Margaret Anna Fridays: Preachers of Peace

It's a tradition on this blog to share some words of wisdom and inspiration on Fridays from the founder of my religious community, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace.  Known in religion as Mother Francis Clare, Margaret Anna Cusack was a prolific writer in her day. 

Christianity, being a religion of peace, its disciples were necessarily preachers of peace, hence the first effort in any country was to reconcile quarrels, to compose differences, and to avert wars. The peaceful arts came to be cultivated when they came to be honored; and war, except for a just cause, to be looked upon as evil, and not as glory.         ~M.F. Cusack, History of City and County of Cork, 1875

Romero on Why We Must Speak

Sunday will be the 33rd anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero. This week, I'm sharing some of his words on the blog, courtesy of this online version of some of Oscar Romero's writings.

To try to reveal Christ
is our great pastoral task.
If I speak of earthly matters or political questions,
it is to guide our reflection towards Christ.
I would like you to understand me well
so as not to have a wrong idea of these Masses.
Far from being political gatherings,
they mean to draw the people toward Christ,
toward God.
Thus they are understood in many testimonials I receive.
It gives me great comfort to know
that people come to church on Sunday to look for Christ.
Even in the criminal realities of our land
Christ is present,
rejecting all that crime.
This is why we must speak of it here.

The picture is from my trip to El Salvador in 2007. This is the crypt of Monsenor Romero, in the basement of the cathedral in El Salvador. In front of the tomb is an altar, where (quite fittingly) a lively and boisterous mass is celebrated each Sunday. We visited his tomb, and then participated in the Sunday liturgy. It was an amazing end to our pilgrimage.

Merton on Peace: Spirituality & Practice of Nonviolence

Facing our spiritual and moral crisis, Thomas Merton sought authentic spiritual roots for a Christian spirituality of nonviolence.  He found them in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew's Gospel:

“The chief place in which this new mode of life is set forth in detail is the Sermon on the Mount." (Blessed are the Meek: the Christian Roots of Nonviolence)

“The Beatitudes indeed convey a profound existential understanding of the dynamic of the Kingdom of God—a dynamic made clear in the parables of the mustard seed and the yeast.  This is the dynamism of patient and secret growth, in belief that out of the smallest, weakest, and most insignificant seed the greatest tree will come. This is not merely a matter of blind and arbitrary faith. The early history of the Church, the record of the apostles and martyrs remains to testify to this inherent and mysterious dynamism of the ecclesial ‘event’ in the world of history and time  Christian nonviolence is rooted in this consciousness of faith.”  (Blessed are the Meet: the Christian Roots of Nonviolence).                                

He was profoundly challenged by some acts of resistance to the Vietnam war which he felt went too far in the wrong direction away from this alternative vision of the Beatitudes.  In particular he was shaken when Roger Laporte, a former Cistertian novice, poured gasoline to burn himself in front of the US mission to the UN.  No doubt this led to some deep prayer and soul searching.  What resulted were 7 conditions that Merton felt were required for honesty in the practice of Christian Nonviolence:

1. “Nonviolence must be aimed above all at the transformation of the present state of the world . . .”
2. For Christians in powerful nations, nonviolent resistance “will have to be clearly not for [themselves] but for others, that is the poor and underprivileged.”
3. Given the threat of nuclear war, “above all nonviolence must avoid a facile and fanatical self-righteousness and refrain from being satisfied with dramatic self-justifying gestures.”
4. “[T]he Christian humility of nonviolent action must establish itself in the minds and memories of [the] modern [human person] not only as conceivable and possible, but as a desirable alternative.”
5. “The absolute refusal of evil or suspect means is a necessary element in the witness of nonviolence.”
6. “This mission of Christian humility in social life is not merely to edify, but to keep minds open to many alternatives.”
7. “Christian hope and Christian humility are inseparable.  The quality of nonviolence is decided largely by the purity of the Christian hope behind it.”
   (Blessed are the Meek: The Christian Roots of Nonviolence)

[This is the fourth post in a series.  Click on these links for the first, second and third posts.]

