7 months ago: Sun, Feb 27, 2011 10:32am EST (Eastern Standard Time)
Only the Church? from La Sierra University Church on Vimeo.
Pastor Chris Oberg preaches during Church@9:30, February 26, 2011, "Only the Church?" 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.
Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Only the Church?
by La Sierra University Church
7 months ago: Sun, Feb 27, 2011 10:32am EST (Eastern Standard Time)
Pastor Chris Oberg preaches during Church@9:30, February 26, 2011, "Only the Church?" 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.
7 months ago: Sun, Feb 27, 2011 10:32am EST (Eastern Standard Time)
Pastor Chris Oberg preaches during Church@9:30, February 26, 2011, "Only the Church?" 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Occupy Wall Street, The Golden Calf and the New Idolatry
Donna Schaper
Senior Minister, Judson Memorial Church, Judson.org
Posted: 10/11/11 01:19 PM ET
When the paper Mache golden calf arrived at the church, it looked ever so much like the Wall Street Bull. I am not secretly cursing. The calf animal looked like a bull animal. Our choir director and one of our ministers carried it on their shoulders, from its rented van up Thompson Street, from Houston Street, into Judson Memorial Church around 8 p.m. on Saturday night. What surprised these two religious soldiers was how many people in the open bars recognized it immediately, "Why, that is the golden calf. You know, from the bible."
James Salt of Catholics United, who was on a spiritual retreat the weekend before, made the calf. He built and designed it within three days. Why? He was inspired by the actions of Occupy Wall Street and wanted to lend spiritual and biblical support. "Faith and Public Life" rented the van and brought it into town. We put it on our altar, and then carried it down to Wall Street on Sunday to feature it in our multifaith worship service. We are in the process of reproducing the calf as I write. Why? The Calf has returned to D.C. for the weekend's protests there.
When the original calf arrived in our empty sanctuary on Saturday night, about a dozen of us gathered to greet it. The artist was there as well to humbly tell us how he built it. We were moved to pray, which I have to admit is not something we do that often on Saturday nights. We took turns reading Exodus 32, verse by verse. We knew where to find the original golden calf story but we had rarely heard it in the context of paper mache, built into fifty pounds of calf. We started with verse one, how the Exodus people were disappointed with the same Moses who had taken them out of the wilderness. Then Aaron was summoned to leadership. Aaron plotted an overthrow of Moses by building a new altar, a golden calf, made from the earrings of the people. (Some biblical scholars argue that the women refused their jewelry. Who knows?) The people had a big expensive party in front of their handmade idol. Then Moses came back and destroyed the calf, begged God to repent of God's wrath against the people for their idolatry. Then the people repented. And God promised not to destroy them. We remain in prayer, as the calf of Wall Street is not yet in mothballs.
On Sunday, four strong men carried the calf on their shoulders, looking more like pallbearers in a street funeral than anything else. It was hot. They had yellow sponges to cushion the calf's blow to their shoulders. How they walked the two miles with the 50-pound paper Mache calf aloft is a matter of physics. But why they did it is a matter of the spirit. They suited up so reporters would not dare call them hippies. (There is nothing wrong with hippies except that people use them to stay distant from the Occupation Wall Street's general and universal message.) The pallbearers wanted to look like the Wall Street they protested. They marched and carried because they know what idolatry is. It is the replacement of a false God for a better one. Note I did not say true one. We all know how much we have internalized capitalism. We all know our distance from the truth. The 99% don't have an enemy in the 1% so much as a need to bring money in line with human values. Our multifaith service wanted to be sure not to resemble the punishmentalists or those who are absurdly sure about the divine or who like to find someone to blame for what has gone wrong. We went for the basics of our many faiths, the golden rule which is so distanced from and by the golden calf. "Do unto those downstream from you what you would have those upstream from you do to you." This rule applies to hippies, Republicans, church members, ministers, and financiers.
We all know how little Sabbath we keep, how frequently we let other people tell us our value, our place, our position. We all know how much we have let Wall Street control the conversation, alerting us that the market is "up" today or the market is "down." We brought the calf to Wall Street to confess our allegiance to false Gods and to announce that something was dying for us. That death is our own belief in the sacred calf of the Wall Street picture of the universe. The "mike check" was just the beginning of a new conversation, between and among people, about what is really important. What is important is people owning our own times, our own tongues, our own labor, our own worth. What is dead is Wall Street's control of the conversation and us.
Source
.
Senior Minister, Judson Memorial Church, Judson.org
Posted: 10/11/11 01:19 PM ET
When the paper Mache golden calf arrived at the church, it looked ever so much like the Wall Street Bull. I am not secretly cursing. The calf animal looked like a bull animal. Our choir director and one of our ministers carried it on their shoulders, from its rented van up Thompson Street, from Houston Street, into Judson Memorial Church around 8 p.m. on Saturday night. What surprised these two religious soldiers was how many people in the open bars recognized it immediately, "Why, that is the golden calf. You know, from the bible."
