New Zealand CW Pacifism Touching in the Season of the Prince of Peace

By Monica,  The Lamb Catholic Community, (evolving of the LCW)        Columbus, Ohio

       In this approaching season honoring the birth of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, one will marvel at the constant and unblemished history of the Christian pacifist Maori people against "the Crown," [England], and its imperialist havoc of greed, malice, slaughtering and prejudice.  Still, they remained true to their Savior, who preached, modeled, and died for love.  Their history is below from the Christchurch Catholic Worker in New Zealand ("Christchurch" being the name of a city).

     As one recounts horrific details of a massive ISIS bombing in Egypt yesterday killing over 300 innocent Muslims at prayer in a mosque, and as one recalls another very recent grisly tragedy of innocent praying civilians in a Texan Baptist church at the hands of Devin Patrick Kelley, a former U.S. Air Force soldier (committed with mainly a Ruger AR-15 assault rifle),  -- one's immediate reaction may at first be to take up arms and kill the enemy. An eye for an eye. Yet, the power of God, who is love, who created the universe, all life, all human beings the world over made in His image and likeness, beckons to much higher ground, much higher levels of love.

       Like the purity of witness in Jesus Christ, all members of the early church communities for the first 300 years after Christ's death, Martin Luther King Jr, Dorothy Day, St. Francis of Assissi, St. Justin the Martyr and countless Catholic Workers, Amish, Mennonite and Quakers, death does not have the final say; and the nonviolent cross and way of Jesus Christ has enormous power -- moreso than hate and killing will ever have.  

      Was the Temple restored because of the armed killing and slaughter at the hand of the "Jewish rebel warriors," as described by history scholars, called the Maccabees, or mainly from the pure, holy and undefiled blood of the seed of the martyrs -- elderly Eleazar, tortured and killed for his beliefs in Yahweh, as well as the mother and her seven sons who were brutally tortured and who perished together rather than disobey even one of God's smallest commands?  These pure actions and  witnesses have greater power to change the world with the genuine conversion of hearts, the method typical of God's sweeping movements in history.

       I have heard from the pulpit that the main way that the Catholic Church proliferated was not with the Old Testament mentality of killing, pillaging, and butchering of men, women, and even children (there are several genocides in the Old Testament) in the name of God, but with running further and further distances to avoid persecution.  Done purely, in holiness and Truth, and even with martyrdom, this is the seed that grows strongly and steadily, that explosively proliferates -- that precious seed of the blood of the martyrs.

       Even our country was somewhat begun in this manner -- with the English Puritans fleeing religious persecution in England, going to dangerously great lengths to begin anew far, far away.  

       Some say we would not have a country now if it were not for winning the Revolutionary War, defending ourselves against these British.  Great Britain had far far greater control over India in the 19th and 20th century than it ever had over the British colonies.  Ghandi, and his program of active nonviolence -- purer to Christ than many Christians live  -- helped to completely overthrow British control and gain India's independence in 1947.

        In Matthew Kelly's book, Catholicism, he quotes what Ghandi answered when asked why he did not simply become a Christian since he read Jesus' words nearly daily, lived them nearly perfectly, and promoted this way often.  He replied, "I would become one if I met one." 

       I have heard some say that all of Europe would be Muslim if it were not for this or that "Christian" army and their bloodbath, or without the rosaries prayed to kill and slaughter the enemy men and boys fighting against them.  Is God not capable of the proliferation and spreading of His Gospel in pure and holy ways and witnesses? Must He have these violent, bloody ways at all?  Could He employ His own newer commands aligned with His Way of His own Son who came down to show us how to fulfill all the prophecies and old order, to then further purify, align, and raise all of our actions to the level of perfect love toward all, even the enemy?  Jesus contrasted ways of old to His new way with prefaces like "... before it was ..... but now I say .... "

Tom Siemer and Rita D'Escoto Clark

         My father, peace activist, Tom Siemer, always said to me, while growing up, that the reason the very birth place of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Middle East is so Muslim is that we Christians messed up the purity of Christ's way and Truth in our militaristic and often greed-filled attacks and slaughter of the "enemy" men and boys.  This Old Testament mentality still continues in the Middle East to this day, sadly, and in the name of God on both sides.

        In giving the "Our Father," Jesus furthered His desiring that our actions here be indistinguishable from our actions in Heaven: "Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven."  Jesus wants our actions to be pure from beginning to end -- such as with Mother Teresa's whose actions of love are the means and the ends and everything in between -- mirroring what they will be in Heaven.

      Some say, "But we had to kill, especially at times like Hitler's, when the atom bomb was necessary..."  Fr. Richard McSorley, S.J. and Georgetown University always taught that "He who chooses the lesser of two evils soon forgets he chose evil in the first place.  There is always a third choice."

     But wait, aren't we not truly, truly capable of loving on Earth the way that we will be able to love in Heaven after our time of purification and purgation?  We will be capable then only after this process that we will undergo, right?  Won't it be perfect there because of the purification of people, as opposed to now, when we are still weak and exposed to the human condition as well as to evil?

