.org .
SERPAJ: Nonviolence
By Katherine
In 1974 in
Book Review
By Jim Wright
Even enemies cannot credibly accuse Ralph Nader of dishonesty or dissembling, of compromising a major
principle or of ever selling out a conviction for personal advancement, or of
failing to join a fight for things in which he believes. "Crashing the
Party" is Ralph's gripping first-hand account of his ill-fated candidacy
for President in 2000. The book is part memoir and part polemic; Nader's theme is the craven manner is which both major
parties have rolled over & played dead as corporate power tightened its
stranglehold on the windpipe of what was once a freer, more open and more
democratic system. His point-by-point telling of recent history makes a telling
case. The book holds up for reader inspection a long list of corporate
excesses, from price gouging to environmental pollution, which big campaign
contributors get by with routinely. It is a controversial, provocative book; it
isn't very entertaining, yet it is painfully revealing. (Wright is former
Speaker of the
What To Teach
Children
By Natalia Ginzburg
We should teach our children not the
little virtues but the great ones. Not thrift, but generosity and indifference
to money; not caution, but courage and a contempt for danger; not shrewdness,
but frankness and a love of truth; not tact, but love for one's neighbor and
self denial; not a desire for success but a desire to be and to know. The little virtues have their place, but
their value is complementary and not of a substantial kind; they cannot stand
by themselves without the others, and by themselves & without the others
they provide but meager fare for human nature. Only the great virtues can
inspire a deep sense of purpose. We cannot hope that our children will
spontaneously develop them; they must be taught through example. (From
"The Little Virtues", as cited by Paul Rogat
Loeb in "Soul of a
Citizen")
Nonviolence Defined
By Mohandas K. Gandhi
It is not "nonviolence" if we
merely love those who love us. It is
nonviolence only when we love those that hate us. I know how difficult it is to
follow this grand law of love, but are not all great
and good things difficult to do? Love of
the hater is the most difficult of all, but by the grace of God even this most
difficult thing becomes easy to accomplish if we really want to do it. (From "The Words of Gandhi", selected by Richard
Attenborough [Newmarket Press, 1982]).
We Just Don't Get It
By
What we really need in our times is a lot
more prophetic voices who are willing to call us back
to the insight of the earliest Christians, that following Jesus means embracing
nonviolence. We need to look carefully at the way that we have allowed our
allegiance to Caesar to dilute our fidelity to the Gospel. We need to look at
all the American flags in our churches, so omnipresent that we don't even
notice them anymore, and be shocked at this intrusion into the sanctuary. Even
at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in
Peace Demonstration Against
Fear
By Flemming
Christiansen
A half-year ago the Arab-Jewish
organization Taayush (in
combat the fear," explains Conny Hackbarth from Taayush. The
organization
is one of two groups in
Renewing Minds, Transforming Lives
By Millard Fuller
A consistent theme throughout the Bible is
that change is necessary to please God. A change in the way we think is the first
step. We must think about things from God's point of view; when that shift
occurs in our thinking, the world looks different, and our own lives are seen
in a different way, and our neighbors, both near and far, are viewed
differently. As Romans 12:2 admonishes us, we should be transformed by renewing
our mind in order to line up our thinking with that good and acceptable and
perfect will of God. With transformed thinking, our actions are different, what
we do is different, and we begin to transform the world around us. (From
Habitat World, April/May 2002)
Polls Show Divide Between Americans &
Muslims
A Gallop poll of 10,000 people in nine
Arab countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan and Jordan,
showed that a majority reported feeling that Western nations do not care about
poor countries, that they treat minorities unfairly, and that they have weak
morality and meager family values. The poll also found widespread perception
that Western nations do not respect Arab/Muslim values and are generally unfair
toward the Arab/Muslim world. A majority in 5 of the 9 countries believe that
the U.S. is "provoked easily"; more than 60% of participants in Saudi
Arabia, Jordan, Pakistan & Iran reported unfavorable views of the U.S.
(From "Briefs", edited by Gill Donovan, in N.C.R., 3/22/02)
Rephrasing Matthew 25, 31-45
By Ronald Rolheiser,
OMI
God has a special sympathy for those whom
society deems least important, and how we treat those persons is the litmus
test of our faith, our morals and our religiosity. (From a regular column in
The Southern Cross,
The Gospel Message
By Dom Helder Camara
I love reading about the apostles asking
Jesus, "Teach us to pray". We may sometimes think that we have
already learned how to pray, but knowing by heart what Jesus said in response
isn't enough. The important thing is to learn to live the prayer that Jesus
taught us. Beginning with the first word, "Our", are we really
convinced that God is the God of all? The God of ALL brothers
& sisters in the world? It is very easy at Mass to say, "Peace be with you" to the person standing right next to you;
but after that, we go home and the other person is forgotten. If the other
people were really our brothers & sisters, and we knew that they were ill,
in misery, hungry, or homeless, we would do all we possibly could for them!