James Salt of Catholics United, who was on a spiritual retreat the weekend before, made the calf. He built and designed it within three days. Why? He was inspired by the actions of Occupy Wall Street and wanted to lend spiritual and biblical support. "Faith and Public Life" rented the van and brought it into town. We put it on our altar, and then carried it down to Wall Street on Sunday to feature it in our multifaith worship service. We are in the process of reproducing the calf as I write. Why? The Calf has returned to D.C. for the weekend's protests there.
When the original calf arrived in our empty sanctuary on Saturday night, about a dozen of us gathered to greet it. The artist was there as well to humbly tell us how he built it. We were moved to pray, which I have to admit is not something we do that often on Saturday nights. We took turns reading Exodus 32, verse by verse. We knew where to find the original golden calf story but we had rarely heard it in the context of paper mache, built into fifty pounds of calf. We started with verse one, how the Exodus people were disappointed with the same Moses who had taken them out of the wilderness. Then Aaron was summoned to leadership. Aaron plotted an overthrow of Moses by building a new altar, a golden calf, made from the earrings of the people. (Some biblical scholars argue that the women refused their jewelry. Who knows?) The people had a big expensive party in front of their handmade idol. Then Moses came back and destroyed the calf, begged God to repent of God's wrath against the people for their idolatry. Then the people repented. And God promised not to destroy them. We remain in prayer, as the calf of Wall Street is not yet in mothballs.
On Sunday, four strong men carried the calf on their shoulders, looking more like pallbearers in a street funeral than anything else. It was hot. They had yellow sponges to cushion the calf's blow to their shoulders. How they walked the two miles with the 50-pound paper Mache calf aloft is a matter of physics. But why they did it is a matter of the spirit. They suited up so reporters would not dare call them hippies. (There is nothing wrong with hippies except that people use them to stay distant from the Occupation Wall Street's general and universal message.) The pallbearers wanted to look like the Wall Street they protested. They marched and carried because they know what idolatry is. It is the replacement of a false God for a better one. Note I did not say true one. We all know how much we have internalized capitalism. We all know our distance from the truth. The 99% don't have an enemy in the 1% so much as a need to bring money in line with human values. Our multifaith service wanted to be sure not to resemble the punishmentalists or those who are absurdly sure about the divine or who like to find someone to blame for what has gone wrong. We went for the basics of our many faiths, the golden rule which is so distanced from and by the golden calf. "Do unto those downstream from you what you would have those upstream from you do to you." This rule applies to hippies, Republicans, church members, ministers, and financiers.
We all know how little Sabbath we keep, how frequently we let other people tell us our value, our place, our position. We all know how much we have let Wall Street control the conversation, alerting us that the market is "up" today or the market is "down." We brought the calf to Wall Street to confess our allegiance to false Gods and to announce that something was dying for us. That death is our own belief in the sacred calf of the Wall Street picture of the universe. The "mike check" was just the beginning of a new conversation, between and among people, about what is really important. What is important is people owning our own times, our own tongues, our own labor, our own worth. What is dead is Wall Street's control of the conversation and us.
Source
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New communication director appointed
Photo Source: Pablo Lillo
NEW COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR APPOINTED
18 Aug, 2011
By Jarrod Stackelroth
The South Pacific Division (SPD) has appointed James Standish as communication director to fill the role left vacant by previous director, David Gibbons, who resigned for personal reasons.
Mr Standish after moving back to Australia from the United States, recently took up the role of media ministries director for the Adventist Media Network.* Before moving, he was the director of Legislative Affairs at the General Conference (GC) and increased the profile of the organisation with the US government and the United Nations. While in this role, Mr Standish met with politicians and religious leaders from around the world, including two US presidents, Obama and Bush.
“His ability to network with politicians and influential leaders throughout the Pacific is a major advantage,“ said Neale Schofield, CEO of Adventist Media Network. “He has proven experience in increasing the Adventist church’s public profile with people in influential positions.”
“Church administration has complete confidence in him to manage any church crisis,” said Mr Schofield. “Not only is he a lawyer and a quick thinker, he has a great understanding of our church from the GC to local level in all the Divisions around the world.”
Although busy in the world of business and law, Mr Standish has always enjoyed working in the world of media and communication. “One thing I love doing more than anything is writing,” he said. “ I also enjoy doing television and radio.”
He has written a column for the Newsweek/Washington Post’s “On Faith” sitehttp://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/james_standish/ , created and co-hosted more than 100 episodes of a Hope Channel show called “Global Faith and Freedom”, and authored various journals articles and reports, some of which have been presented at the White House. While studying for his BBA at Newbold College, he was editor of the college newspaper, and held editorial roles at the University of Virginia, while completing his MBA, and at Georgetown University, while studying law.