Merton on Peace: Roots of Nonviolence

Recognizing that we were in a spiritual and moral crisis, Merton dug deep into his faith in Christ and the Christian community to discern an appropriate response.  One way he did this was through the formation of a virtual community of folks who were doing likewise.  He had hundreds of correspondents, including Dorothy Day, Erich Fromm and Ethel Kennedy.  He also became a chaplain of sorts to the peace movement, corresponding with people like Dan and Phil Berrigan and meeting with them when they came to visit (that's who he's sitting in circle with in the photo).

In fact, in 1964 he led a retreat on the "Spiritual Roots of Protest." As Gordon Zahn said in his introduction to Thomas Merton in Peace, it must have been a powerful retreat.  At least 5 of the attendees were later arrested for their "crimes" of resistance to the Vietnam War. But in his notes for the retreat, he makes clear that their time together was not intended to develop strategies of protest but to discern the call to resist within God's call.

“We are hoping to reflect together during these days on our common grounds for religious dissent and commitment in the face of the injustice and disorder of a world in which total war seems at times inevitable, in which few seek any but violent solutions to economic and social problems more critical and more vast than [the human person] has ever known before. 

"What we are seeking is not the formulation of a program, but a deepening of roots.  Roots in the ‘ground’ of all being, in God, through His word.  Standing in the presence of His word knowing that we are judged by it.  Bringing our inner motives into line with this judgement.” (Retreat, 1964, Spiritual Roots of Protest)

Merton also spent much time in prayer and contemplation on this question.  We are blessed to have the fruits in his writings.  Given the state of near total war that seemed to be overtaking the world, Merton saw this responsibility:  "The task of the Christian is to make the thought of peace once again seriously possible" (Breakthrough to Peace).  This task, ultimately, comes from Christ.

“Christ our Lord did not come to bring peace to the world as a kind of spiritual tranquilizer.  He brought to His disciples a vocation and a task, to struggle in the world of violence to establish His peace not only in their own hearts but in society itself.” (Peace: A Religious Responsibility)

He cautioned against a merely "spiritual witness." The call to the Christian in the face of such violence is active engagement, collaboration, and commitment in, with and for the world.

“A purely ‘spiritual’ witness is not enough.  . . . We must certainly bring the world to repentance, but we must engage with the rest of [humankind] in a collaborative work of social renewal, reconciliation, in a serious effort to bring about a peaceful world situation, in which [people] can work together to solve the enormous social problems posed by the technological and economic revolution of our time.”  (Christianity and Defense in the Nuclear Age)

He saw the need for loving action and sought a Christian path.

“There must be a new force, the power of love, the power of understanding and human compassion, the strength of selflessness and cooperation, and the creative dynamism of the will to live and to build, and the will to forgive.  The will for reconciliation.” (Preface to Vietnamese Translation of No Man is an Island)

“[I]t is necessary to go back to the sources and try to recover the true Christian meaning of the first and all-embracing commandment to love all men including our enemies.”  (Saint Maximus the Confessor on Nonviolence)

In the end, he articulates this loving and active Christian response to the spiritual and moral crisis as nonviolence.

“The religious basis of Christian nonviolence is then faith in Christ the Redeemer and obedience to his demand to love and manifest himself in us by a certain manner of acting in the world and in relation to other [people].”  (Blessed are the Meek: The Christian Roots of Nonviolence)

[This is the third post in a series.  Click on these links for the first and second posts.]

Merton on Peace - Moral & Spiritual Crisis

Thomas Merton entered the Monastery of Gesthemani in 1941.  Think of your history and I'm sure you'll remember what happened that December ... Pearl Harbor and the US entry into World War II. The entire world was basically at war.  This must have even made an impact in the Monastery.

Then in August 1945 the US dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese Cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Civilians were the target. In Hiroshima-a city of 350,000 people at the time of the bombing--166,000 people were killed either by the initial firestorm or radiation. In Nagasaki, 80,000 people were killed.

In the context of the cold war which followed the end of WWII, Merton contemplated this new nuclear reality from the monastery.  He observed that the world and society now faced both possible and probable destruction.  This gave his reflections on peace a sense of urgency through an apocalyptic lens.

“In a word, the end of the world is quite really and quite literally up to us and to our immediate descendents, if any.  And this, I might venture to suggest, is more ‘apocalyptic’ than anything our fathers discovered in the Revelations of Saint John.”  (Peace: Christian Duties and Perspectives)

His writings also reflect a growing sense of  personal and communal responsibility.

