A Beautiful Tribute: The Life and Death of Sister Hildegarde

Click here to read Fr. John Dear's tribute to Sister Hildegarde Smith, SCC, who died on April 25.

This picture was taken almost a year ago. Sister Hildegarde is in the center and is surrounded by Sisters and postulants from the Eastern Province. Thanks to Sister Karen Marie for the photo!

Partnership for Global Justice - Part Three

We thank Sister Mary Irene, SCC, for her detailed report of the Annual Meeting. The final installment of her report follows:

At the UN, we met with a panel at the Dag Hammarskjold Library Auditorium. The panel was entitled, "The Spirituality of Politics: A Religious and Social View." The participants of this panel were: Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations; Elmira Nazombe, Co-Executive Secretary for Racial Justice of the Women’s Division, responsible for assisting United Methodist Women through the development of advocacy strategies and biblical and theological reflection materials on racial justice; and James Edward Jones, Associate Professor of World Religions and African Studies at Mahattanville College, Purchase, NY, whose personal and professional work has been focused on conflict resolution within families, communities, and across national and cultural boundaries. As can be seen from these wonderful people the panel was extremely interesting. Each person encouraged us to think of the common good as visioning people made in the image and likeness of God, developing the community itself, looking to provide health, food, clothing, etc., searching for peace, practicing compassion, and balancing “which allows us to negotiate the multifaceted nature of our lives without sacrificing our most cherished goals and ideals”.

A beautiful Saturday dawned with the participants convening for a panel and questioning time with Dr. Barbara Wall, PhD and Sister Pat Sieman, OP, JD. Summarizing the prior three days, all of the participants felt they were sent home in the power of the Spirit with renewed vigor, courage, hope, and fire for the kingdom of God.

Partnership for Global Justice - Part Two

Continuing Sister Mary Irene's report:

The keynote for Friday, entitled "The Spiritualit of Politics: An Ecological and Legal View," was given by Dominican Sister Pat Sieman, JD. Sister Pat is the director of the Center of Earth Jurisprudence. The mission of this group is to re-envision law and governance in ways that support and protect the well-being of the entire Earth community. In her talk, Sister Pat pointed out that we are living in a time of great urgency. To describe this urgency, Sister spoke of “tipping points” which are slow, gradual changes that becomes irreversible and then proceed with gathering pace. It is derived from the example of a rigid solid object being lifted to a point where it begins to topple.

A spirituality of politics that is most needed to deal with this is one that begins with knowing oneself and the ability to let go of control of a situation, especially in the face of fear. The second practice is to develop an awareness and experience of belonging to a single, interconnected and interdependent, community of being. It is this sense of belonging to a larger reality that can be a source of great hope and creativity. We are not alone; the other members of the world community support and sustain us.

We humans have caused the climate change, build-up of toxic chemicals in the environment and their accumulate effect. We must take seriously the environmental fragility, become aware of the failing civilizations in our world, establish relations with them, and vote for quality political leadership and the social responses to challenges.

Sister Pat closed with practical solutions for religious communities, namely:

1. Those communities entrusted with land should create land trusts to be protected for generations;
2. We need to ask ourselves, “How much financial security do we need?” Are we supporting youth for the good of the whole – whether or not they are entering our communities?
3. Spend time with the arts and nature; and
4. Share Eucharist in all ways.
   

After a break, we boarded buses bound for the U. S. Mission connected with the UN. The US Representatives to the United Nations met with us to discuss our hopes and concerns regarding the US/UN political systems.

Partnership for Global Justice Annual Meeting

Thanks to Sister Mary Irene for her report from the Annual Meeting of the Partnership for Global Justice, held from April 24-26, 2008. Part One (of three) follows:

Thursday, April 24, 2008, marked the beginning of a three-day conference sponsored by the NGO group called the Partnership for Global Justice held at Xavier Center on the campus of St. Elizabeth’s College in Convent Station, NJ. Religious women and men, and associates from various communities all over the country as well as Canada, Mexico, and the Philippines gathered for this examination of politics at its deepest level of serving the needs of peoples and Earth as we choose leaders for the 21st century.

After the welcome, opening prayer, and introductions, the keynote speaker, Dr. Barbara Wall, PhD from Villanova University gave a very insightful talk entitled, "The Spirituality of Politics: a Philosophical View." In this analysis she spoke of three concepts that intersect in the title of the conference: Spirituality, Politics and Common Good. With these in mind, she pointed out that the human person is integral to the community and vice versa. Integral to the human person is the understanding that s/he is understood as social (needing community) and political. Quoting from Gaudium et Spes (n. 35), she asked us to think about an evaluation of the common good by looking at the quality of life of the least among us, including the environment. We looked at the common good as “power.” Dr. Wall encouraged us to help our “world” see how to avoid the destructive use of power and domination: “Recognize that within each of us there is the possibility of being seduced by forms of destructive power; be on the watch for competition directed solely at winning and relationships that can be characterized as adversarial; turn off the chatter and artificial stimulants; develop the skill of interior silences; unmask the desire for domination, reflect on our own prejudices, biases and at times hatred of one another; and learn about issues.” She also encouraged us to “develop proficiency by: desiring to know and love the world, learning skills essential to the spiritual life, studying issues, promoting a desire for community, and practice hope.” Needless to say, all participants were challenged and encouraged to keep hope.

That evening, Dave Robinson, the executive director of Pax Christi USA, spoke about the works and philosophy of Pax Christi. Mr. Robinson encouraged everyone to have a spirituality of vulnerability by “putting our hands in the wounds”, have contact with people who are suffering, and see vulnerability with a positive attitude. Also, “We must live simply so others can simply live.”

Stay tuned for Part Two!

Ecoogler

The Ecological Search Engine:

Ecoogler is a search engine that uses Yahoo technology and helps reforesting trees and safeguard water resources in the Amazon region, which constitute today one fourth of the fresh water reserves of our planet. For every search in Ecoogler, you contribute symbolically to reforest one leaf. For every 10,000 searches, Ecoogler and Aquaverde plant a tree in the Amazon. Check it out at www.ecoogler.com and help to plant trees!

Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center

For updates on current and pending U.S. legislation, go to the Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center. The site allows you to customize your e-letters to your legislators and pass the information along to your colleagues.

Stop Trafficking Newsletter for May

The Stop Trafficking Newsletter for May is now available. Click here for access to the pdf file.