     It seems that Jesus believes that we are capable of our actions being to the level they will be in Heaven and even beyond the best of human actions altogether (to the Father's perfect love level) when he teaches: "You must be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect."  He says this after giving the new command of loving even the enemy.  His confidence in us and our ability to love and act at the perfection level of the Father is utterly amazing, but true.  

       Should we be so willing to not risk breaking a least command of God surrounding what goes into our mouths (as with the Maccabees), but risk breaking far greater ones surrounding the outright killing of people through carnage and butchery, of violently ending actual sacred human life?  Do we take seriously Jesus new command to solely love our enemy, do only good to those who hate us, only bless those who curse us, be the proof that we are a children of our heavenly Father in our peacemaking?  

    Which actions are more powerful, the blood of the seed of the martyrs and their holy, unblemished  offering of their lives, or the militaristic killing, maiming, and mutilating of sacred human life?  Is human life sacred or is it not?  Can it be destroyed or can it never be destroyed at the hand of human beings?  Can one person ever choose or have a choice over the life or death of another person?

     My mentor, Fr. Richard McSorley, S.J. from his mentor, Fr. Horace McKenna, S.J. (who many things are named after in Washington, D.C.) taught me that "Jesus Christ is present in every single human being the world over."  Pope Emeritus Benedict XVII and Martin Luther King Jr. said that God's own indelible stamp is within every single person.  You stop God's work of salvation in the person that you choose to kill.  In a sense, you play God, and as in the Old Testament, and "God alone is the author of all life and death."   

    Our special prayers are for and appeal is toward the Muslim women in Egypt, and in the Middle East, from all sects of Islam.  They must see the recent carnage and bloodshed of the innocently praying men, women and children in Egypt as so evil, so against all that is good, against all-merciful God, against love and and beliefs of all kind, that they will work hard for peace, mercy, and reconciliation for a world they are leaving for their children.

     We ask all Christians, especially Catholics, to do the same.  One small way here in Columbus, is to learn more about and extend friendship toward the Muslim cultures and peoples here in Columbus, many war refugees from the recent Iraqi War as well as refugees from Somalia and other countries, at the Noor Islamic Culture Center and mosque (5001 Wilcox Rd. in Dublin). 

      They have certain days of the year where teachers and others are invited to learn about their religion and their culture. In peacemaking, dialogue and friendship are crucial, and we can all be instruments of peace and mercy.

Meeting Tariq Tarey, Nov. 2017

       One Muslim from Somalia, famous photoartist, director, and documentarian, Tariq Tarey, has created an exhibit at our Ohio History Connection (formerly the Ohio Historical Society near the soccer stadium) about some of our newest Ohioans -- the Bhutanese and Nepali refugees.  These join other refugees, such as those from Somalia, and teaches the difference between an immigrant (coming for a better way of life) and a refugee (fleeing for their lives typically from war-torn or high famine areas).  This exhibit ends January 8th, so get their quickly. :)

     

Bhutanese-Nepali Neighbors:
Photographs by Tariq Tarey

Fri., May 5, 2017–Sun., Jan. 7, 2018
Weds.–Sat. 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Sun. Noon–5 p.m.
Ohio History Center, Columbus 

The history of the more than 20,000 Bhutanese-Nepali people in Columbus is rapidly becoming the history of Ohio. This exhibit consists of 30 photographs of members of the Bhutanese-Nepali community, taken by Tariq Tarey. Each photograph is accompanied by a narrative written by Doug Rutledge, which explains each individual’s history. The photographs emphasize the historic sequence of the Bhutanese-Nepali refugee experience; from living and working in Bhutan, to being forced to leave Bhutan, the experience of living in refugee camps in Nepal for 20 years or more, to resettlement in Columbus, finding jobs, buying homes and finally becoming American citizens.  

The exhibit at the Ohio History Connection on refugees was put together by Tariq Tarey, his background is  below.

Tariq Tarey from Somalia (I met him
at a talk he gave in Columbus)

          Tariq Tarey is a documentary photographer, skilled in both still photography and video, who specializes in refugee affairs. In July of 2006, Tariq’s show, Forlorn in Ohio, which documented the plight of Somali refugees, appeared at the Kiaca Gallery in Columbus. Forlorn in Ohio also traveled to Wright State University, in 2007. Several images from that show are now part of the permanent collection of the Columbus Museum of Art. In recognition to the power of his work to call attention to the plight of refugees, Tariq was honored with the South Side Settlement House’s prestigious Arts Freedom Award in 2006. In that year, he also won the Ohio Art Council’s Individual Artist Award. In 2008, Tariq was given the Individual Artist Award by the Greater Columbus Arts Council. He directed the documentary, “Emergency Living: Somalia in the Aftermath of Famine.” Tariq also directed “Women, War and Resettlement: Nasro’s Journey,” which was aired on WOSU Public Television in 2012. In 2014, Tariq’s film, “The Darien Gap,” was shown in the 2 nd United States Conference on African Immigrant and Refugee Health. In 2015, Tariq’s photo spread appeared in the Magazine, 614, in an article entitled, “Journeys of the Diaspora.” In 2015, Tariq also did a photo spread for a publication entitled, Impact of Refugees in Central Ohio.