“We have war-markers, war-criminals indeed.  But we ourselves in our very best efforts for peace, find ourselves maneuvered unconsciously into positions where we too can act as criminals.  For there can be no doubt that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were, though not fully deliberate crimes, nevertheless crimes.  And who was responsible? No one.  Or ‘history.’ We cannot go on playing with nuclear fire and shrugging off the results of ‘history.’ We are the ones concerned. We are the ones responsible.” (Peace: Christian Duties and Perspectives)

Ultimately, he saw the world thrown into a spiritual and moral crisis the likes of which we had never seen before. 

"Our problem is a moral and spiritual problem." (Breakthrough to Peace)

“As Christians first of all, in a crisis where the very existence of [humanity] and the continuity of life itself are at stake, our duty to God the Creator becomes a duty to strive in every way to preserve and protect [God’s] creation . . .”  (Christianity and Defense in the Nuclear Age)

“The present world crisis is not merely a political and economic conflict.  It goes deeper than ideologies. It is a crisis of [the human] spirit.  It is a great religious and moral upheaval of the human race . . .” (Christian Action in World Crisis)

Given his sense of urgency, it is no surprise that he felt called to the careful study and attention on the problem in search of an appropriate response.

“Even if it should happen to be no longer possible to prevent the disaster, (which God forbid) there is still a greater evil that can and must be prevented. It must be possible for every free [person] to refuse [their] consent and deny [their] cooperation to this greatest of crimes. . . . How does one ‘resist’? . . . I do not know.  I am merely saying that this is an urgent problem that we have to consider and study with all our attention.” (Peace: Christian Duties and Perspectives)

[This is part two of a series.  Click here to see the introduction.]

Merton on Peace - Introduction

One of my classes here at CTU is called "Spirituality, Liturgy and the Quest for Justice."  Essentially we are reading the writings of different folks with a particular lens on how spirituality and/or liturgy converge with the quest for social justice.  Today's session was focused on Thomas Merton.  I had the opportunity to read Thomas Merton on Peace, a collection of his speeches, articles, book chapters, and other various pieces of writing on peace and nonviolence edited by Gordon Zahn.  Not only did I have the opportunity to read the book, I had the honor of synthesizing what I read and give a presentation for my classmates.

This was especially meaningful to me given the charism and spirituality of peace of my own religious community, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, and our Chapter Act to grow in nonviolence.  Part of our Chapter commitment, in fact, is to study the history and people of nonviolence.  Lovely how my coursework and community life is converging!

Given the popularity and resonance people have with Merton, I thought I'd share a few bits of Merton's thoughts on peace and nonviolence over the next few days.

I'd like to start with this quote by Gordon Zahn from the Introduction:

The important point, of course, is not that he was, as we so often like to put it, ‘ahead of his time.’ Rather, it is that he, so much more than others, was so truly in tune with his time, so alert to what was wrong at the precise moment, and what had to be done then to correct that wrong  if we were to escape the price for failing to do so.  Nowhere is this perception of the hour and its urgent needs more impressive than his writings on war and peace.

From the monastery of Gesthamani, Merton had contemplative eyes on the world.  In the words of his acceptance of the Pax Medal in 1963:

A monastery is not a snail’s shell, nor is religious faith a kind of spiritual fallout shelter into which one can plunge to escape the criminal realities of an apocalyptic age.

Watching Paint Dry ... Leadership & Peacemaking

From the World Paint Watching Photo Contest

Yesterday I had the honor and privilege of speaking to 48 rising juniors (all boys).  They were at my alma mater DeMatha Catholic High School* in Hyattsville, Maryland, for a three-day Leadership Institute.  I was across the country in my office in Seattle, appearing via Skype for an afternoon session (morning my time).  The wonders of technology!

Our topic was leadership from the perspective of peacemaking.  I was on the panel with MJ & Jerry Park, two lovely people who run Little Friends for Peace and if I'm not mistaken were named "Teachers of Peace" by Pax Christi USA a few years back.  So let's just say they know of what they speak.  I spoke from my own experience as a peacemaker, from some early inklings and attempts in high school to joining a religious community that is seeking peace together through justice.  I felt that the young men were very interested and connected to the topic, a bit more than I expected truth be told, especially given it was the post-lunch spot.  They had great questions!