With such an interesting and diverse career in the US, why come now? “We came back so our children could grow up near their extended family and so they could enjoy the unprecedented quality of life Australia offers,” said Mr Standish. “I’ve greatly enjoyed visits and working with church and political leaders in Papua New Guinea, the Solomons and Vanuatu and look forward to working closely with leaders across the Pacific.”
Mr Standish is also excited by the challenges the role presents. “I was ready for a new challenge professionally,” he said. “My perspective is that electronic media is the town square of today. If we don’t have a strong and effective voice, we don’t exist. Personal relationships are still the key but to have presence and impact in society we must have something more. The Adventist church globally is at a crossroads. We have not yet found a way to effectively communicate our message in highly developed, secular societies. I believe our best change of honing that message comes in the SPD. There is a willingness to innovate, a desire to reach and a team with a deep and broad skill set—these things are so necessary. I am looking forward to learning from and working together with the team, taking every opportunity to reach our societies.”
Mr Standish is married to Dr Leisa Standish, who is on the faculty at Macquarie University, and has two young daughters, Shea and Skye.
* If you are interested in the media ministries director role or know someone who might be, see the job description at http://www-adventistemployment-org-au.adventistconnect.org/vacant_positions/394
Source
FAFCE Conference on the contribution of “invisible work” to the creation of wealth
In the framework of the European Year of Volunteering and with regard to the recommendations of the Stiglitz report, the findings of the recent OECD report Cooking, Caring and Volunteering: Unpaid Work Around the World, and the EESC Opinions SOC/243, SOC/366 et SOC/399, theFAFCE organises a conference under the sponsorship of Group III of the European Economic and Social Committee on the contribution of « invisible work » to the creation of wealth – an added value to the social cohesion.
According to the OECD report mentioned above “household production constitutes an important aspect of economic activity and ignoring it may lead to incorrect inferences about levels and changes in well-being”.Volunteering, intergenerational solidarity, and mutual help and assistance are all favoured by family associations. In addition, the production of households is one of these kinds of “invisible work”, that contributes directly to social cohesion. Here, the OECD directly addresses the question of the inclusion of this invisible work in the evaluation of wealth of the society and the wellbeing of populations This question leads to others at the heart of an interrogation on social cohesion: are there any reasons to consider gratuitousness in economical terms? Is social cohesion measurable in economical terms? If so, which indicators should be integrated in the usual and existing measures of wellbeing and sustainable development in order to account for the richness of the factors that favour social cohesion? Should these indicators be stimulated and if so, how?
Registration before 10th October: www.fafce.org
Monday, October 10, 2011
Terrace tunes
Terrace tunes
Eighth-grader Mesha Lewis and the G.E. Peters Adventist School Steel Drum Orchestra perform outside the Adventist Church headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, Wednesday, September 14. It was the final day of the building's Summer Lunchtime Concert Series. [photo: Ansel Oliver]
http://news.adventist.org/
Eighth-grader Mesha Lewis and the G.E. Peters Adventist School Steel Drum Orchestra perform outside the Adventist Church headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, Wednesday, September 14. It was the final day of the building's Summer Lunchtime Concert Series. [photo: Ansel Oliver]
http://news.adventist.org/
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Related:
Related:
Bedlam of Noise -- The things you have described as taking place in Indiana, the Lord has shown me would take place just before the close of probation. Every uncouth thing will be demonstrated. There will be shouting, with drums, music, and dancing.
The senses of rational beings will become so confused that they cannot be trusted to make right decisions. And this is called the moving of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit never reveals itself in such methods, in such a bedlam of noise. This is an invention of Satan to cover up his ingenious methods for making of none effect the pure, sincere, elevating, ennobling, sanctifying truth for this time. Better never have the worship of God blended with music than to use musical instruments to do the work which last January was represented to me would be brought into our camp meetings. The truth for this time needs nothing of this kind in its work of converting souls. A bedlam of noise shocks the senses and perverts that which if conducted aright might be a blessing. The powers of satanic agencies blend with the din and noise, to have a carnival, and this is termed the Holy Spirit's working. . . .
No encouragement should be given to this kind of worship. The same kind of influence came in after the passing of the time in 1844. The same kind of representations were made. Men became excited, and were worked by a power thought to be the power of God.-- 2SM 36, 37.
Saturday, October 08, 2011
Wednesday, October 05, 2011
Busy September for Costa Rican volcanoes
- By Erik Klemetti
- October 4, 2011 |
- 4:56 am
Hard to believe we’ve already entered October, eh?
Some news on volcanic rumblings from Costa Rica:
The summit region of Costa Rica's Rincón de la Vieja in an undated image.