      Mother Mary, or Maryam in the Muslim world, pray for us, especially the Muslim women to help bring peace into their world, as you brought Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, into the world.

     The New Zealand Catholic Worker article is below.  To revive your hope in humanity, in the sacredness of all human life in their witness of Christ-like pacifism, and gain a restored fervor over the power of love and peace beyond what this world could give amidst a sometimes violent and cruel world, please read this amazing true story of the history of the Maori people in New Zealand..., which models so very well, Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.

We Are Prophets of a Future Not Our Own

                                          by Archbishop Oscar Romero

It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view.

The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,

It is beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.

We plant the seeds that one day will grow.

We water the seeds already planted, knowing that 

they hold the future promise.

we cannot do everything

and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something, 

and do it very well.

It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning,

a step along the way,

an opportunity for God's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results,

but that is the difference between the master builders,

and the worker.

We are the workers, not the master builders,

ministers, not messiahs,

We are prophets of the future not our own.

Pacifist Scripture: Convicting and Compelling on the Feast of St. Benedict

Summer Newsletter 2016,  Lamb Catholic Worker 
                                                     By Monica,  The Lamb Catholic Worker, Columbus, Ohio

     In the Divine Office Liturgy of the Hours for today, on the feast of St. Benedict (Dorothy Day was a Benedictine Oblate) is the following prophecy from Isaiah - the build-up lends to its power and truth:

"In the days to come,
the mountain of the Lord's house
shall be the highest mountain
and raised above the hills.

All the nations shall stream toward it;
many peoples shall come and say:
'Come, let us climb the Lord's mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may instruct us in his ways,
and we may walk in his paths.'

For from Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

He shall judge between the nations,
and impose terms on many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
one nation shall not raise the sword against 
another,
nor shall they train for war again.

O house of Jacob come,
let us walk in the light of the Lord!"
                                  - Isaiah 2:2-5

 The link below is partly an interview with Tom Siemer (Monica's Father) promoting beating our drone "swords" into plowshares:         
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqXLR0GZrac

       On this feast of my beloved St. Benedict, the "Father of Western Monasticism," there is so much to be appreciated in his message and way of life.  A key snippet on the walls of most Catholic Worker Houses is his concept of "Ora et Labora," the balance between work and prayer.

       In preaching at Christ the King this morning, Fr. Sylvester spoke of how St. Benedict wanted all to not only live this balanced life but to remove distractions of all kinds in order to do so.  We have to nurture our inward life, nurture the love we have for Jesus and our devotion to Him. In the Benedictine Oblate booklet mailed to me during Lent (in preparation for my oblation) entitled, "Clothed, in the New Self, Christ is All in All," Fr. Adrian Burke, OSB, also adds to be true to your true self in part, by stripping off the old self with its practices (becoming dead to sin), being "renewed in knowledge according to the image of the Creator," and putting on Christ, or as he quotes Thomas Merton: putting on our "true self in Christ."

       Some of the subtitles speak of Benedictine spirituality in this powerful booklet, "Benedictine Life is Life in Christ" are the following:" "Prayer in Solitude," "Praise and Thanksgiving," "Detach, Detach, Detach!" "Humility -- Our Truth," "Benedictine Self-realization," "The Pattern of Our Life," "Retreat to Prayer," "Return to Service," "Blessed are the Peacemakers," "Pax," "and "If You Would be my Disciple."  Also, our "motto" for Benedictine Oblates is: "Seeking God in Everyday Life," and I would add, all day long. During a recent confession with an older wise priest, Fr. Emmanuel Bertrand, I was told to try to: "Cultivate serenity and staying always in the presence of God, every minute of every day, in everything."  These traits and virtues are more than evident in Dorothy Day, a Benedictine Oblate.  I have a lonnnng way to go!

      Here is a gem under "Pax": "Devout Christians don't go out to make peace, ... Rather, we go inward to receive it, to find it, and then having found it, to share it outwardly with the world by radiating that peace ..." (p. 15). Our dear Fr. Meinrad Brune, Director of Benedictine Oblates out of the St. Meinrad Archabbey in Indiana, described in a lenten letter a beautiful tradition that he shared with neighbors while growing up that seems to me analagous to the spiritual (and material!) clearing out necessary.

     "When my two older brothers and I were boys, there were three families on our block who would help each other to do 'spring cleaning.'  We would spend a day at each of the three houses.  Mothers and children would all have to help.  The fathers (before they left for work) would move out all the mattresses, carpets, and rugs to be aired out in the fresh air.  Once those things were removed, we began a thorough cleaning of the entire house....  cleansing and simplifying [and I would add organizing and freeing ones life!]." 

        I cannot imagine that openness to allow others to experience the inner clutter, grime, and science specimens in the deepest recesses of each others' homes, amazing!  How accepting and freeing this whole experience must have been! How HOLY!  It would be a great annual tradition.