One of the questions was something along the lines of how do you keep going when you are in a situation that seems hopeless.  Another question built on that one, what do you do when you are stuck in a tense situation with no apparent resolution in sight.  He didn't use this phrase but I think he was talking about engaging conflict when you are at an impasse, when you seem to have hit a brick wall, when the different opinions are so entrenched that you can't imagine how you'll ever get through.

To be honest, I don't remember exactly how the three of us answered the question.  Except that I know there were themes:  persistence, patience, listening, openness to change, relationship building.

I've been thinking about the question and realizing that when you follow the nonviolent path of peacemaking to engage impasse, it's a bit like watching paint dry.  From the outside, there are generally not major flash points or quick resolutions so it can look like nothing is happening.  From the inside, sometimes you have to let the paint dry before you can apply another coat.  Change happens gradually, slowly, often with repeated coats applied, sometimes in different shades or tones.  As a leader, the call is to be faithful to the process, to carefully and prayerful discern the next action, to act quickly when required, to be patient when you need to be, and to openly and honestly engage the whole process.

The leadership of LCWR met this morning in Rome with Vatican Officials and American Bishops.  It seems from the LCWR public statement and news story that the meeting was at the very least "another coat of paint," an open dialogue and opportunity for conversation.  I keep waiting for the media and general public to lose interest in this whole process ... it's going to take a lot of time and seem at many times like watching paint dry.

On the other hand, I find myself hoping that the media and public stay focused on the issue.  If nothing else, it seems to me our Sisters in Leadership are being faithful to their call to engage impasse through peacemaking for the sake of the Gospel.  And on their part, judging by the public statements about this meeting, it seems as if the Church leaders are engaging it as well.  Think of what a model this might be for a world that chooses quick and often violent paths to engage or ignore impasse, rather than the slow and sometimes messy path of nonviolence.  May everyone involved remain open to the Spirit that leads us to peace.

(*DeMatha is my alma mater, and yet DeMatha is an all boy's school.  I've explained how that happened before on the blog)

International Day of Peace

Tomorrow is the International Day of Peace. Marked every year on September 21, the Day of Peace is a global holiday when individuals, communities, nations and governments highlight efforts to end conflict and promote peace. Established by U.N. resolution in 1982, "Peace Day" has grown to include millions of people around the world who participate in all kinds of events, large and small.

Yesterday we had a wonderful event in anticipation of the actual day, at our Peace and Spirituality Center at west coast groovy sister hq (aka St. Mary-on-the-lake). It was a beautiful day, with representatives from the Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, Baha'i, Islamic, Native American and Christian traditions sharing their own reflections on peacemaking.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has chosen the theme "Peace = Feature: Youth, Development and Peace" for the 2010 observance of the Day of Peace. There are resources including a prayer service in English, French and Spanish on the Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center website (my place of ministry).

Please join me in praying for peace every day, but especially on Tuesday!

Papal Blessings

A few words from the Pope ... Pope Leo XIII that is:

O Lord, you see how everywhere the winds have burst forth, and the sea is convulsed with the great violence of the rising waves. Command, we beseech you who alone are able, both the winds and the sea. Restore to mankind the true peace of your name, that peace which the world cannot give, and the calm of social harmony. Under your favor and inspiration may men return to due order, and having overthrown the rule of greed, bring back again as ought to be, the love of God, justice, charity toward neighbor, temperance in all desires. May your kingdom come.

In May 1884, Mother Clare (Margaret Anna Cusack) met wih Pope Leo XIII in a private audience. He said: "I bless you, I bless your order Sisters of Peace, God will bless and prosper it. I bless your Sisters present and to come"

Given his amazing words that could be said just as easily (or prophetically) said in 2010 as they were in his time, perhaps it is no wonder that he gave such vigorous approval to the new Sisters of Peace.

shrinking world

One of the projects I've been working on in my ministry at the Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center is an innovative new program for young adults ... Justice Cafes. Young adults gather in a coffee shop setting in their local community for a meaningful conversation on an issue of global concern (this month it is human rights). They then connect with young adults across the country via a social networking web site. Except that it's not just young adults in the US--we also have a group meeting in Jos Plateau, Nigeria.