(From "Through the Gospel With Dom Helder Camara", [Orbis Books]).
Politics, G.W.B. Style
By Frida Berrigan
The Bush administration's new budget calls
on the government to emulate the efficiency of the private sector, saying,
"Dollars will go to programs that work; those
that don't will be 'reformed'". But what works, and what doesn't work,
depends on where you are. Each government agency received a "report
card" from the Office of Budget Management, grading its programs with red,
yellow or green "dots". Only the National Sciences Foundation
received all "green"; the Defense department (among others) received
all "red". Yet, on top of the $48 billion recently approved for the
Defense department, it is now calling for more than $100 billion more, PER
YEAR, for "several" years. (Meanwhile,
Human Rights Campaign Releases Scorecard
The Human Rights Campaign released its
scorecard for the first session of the 107th Congress. This is considered a
critical tool for judging how members of Congress vote on gay and lesbian
issues and for assessing the level of support for these issues. The scorecard
shows an encouraging trend toward more broad-based support for gay and lesbian
issues. For example, the Employment
Non-Discrimination Act (S. 1284, H.R.
2692) and the Local Law Enforcement
Enhancement Act (S. 625, H.R. 1343) today boast the highest numbers of co-sponsors
in history. A total of 198 members of Congress scored a perfect 100 percent, up
from 161 in 2000 and 136 in 1998. It also shows that support for gay and
lesbian issues is coming from both sides of the aisle, as 14 Republican members
of Congress scored 80 percent or above. HRC's ratings
were based on co-sponsorship of ENDA and LLEEA; other factors included whether
members' offices offered non-discrimination policies and how lawmakers voted on
important issues such as needle exchange programs and domestic part-nership benefits in D.C. To download the 107th first
session congressional scorecard visit: http://www.hrc.org.
On the Water Front By Mark Sauer So, you think that soaring power bills &
rolling blackouts were bad; wait until the corporate sharks who feasted on
California's screwed-up energy deregulation take control of water. The
universal understanding that water is a human right, not a need, is being
eroded by corporate greed. By buying up water rights and by planning ways to
control supply & demand, multinational corporations are trying to turn on
money spigots. It is hardly
surpri- sing that the richest nations consume
(and waste) far more water than the poorest nations. Americans consume more than 6 times as much water annually as Africans. In addition
to population growth and increasing per-capita consumption, massive pollution
of the world's surface water has placed a great strain on remaining supplies of
fresh water. While we can (if we have the discipline) live without air
conditioning and other devices powered by energy, no on can live without water.
What can be done? The U.N. and its member-governments must step in and prevent
the privatization of water, and recognize that water belongs to everyone on earth.
(From a review of "Blue Gold", by Maude Barlow & Tony Clarke [The
New Press, 2002], published in The
The Pedophilia Mess
By Peter M. Kopkowski
There is a tremendous amount of printers'
ink being devoted to this subject, and I doubt that I have anything new to
add. However, I think that recognition
is due to the National Catholic Reporter for its efforts in trying to have this
issue taken care of sooner. Its first
article on the subject appeared in 1983!
A front-page article followed in 1985; more info came in 1988; still
more appeared in 1992. Again, in 1997 the subject of proper action by the
bishops was addressed. Still, today, the
Narrow Vision: Cause of Crisis of Faith
By Fr. Adrian Smith
What was not realized, or if realized was
not admitted, by the Church hierarchy of the 16th & 17th centuries, was
that its cosmology, its explanation of the universe, was NOT given directly by
God in the Old Testament; it had its origins in the limited cosmology of the
Hebrews who wrote it down!
Fundamentalist Christians who today uphold "creationism", as
opposed to "evolution" are not defending a revealed truth of God, but
are defending what the Hebrews took from the Babylonian science of that day!