           

             In the spirit of Dorothy Day, Peter Maurin, St. Francis of Assissi, and Pope Francis, my teensy attempt at becoming more poor is to try, to TRY, to go a year without a car.  I have already gone about two months, borrowing cars to drive at times.  I am stopping this as well.  If I cannot get a ride somewhere, I simply will not go.  I look forward to the day of embracing "Lady Poverty," as Peter Maurin called it, or "voluntary poverty" as it is sometimes called.  Dorothy always said, "If you can get used to bedbugs and lice, you can do the Catholic Worker!"  I don't want to go that far yet!

"We would have no poverty in the world,

if everyone tried to become the poorest."

                            -- Peter Maurin

        

       The frustration level has been high and this in my summer off as a teacher! It will be much more of a challenge in the school year but I work probably less than 2 miles from home, and most of my world is this far away as well. There are bus lines though, and a spectacular sturdy bike my sister Lisa gave me last year.   Already I feel so much more healthy, more alive and one with nature all around me, and more spiritually hungry.  We'll see if it lasts!

       

        The spiritual clearing is even more critical for an Oblate or for anyone. A very Benedictine thing to do is to draw oneself inward, where God truly is, to attempt to catch that wisp of smoke, deliberate attuneness to that still small voice of God as described in the Old Testament. Eucharistic Adoration before our actual Savior Himself is one of the greatest quiet, holy places for this, going into the desert with only God, as Christ did. 

        I am not talking about reading or praying set prayers during this time.  Challenge yourself to have nothing to read (bring pen and paper to write!) and of pouring one's heart out, one's deepest longings, fears, praises, desires, inspirations, ...  If you have never stayed for two or three or more hours (my favorite), it is sooo worth it!  This is not wasted time!  Also, it is much more of a "Desert Father" experience when so much can truly, truly come from the deep recesses within, bubbling up to the surface perhaps for the first time.  "Be still ..."

      In the Divine Office book of "Christian Prayers," pp. 2028-2029, St. Augustine writes the following: 

      "To pray for a longer time is not the same as to pray by multiplying words, as some people suppose.  Lengthy talk is one thing, a prayerful disposition which lasts a long time is another.  For it is even written in reference to the Lord himself that he spent the night in prayer and that he prayed at great length [off before dawn, going alone by the wayside]. Was he not giving us an example by this?"  and "To spend much time in prayer is to knock with a persistent and holy fervor at the door of the one whom we beseech.  This task is generally accomplished more through sighs than words, more through weeping than speech.  He places our tears in his sight, and our sighs are not hidden from him ..."

       I admit that I have been perplexed at exactly how the Holy Spirit wants me to pray for exceedingly important things, when surrender, receptiveness and submission to the Will of the Father feels the opposite of pressing or begging God for this or that.  These yearnings, pleading, and crying out seem indeed, acceptable, though when we always end the sentence, as Jesus modeled, with  "not my will but Thy Will be done." 

      St. Padre Pio put it this way:  When we die, we will be presented, in a gold chalice, all of our tears."  He also said that when he dies, his real mission will begin!  So I ask about 30 people from heaven to pray with me and for me every  time I sit down to pray at length in any way (even mass).  He's working for my prayers, calling down the Holy Spirit upon me, to pray in the manner that God wants, and not through my feeble attempts. 

     A final note on passionate prayer is from St. Claude de la Colombiere in the book, Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence (p. 117-118). 

      

       "If after a year we find  that our prayer is as fervent as it was at the beginning, then we need not doubt about the success of our efforts, and instead of losing courage after so long a delay, we should rejoice because we can be certain that our desires will be all the more fully satisfied for the length of time we have prayed."

      And "...it took St. Monica (;) sixteen years to obtain the conversion of Augustine, but the conversion was entire and far beyond what she had prayed for. ...Think what would have happened had she given up hope after a couple of years, after ten or twelve years, when ... her son grew worse instead of better (118) ... " Your every word is numbered and what you receive will be in the measure of the time you have spent asking.  Your treasure is piling up and suddenly one day it will overflow to an extent beyond your dreams (119).."  She had prayed for Augustine to stop being promiscuous and he embraced chastity.  She begged that he come back into the Catholic Church and witnessed him  becoming a bishop!  She was desperate that he turn from his heretical ways and he became a pillar of the Church, defending it in numerous ways. 

     It continues: "Why he should ask us to pray, when he knows what we need before we ask him, may perplex us if we do not realize that our Lord and God does not want to know what we want (for he cannot fail to know it) but wants rather to exercise our desire through our prayers, so that we may be able to receive what he is preparing to give us.  His gift is very great indeed, but our capacity is too small and limited to receive it.  That is why we are told: Enlarge your desires, do not bear the yoke of unbelievers.  The deeper our faith, the stronger our hope, the greater our desire, the larger will be our capacity to receive that gift, which is very great indeed. ... We pray always with unwearied desire. ... The more fervent the desire, the more worthy will be its fruit.  ... The Apostles tell us 'pray without ceasing'."