The Justice Cafe in Nigeria started because of the internet. A community organizer was searching the internet for social justice materials for young adults. He facilitates a group that brings Christian and Muslim young adults together for inter-religious dialogue. He read about our new program, contacted us, and became one of our pilot sites!

No, that's not my shrinking world moment--although the power of the internet is amazing. What makes me realize we have a shrinking world is that now that I have this virtual connection with this group of young adults in Nigeria, I'm now paying close attention to the news of the ongoing religious violence in Jos, which is in the center of Nigeria and on the border of the Christian & Muslim regions of the country. Jos has been a hotbed for violence for years, but I had never really payed attention until I had this connection. Yesterday more than 200 Christians were killed in a village outside Jos, in apparent retaliation for an attack on Muslims in January.

Please join me in praying for the people of Jos and for this group of young adults who are trying to do their part to bring about peace through inter-religious dialogue.

mandela moments

I saw Invictus today with some of my housemates. An excellent film, even if it is about a sport I don't pretend to understand (rugby). It's also about Nelson Mandela and creative nonviolent peacemaking off the field, even if it uses a somewhat violent sport (on the field) as part of the creative nonviolence.

I was reminded of my "mandela moment" which I've written about before, but not for a long time. It's worthy of a repost I think:

"If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then your enemy becomes your partner." (Nelson Mandela)

I remember clearly the day Nelson Mandela was released from prison. I was a Senior in High School working as a checkout cashier at my local K-Mart. Back in the smoky break room the TV was on as usual with some inane fare. Suddenly they broke in with the news – Mandela was being released!!!. I was mesmerized. My coworkers wanted to change the channel, but I prevailed. I sat there well beyond my allotted break time, watching history happen. Watching freedom happen. Watching peacemaking happen.

I finally went back to work, a changed woman, only to realize that most of my coworkers didn’t know who Nelson Mandela was. They probably didn’t know what apartheid was for that matter.

The quote from Mandela is profound, especially considering all he went through. I’m feeling more and more called to be a peacemaker in my life. To work for peace in the world, church, and my own circle. And yet I’m the first to admit how far I fall from that ideal. I think petty thoughts. I grumble. I sometimes lash out or focus on the differences rather than build on the common ground.

But the desire is there. A line from the groovy sister’s Constitutions has been very present to me the last few weeks: "Our founding spirit calls us to further the work of peace. Responding to this call we experience our own need for continuing conversion to gospel values which engender peace."

Jesus calls us to continuing conversion. He knows we’re not perfect. "I did not come to call the righteous but sinners," he says in today’s gospel.

Those are my Sunday evening thoughts. Busy week ahead with plenty of opportunity to practice peacemaking I'm sure. But for now it's time for bed.

Ironically, 4 years later, it is also Sunday (evening not afternoon). I'm still on the path to nonviolence, often more aware of my own violent thoughts and words than I am any creative nonviolence on my part. But the desire is still there, and that definitely counts for something!

Invictus starts with the scenes of Mandela's release, which made me think back to that extended break in the K-Mart employee lounge. How much has happened since then, in my life, in our world. And yet, nonviolence is still, I believe, the way. May we all learn how to embrace the way of nonviolence. That peace, love, understanding and compassion may stop being cliches, and become a way of life. Amen.

Peacemakers: Franz Jägerstätter

One of the major decisions of our Congregation Chapter was to commit ourselves to grow more deeply toward a non-violent way of being and acting as peacemakers. One aspect of this commitment is to study the history and people of non-violence.

Yesterday was the Feast Day of Blessed Franz Jägerstätter. I must admit that until last fall (when I was working at Pax Christi in the UK), I was not very familiar with his story.

Franz Jägerstätter was executed on August 9, 1943 at Brandenburg Prison for his conscientious objection to serving in Hitler's army.

“My dearest, beloved wife, and all my children,” he wrote on the morning of his execution, “Many actually believe quite simply that things have to be the way they are. If this should happen to mean that they are obliged to commit injustice then they believe that others are responsible... For this reason I am convinced that it is still best that I speak the truth even if it costs my life... These few words are being set down here as they come from my mind and heart. And if I must write them with my hands in chains, I find that much better than if my will were in chains.”

Franz Jägerstätter was declared "Blessed" by the Catholic Church on October 26, 2007 during a ceremony in Linz, Austria. His wife Franziska was present at the Beatification.

Learn more about him here, here and here.