They continue to defend this when our present scientific knowledge has rendered
this explanation of our origins obsolete. It is really the expansion of our
scientific knowledge that is causing some people to question Christian
doctrine. While the majority of Chris- tians now
accept at least "some" theory of evolution, the Church hierarchy has
been slow to acknowledge that we must now "re-express" many truths in
order that Christian doctrine be nourishing for people today. If the
spirituality of Christians today is to be life-enhancing, it cannot be divorced
from the enormous scope of our contemporary knowledge. The wording of our
prayers, the wording of the hymns that we sing, the creedal for- mulations that we are to accept, and even the homilies that
explain the scriptures, are still in a language, a thought-form, which supposes
that earth is the center of God's creation, with Heaven above and Hell below;
further, we humans are described as superior to the other creatures by virtue
of being "individually" created out of nothing by God. Is it any wonder that many people in the
West, not just young people, hearing this "Good News" from the
pulpit, judge it to be quite irrelevant to their lives? It is a myth, an ancient cosmology that had
its day a long time ago. It satisfied the people up to a few centuries ago, but
it does not speak to our times. (From Spirituality magazine, March/April 2002)
Pax Christi
Catholic Peace Voice, Spring
2002 includes a special pullout feature section entitled, "Toward a
Globalization of Solidarity". If you have not already seen it, try their
website, www.paxchristiusa.org , or send an
email to info@paxchristiusa.org . It is an excellent,
4-page, presentation of all of the aspects of this issue. Arrogant
Unilateralism By Tanja
Winter It should be clear to everyone by now that the
Easter
By Gertrud Mueller Nelson
Death and Life are sisters at the deepest
level. How do we know this? How can we
get that message into our bones? Only in flashes of grace, in moments of
experience that plant us firmly with one foot on either side of the paradox. A
grace that came to my family recently was to pray with our mother as she died.
To see the one that bore us, laid out in a simple box, barefoot but wearing the
white garment of baptism, surrounded by a few lilies & some evergreen
boughs. We personally planted her in the good earth, knowing that unless a grain
of wheat shall die, it could not bring new life. She was the one who showed
many how to live and how to die; she walked in faith, and struggled with faith;
she created and loved in faith, and died faithful to the Good News. Did she
also see and feel the horrors going on around her? Of course; her faith in turn
had a radiating quality that shed light, that comforted, that refreshed, that
brought solace, that healed, that renewed, with all
the energy of the Spirit. Finally, the Spirit led her to the joys that never
end. Now the Gospel tells me that it is my turn to stand by and water the
planted grains and take part, with God's grace, in the resurrection of new
life. As a people, our job is the same; what must die, peacefully or violently,
must also bring forth new life, and we get to help heaven in that task. (From
N.C.R.,
Death in
By Peter M. Kopkowski
Along with most secular news services,
Catholic News Service recently carried the story of the assassination of
Colombian archbishop Isalas Duarte Cancino in mid-March; it also noted that Colombian police
have reported that 10 bishops and priests have received "constant and
credible" death threats since then. Meanwhile, the Bush administration
continues to send military aid to the military government of
Hey, Little Spender!
What kind of leader of the free world is
the
Clean Elections Petition
The San Diego Alliance for Clean Elections
is circulating a petition for signatures that would allow candidates for mayor
or city council of San Diego the option to run using public funds, under
conditions that indicate that he or she are serious candidates. More
information is available at their website: www.cleanelectionsandiego.org or by calling (858)
539-6948 or (858) 385-0419. (Submitted
by Bob Howarth) Friendship By
Charles E. Austin Friendship means the world to me; friendship is an emotional
connection that transcends the pain that people cause each other or that the
world inflicts on us. When that pain is great, it is friends who bring us back
to a recognition that we are loved, and that we can
still have love left to give. (From a private letter to the editor dated
You are invited to attend
A
Day of Recollection, focused on
The Beatitudes
Saturday, June 8,
conducted by
Dorothy Hulburt
Dorothy Hulburt
is Director of Adult and Family Ministries at St. Therese Parish. She has over 20 years experience working in
pastoral, catechetical, and liturgical ministries; and is often a presenter at
local and national level events. She is
also a frequent and very inspirational retreat guide. Dorothy
uses scripture, story, and our church's rich spiritual traditions, e.g. Thomas
Merton, to talk about the love of God in very human terms, and to evoke each
person's own felt response. Those
who have heard her have felt richly rewarded and have highly praise her
guidance.
Attendance is free to members of
By phone: (858) 277-0259; by e-mail:
ejmans@pacbell.net ;or at:
determi- nation to protect our sense of who we are
that leads us to risk criticism, alienation, and serious loss while most
others, in similar situations, remain silent. Silence is more costly than
speaking out, because it requires the ultimate sacrifice - the erosion of our
spirit. It takes energy to mute our voices while the environment is ravaged,
while greed runs rampant, while families sleep in the street. It takes energy
to be silent or to change our words because we fear the consequences. It takes
energy to split our lives from our values. If we do, we risk the decay of our
humanity; when we shrink from helping others in the world, our souls shrink
too. (From "Soul of a Citizen" [St. Martins
Debate on Celibacy
One of the bravest comments given to the Sunday Herald in an exhaustive round of interviews with senior clergy, scholars and prominent lay people came from Keith O'Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh . 'I have no problems with celibacy withering away,' he said. 'There is no theological problem with it ending. The loss of celibacy would give liberty to priests to exercise their God-given gift of love and sex.' As president of the Scottish Bishops' Conference, O'Brien's words carry considerable weight, though on the reactionary wing of the church his views could be seen as tantamount to