Saints Louis and Zelie Martin, parents of St. Teresa de Lisieux
(far right) cultivated deep prayer lives in their many daughters
 - five became religious sisters- getting up at 5:00 for daily mass 

         One risks, like Christ, in quiet time of solitude with Christ in Eucharistic Adoration, the stark aloneness, nothingness but our thoughts, our being, with our Maker.  One also experiences the appreciated immense filling up of the soul, as a driving thunderstorm in an arid desert. The contrast lends to the experience, the seeking God's face, God's voice, the voice of the Beloved. 

        Dorothy Day seems to paint eloquently what happens when one emerges:

    "...the seeds in the desert, the seed scattered by the solitary, Charles de Foucauld, those who go out into all the poverty-stricken places in the world and work for their daily bread and live the life of a contemplative in the world....and the greatness means the overcoming of temptation and laying down one's life for one's fellows ... the victory of love over hatred and mistrust." (from a column of Dorothy's reprinted in "The Catholic Radical," Worchester).

       One cannot speak of poverty without the life witness of the saint of whom our beloved Pope Francis is named after:  St. Francis of Assissi.  His life legacy of living in poverty is well-described in his article on the Catholic Encyclopedia website.  From a former seminarian who nearly became a Franciscan Brother Minor, he said that Francis, like Dorothy Day, was torn between the contemplative life with his intense communion with God (ecstaties that would render him like a corpse, the stigmata, or actual physical wounds of Christ in the hands, feet, and side, etc) and with the active life, going out to preach, take care of the sick, etc. 

      The story goes that he was so torn that he asked God for two different people from different places to give him an answer to this question for his life, because he was far more drawn to the contemplative life than to the active one.  Sure enough, God sent two separate people to say the same thing to him clearly - that he is to have the active life among people, among the wider Church, so in dire need of his way of holiness in that era. St. Francis' way of life so surpassed what was known that even members in his own order tried to have him kicked out of it! He was pressed and pressed to have a rule, and he finally came up with this: "Yes, here is my rule - the folly of the Cross."   

    One reason why the picture above is one of my favorites is because, like Christ, his life was not easy at all as shown!  It was far far more stressful and challenging than we can imagine.  It even looks as though he has an eye infection, his clothes are very tattered, there is a certain sadness in his eyes.  Yet, like Christ, his radical love and humility was and were so far beyond those around him, that he was misunderstood, rejected, and sometimes even hated.  This, we would say, is what we are seeking most at The Lamb Catholic Worker:  contemplatives reverently loyal to their Catholic Church (Bride of Christ) and to the Chair of St. Peter, Pope Francis, willing to embrace voluntary poverty in the deep inner city (and/or on a Catholic Worker sister farm).  Like Dorothy Day, we are hoping for those willing to look beyond the judgment and flaws of others to see only Christ, to have eyes and ears for His voice alone in the poor. 

    Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta once put it this way:

"We have done

so much with so little,

for so long,

we now deserve

to do everything

with nothing."

 Happenings of the Lamb     

    Well, nothing to tell in terms of taking in the homeless yet.  There are very interested people though, more so than in a while!  Come Lord Jesus.  St. Francis of Assissi once said, "Sanctify yourself and you sanctify society."  That's what I am sticking to right now as I go back to D.C. for another few weeks to take care of my Dad.

      On a very positive note, more and more people are beginning to take on as part of their way of life, besides daily mass and rosary, the Divine Office of the priests.  Eleven people were praying it together in the Guadalupe Chapel at Christ the King after the 7:00 mass a week and a half ago.  Fr. Coleman encourages every single person to do so in many many homilies, that we are a priestly people needing this to keep us following Christ faithfully.  It also has a beautiful prayer for every single morning, the Gospel Canticle of Zechariah (St. John the Baptist's father) which ends: ".. and guide our feet into the way of peace."  It's right there!  Some who pray this still guide our feet into the way of war, but perhaps if many more people do so, we will indeed create more "John the Baptists" (the Canticle of Zecharia is one addressed to the infant John the Baptist), heralding Christ and guiding "our feet into the way of peace."

      I will also say that any parts of the Old Testament within the Divine Office that seem to contradict Christ's message and way (as he contrasted many ways of old with His new way - "...before it was an eye for an eye,.. but now I say love your enemies..."), I substitute in my heart what Christ would say consistent with His words and actions.  For example instead of praying, "... in the Lord's name I crushed them," I pray "in the Lord's name I pray for them" as Jesus commanded and modeled to do with our enemies.

       Keep the prayers coming strong for The Lamb Catholic Worker!  I feel we are on the brink.  Pray for Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin's canonization too!  Also pray, on this feast of St. Benedict, for more Third Order Benedictines, or Benedictine Oblates, like Dorothy Day.  Amazingly, you can be as young as fifteen and it is inter-denominational (it's true!).  St. Benedict, pray for us!

       When I get to whining about all the walking and trips by bike I have to make, I think of the Montgomery Bus Boycott which entailed well over a year of walking almost everywhere for people who had to perform hard labor each day too.  This was bravely undertaken in order to end the discrimination laws on buses.  Women older than myself would sometimes walk for almost two hours to work, clean all day, and walk home again!  The task was daunting amidst deaths and many many threats.  They pushed onward though, healthier, stronger, and more determined with each passing day partly because they walked so much!

      

          I also think of Harriet Tubman, the Moses of the people, who went back into the deep south 17 times - mostly by foot - to bring people to freedom, to "set the captives free." This was with a $50,000 bounty on her head, a serious ankle issue from youth and black outs from a heavy weight that had been thrown at her head while defending a young  man about to be whipped. She said, "I freed a thousand slaves and I would have freed a thousand more if they knew they were slaves."  Pray for us Harriet!  We, like you, want to "set the captives free," especially those who only know captivity (who do not realize they are enslaved).

      By the way, my ESL student Michael and I wrote a compelling letter, dated Dec. 18, 2014, to President Barack Obama to have Andrew Jackson removed immediately from the twenty dollar bill.  Three months later a new organization sprung up called Women on the Twenty.  I believe it was Michael's letter and push that someone saw and ran with, personally, and we are excited, even if he never gets the credit!

The Spirit is Moving! Fr. Daniel Berrigan, Pacifist, Presente!

       By Monica, The Lamb Catholic Worker, Columbus, Ohio.
       The Holy Spirit is blowing in sweeping mountainous strokes within the Catholic Church and in our world with several amazing and awesome (in the true sense of the word) happenings!
       I applaud the Catholic Times here in Columbus for printing the Catholic News Service release of the life and legacy of the famous 94 yr. old Jesuit priest, Reverend Daniel Berrigan, who, more than anything else in his life, adored his Jesuit priesthood of 54 years.  I spoke with him 9 years ago about both a movie screenplay I had written and the Lamb Catholic Worker - and the gentleness and sweetness of his little holy disposition came through the phone!  He said, "Oh God bless you for what you are trying to do!"

Rev. Richard McSorley, S.J. (Monica's mentor) and Rev. Daniel Berrigan, S.J.

         [The above picture was taken by Monica of Rev. Richard McSorley, S.J. and Rev. Daniel Berrigan, S.J. at the Pacem en Terris award given to Dan at the Georgetown Center for Peace Studies in the early 1980's].
       These were some of the words of his nieces and nephews at his death:  "Dan taught us that every person is a miracle, every person has a story, every person is worthy of respect...  And we are so aware of all he did and all he was and all he created in almost 95 years of life lived with enthusiasm, commitment, seriousness and almost holy humor."  "The 'heavy burden' of peacemaking will continue among many people,' the family added, saying, 'We can all move forward Dan Berrigan's work for humanity.'"

        With Brother Louis, the famous Trappist monk, Thomas Merton, as his mentor, Dan Berrigan engaged in several acts of civil disobedience that landed him in jail and prison for years, even with arthritis in his spine.  It began with his outrage of children and many innocent Vietnamese civilians in huts and villages being burned alive with napalm during the Vietnam War by U.S. soldiers.  He joined others to break into a government office holding draft files of those having been drafted and forced against their choice, to napalm others in Vietnam.  They pulled out draft files to the parking lot  outside, and napalmed them.

 

     The following is part of my very favorite poetic writing of Dan, which was part of the Catonsville 9 statement in their defense of burning the draft files of those forced to kill.  This was at a time when the idea of a priest breaking the law and going against law and order seemed a terrible witness to many. The lawlessness was too much to bear. This was part of their (his) reply:

Our apologies, good friends,
for the fracture of good order,
the burning of paper
instead of children, 
the angering of the orderlies
in the front parlor 
of the charnel house. 
We could not, so help us God,
do otherwise.
For we are sick at heart,
our hearts give us no rest
for thinking of the
Land of Burning Children.
And for thinking of that
other Child, of whom
the poet Luke speaks. 
It is in Him that we put
our trust, and in no other.
     Fr. Berrigan went on to confront the evils of creating, investing in ($ multi-billions), manufacturing, and potentially using, again, weapons of mass destruction, or nuclear weapons. He began the "Plowshares" movement based on the Old Testament quote from Isaiah:
 "And they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
            Nation will not lift up sword against nation,
            And never again will they learn war."
       On Sept. 9, 1980, Fr. Berrigan and six other demonstrators were arrested after entering the General Electric missile plant in Pennsylvania, and beating on the nose cones (without the weapons inside), of intercontinental ballistic missiles. They then poured blood over classified defense plans there.  I was at the courthouse outside on sentencing day praying with fellow Catholic Workers for them.  It was quite a sacrifice on their parts, and Fr. Berrigan spent years in prison for it, even with painful arthritis of the spine.
        There have been many other Plowshares actions done around the country against not only weapons of mass destruction, but also exposing the direct link of nuclear energy and power plants to weapons of mass destruction.  The "spent" radioactive rods of the core can be converted into weapons grade plutonium and into weapons of mass destruction against entire cities of innocent people.  Even the term of the man-made element on the Periodic Table, Plutonium, had to be named after the god of hell in ancient Greece, Pluto.  This is used in weapons of mass destruction.  To think that it was not part of God's plan of creation, we brought "hell" to earth with our own hands.
       At Hiroshima, Japan, he wrote the following poem.

Shadow on the Rock

At Hiroshima there’s a museum

and outside that museum there’s a rock,

and on that rock there’s a shadow.

That shadow is all that remains

of the human being who stood there

on August 6, 1945

when the nuclear age began.

In the most real sense of the word,

that is the choice before us.

We shall either end war and the nuclear arms race

now in this generation,

or we will become shadows on the rock. 

     

Fr. George Zabelka in the middle with white beard, Dad, right.

      

         Fr. George Zabelka, the military chaplain over Paul Tibbits of Columbus, Ohio who was the main pilot of the "Enola Gay," the plane that dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, had a milestone conversion of heart to Christian nonviolence (of our early Church history of the first 300 years). At first he was as gung-ho as Paul Tibbits, long after the incineration of so many innocent lives. It was Rev. Emmanuel Charles McCarthy who helped bring about his change of heart.

         He explained how our earliest most pure roots had been 100% pacifist for a very very long time. He also explained how most of the destruction of lives and cities of Europe in World War I and II was mostly Christians upon Christians - many times Catholics upon Catholics! He spoke of how Christ taught us to love our neighbor as ourselves (all outside of oneself is one's neighbor) as well as even to love our enemies (!). It is not possible to love and kill the same person at the same time. If God can make His sun and rain fall on the good and bad alike (as in Scripture), so great and equal handed is His love for ALL, made in His own image and likeness, then who are we to be above God?

         Once converted, Fr. George Zabelka went on the be an outspoken advocate for Christian nonviolence and nuclear disarmament. He and my father marched across Ohio together in the early 80's.

         My father, peace activist Tom Siemer, a Navy veteran, has spent the past 40+ years working tirelessly against weapons of mass destruction and for Christan nonviolence. He had previously spent 23 years working as a defense contractor in the military industrial complex (money-making with war products). He nearly died of cirrhosis of the liver, and given only a short time to live, from his guilt-ridden alcoholism over his part of the war machine. He asked God to spare him and promised to dedicate the rest of his life working for peace.
         The dynamite inventor/maker had the same crisis when he was thought to have died, and his obituary praised how he brought the explosive and destructive power of weapons to such a higher degree. He spent the rest of his life working for peace as well. His name was Arthur Nobel. My father has worked very hard for the past 40+ years to make up for his past. In fact, I have filled two thick binders of the newspaper articles and stories of protests, arrests, marches, and even a documentary centered around him called "Gods of Metal."
         He was more recently arrested for throwing red paint on the above mentioned "Enola Gay" airplane at the National Air and Space Museum on Washington, D.C. to symbolize the massive loss of innocent human lives at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Fr. McSorley, S.J. had taught him (even though he knew this): "He who chooses the lesser of two evils soon forgets he chose evil in the first place." There is always a third choice. Dad made a statement with the following: "...B-29 bombers were used to firebomb all other cities in Japan, killing over three million Japanese civilians. To praise the technology of the B-29 [and that of nuclear warheads] is like praising Hitler's poison of the gas chambers."

     

     
        My father saw the Enola Gay more recently in an exhibit at the Dulles Airport and the tour guide explained, "And this spot is where a protester broke a glass of red paint to symbolize the massive loss of innocent life that day." There is hope! While Dorothy Day did not herself believe in nor participate in civil disobence involving the harm or destruction of persons or possessions belonging to another ("Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," and that the end never justifies the means, the means and ends are equally holy), she came to respect people with the mentality who would say, destroy the Nazi files of those Jewish people that they are about to remove from their homes and send off to work (death) camps. All that was done to Jewish people in Catholic Germany was completely legal, even though inhumane, unethical, and immoral.

         Fr. Daniel Berrigan said in an interview for The Nation in 2008 the following: "Dorothy Day taught me more than all the theologians." Bravo to Cardinal Timothy Dolan for stepping up her cause for canonization in his April 19 article on the Archdiocese of New York website! He wants to press for interviews through the end of this year with those who knew her, attesting to her holiness of life.
        This was one month after I sent the medical records of my two surgeries with a cover letter to the priest collecting Dorothy Day information stationed at the New York office. We cannot find another survivor besides myself of anyone who has undergone this dangerous and risky procedure (of donating 59% of my liver to my nephew), requiring a second emergency surgery 3-5 days after, surviving. I relied on Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin's intercessory prayers. Because they helped me, hopefully this data will help the canonization process for both of them.
         Below is a picture Abby took of me last summer at the Mayo. She was my caregiver who was truly put through the ringer day and night! This was especially so when she had to keep a secret that I was to die, I believed, offering my life for Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin's canonization (coming through someone else) and for the Lamb Catholic Worker to begin in Columbus.

        Why is The Lamb Catholic Worker taking so long to begin? The intercessory prayers of Moses and Abraham have been added to that of Mary, St. Joseph, Dorothy Day, Peter Maurin and many others! Abraham had to wait approximately 15 more years, in old age, for Sara to conceive after being told he will be the father of many nations and peoples as numerous as the stars. Moses had it the worst though! He had to wait 40 years to get to the promised land, through harsh desert conditions involving many deaths, thirst, hunger, serpent bites, fatigue, and most of all, doubt of many around him (and probably of himself at times). I presume that was hardest of all with decades of time passing. I would have given up after 3 months in so dreadful of conditions with little provisions.
         What Fr. Schalk always says, to encourage me, is "Persevere!" What Fr. Denis Kigozi says is, "the Will of God is in the present, is only right in front of you. Looking back at regrets or forward with doubts and fears, this is not the Will of God. He puts right in your path and in your heart, what you are to do right here and right now."
        I will say that Benedictine crosses and Benedictine medals, blessed in the proper way with Benedictine prayers and holy water, are powerful! It is what our Vatican trained exorcists use against the evil one and his followers. Yes, these principalities truly do exist and the spiritual battle is going on constantly all around us. We do indeed need tools as channels of God's protection, to keep us from spiritual harm. St. Benedict tried to bring the level of holiness of higher levels of monasticism to the world and all the powers of hell tried to stop him. He was given these prayers, this medal and the Benedictine cross for special added protection. I recommend it!
         Many happenings give hope though! The fact that Dorothy Day is in the spotlight again, and we may have an answer after the end of this year about her moving forward to "Venerable" from "Servant of God" in the steps of canonization is marvelous. Also, the fact that it was a unanimous vote to open her cause for canonization of every U.S. Catholic bishop, archbishop, and cardinal in the United States a few years ago shows that the Spirit is moving strong.
          I gave my first talk at St. Mary Magdalene Church on Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement in March, with great encouragement. I have had priests over the years ask me to come and give a talk on her, but I decline because we are not doing it yet. I said yes only to see many faces at my alma mater.

        Moreover, people ask me about the progress all the time, wanting to volunteer once it gets going (a list of about 100 people!). The fact that our Catholic Times included this article about Fr. Daniel Berrigan gives much hope too! Many people do not know that Pope Emeritus Benedict talked of Dorothy Day two different times of day in his last day as pope, so badly did he want her name (and cause) remembered into the next papacy. This did not make it into many Catholic papers. The Holy Spirit is indeed moving, through the intercessory prayers of Mother Mary, St. Joseph, Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin.
         Another sign of hope: the Spirit has also been moving in the secular world! At one of the schools I have taught at, during the Winter Concert and to honor Martin Luther King Jr, the Columbus City School children (K-5 grades) belted out at the top of their lungs an anti-war song from the Isaiah quote above. Some day these songs will be sung at Catholic school functions too!
 Gonna layyy dowwwn my sword and shield,
Down by the riverside,
Down by the riverside,
Down by the riverside.
Gonna layyy dowwwn my sword and shield,
Down by the riverside,
Ain't gonna stuuuuudy warrrr no morrrre.
I ain't gonna study war no more.
I ain't gonna study war no more.
I ain't gonna stuuuudy warrrr noooo morre.
I ain't gonna study war no more.
I ain't gonna study war no more.
I ain't gonna stuuuudy warrrr noooo morre.
     A final note of hope for the world is the Holy Spirit moving strongly through my family, extended family, and especially through the Catholic Church in Columbus!  In 2017 it is the 50 anniversary of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, and much of this outpouring and outgrowth of faith in younger people's lives stem from their "old time charismatic" parents and grandparents, myself included!  I am 43 years in the Charismatic Movement and it is far from dead!
    Pope Francis was fairly neutral on this movement until he went to a mass where tens of thousands broke into intense, spirit-filled "tongues" at the consecration.  He felt, "Whooaa, there really is something to this!" He has been very supportive.  Just like when the Apostles and Mary in the upper room called out to receive the Holy Spirit, and His swooshing rush came through, so He does again and again and again.  Dorothy Day had even encouraged to become a part of a charismatic group, as Msgr. Marv Mottet, overseeing this Catholic Worker.
     One last example of hope for the world: the holiness of life of many of my nieces and nephews and children (and their friends).  These are people who love to get to daily mass, like Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, who get to Eucharistic Adoration at least once or twice a week, who pray many rosaries each week, have a fair amount of religious reading, pray a lot, and are very helpful to others. Most have gone several times in the summer to a rural poor Appalachian area in Kentucky/Portsmouth, Ohio with the Appalachia Project for a week.  They build room additions for needy families, fix plumbing, paint, even chop wood for the winter.  It is sort of a mini-Peace Corps right here.
     Nine have served for a 10-month stint with NET, the National Evangelization Team, and one additional one with Christ in the City in Denver, being one with the homeless people on the streets at night.  They are excited for the possibility of this Catholic Worker getting started, to help where they can.
     Six high schoolers have contacted the vocations office to become priests from the east side church where my son, Josh, and my niece Abby (my main caregiver at the Mayo) have been youth ministers for a while.  Heidi and Jotham (niece and nephew) have also been youth ministers there.  Abby recently got married (April 15). Her first date with her husband was last year, at a morning daily mass, followed by a rosary at Eucharistic Adoration.  Rumor has it that their first real kiss was on the altar a year later.  Abby and Matt were recently blessed by Pope Francis, their dream of dreams for a honeymoon.  The Holy Spirit is moving!