We tend to talk about three volcanoes in Costa Rica: the ever-active Arenal, the renewed Turrialba and Poás. Now we can add another volcano to the watch list, that being Rincón de la Vieja (see above). Like the other Costa Rican volcanoes, it is a composite volcano with overlapping craters at its summit. It is a hulk of a volcano with a total volume of over 130 km3 – and I love that the Global Volcanism Programsummary refers to it as the “Colossus of Guanacaste”. Most of the volcanoes known eruptions have been in the VEI 1-3 range until we get back to ~1820 BC, when a VEI 4 eruption produced pyroclastic flows. The volcano has seen somewhat-persistent fumarolic activity since its last eruptive period in 1995-98 with tremors reported in 2008. However, last month Rincón de la Vieja produced phreatic eruptionsthrough the small lake at the summit crater (see below). During the middle of September, small explosions, ash falls and fish kills were reported at the summit area of Rincón de la Vieja and a visit to the area by OVSICORI scientists revealed 10-15 cm layers of ash – mostly accidental sediment spit back out of the crater lake (pdf in spanish) – in the surrounding area. This new activity has prompted the government to limit access to Rincón de la Vieja and set up a new seismometer north of the volcano.
The crater lake at the summit of Rincón de la Vieja seen in mid-September, 2011. The debris on the edges of the lake were deposited in phreatic (steam-driven) explosions). Image from OVSICORI.
Meanwhile, at Poás, thecrater lake at the summit of that volcano (spanish) has dried up due to the elevated temperatures at the summit fumaroles. When the wind is low, steam plumes from the vigorous fumaroles can be seen in the nearby valleys. There was also an incandescent dome spotted in the last month at the volcano.Turrialba has also seen increase in activity as well. It has been producing light ash falls near the volcano, but theconstant release of volcanic gases such as sulfur dioxide have produced corrosion up to a few kilometers from the vent. Surprisingly, the poster child for Costa Rican volcanoes, Arenal, has been very quite of late, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t find amazing pictures of the volcano, showing the denuded flanks on the volcano mixed with the lush vegetation of the area.
Want to check out some of the activity? There are multiple webcams run by OVSICORI for Arenal, however, it looks like the webcam for Turrialba is out of commission right now. If you know of any other Costa Rica volcano webcams, let us know in the comments below!
Erik Klemetti is an assistant professor of Geosciences at Denison University. His passion in geology is volcanoes, and he has studied them all over the world. You can follow Erik on Twitter, where you'll get volcano news and the occasional baseball comment.
Follow @eruptionsblog on Twitter.
Follow @eruptionsblog on Twitter.
Source
Thousands of SUNY and CUNY Students to Walk-Out in Protest of Tuition Hikes, Cuts, and Debt
Published: 10/04 1:52 pm
Updated: 10/04 4:03 pm
From Binghamton NYSR:
In 2011 New York State cut the SUNY/CUNY budget by over $300 million, passed a 5-year automatic annual tuition hike, and cut the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) by $31 million. Thousands of students throughout SUNY and CUNY are being mobilized by New York Students Rising (NYSR) to oppose these massive cuts to Public Higher Education alongside tuition hikes, crushing student debt, and rising unemployment. On Wed. Oct. 5 at 1pm, students from across the state will orchestrate a state-wide student walk-out to oppose the drastic austerity measures that continue to undermine New York State’s young people. As our economy crumbles and public universities are forced to price out working class students, Governor Andrew Cuomo continues to support efforts to give tax breaks to the wealthy and undermine our public institutions. This event will also coincide with a large march in New York City organized by the Occupy Wall Street group to combat the rise of austerity and income inequality, where many CUNY students will join activists and labor unions in the streets of the financial district.
Across the state, NYSR demands the repeal of NYSUNY 2020 and the related tuition hikes, an increase of state funding to SUNY and CUNY to be financed through the an extended millionaires tax and enforced stock transfer tax, and, instead of cushioning the financial crisis on the backs of students and staff, we ask SUNY and CUNY to "Chop from the Top," reducing top administrator salaries by 2.5 to 5% percent in order to make up budget short falls. At Binghamton, we call on Interim President McGrath to give his $70,000 salary increase back to the university to help cover the budget cuts. Binghamton's NYSR affiliate Concerned Binghamton Students also organized last year's Rally Against Irresponsible Spending, part the National Day of Action for Public Education on October 7 2010.
WHEN: Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at 12 PM to 3 PM.
WHERE: Walkout beings out side the Library Tower at 12 PM; after marching around campus and rallying in the Cooper Administration Building, there will be a Teach In in Lecture Hall 7 at 2:15.
PARTICIPATING SUNY & CUNY CAMPUSES: University at Albany, Binghamton University, University at Buffalo, Purchase University, New Paltz University, Hunter College, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Brooklyn Community College, College of Staten Island, Bronx Community College, and CUNY Grad Center.
Source
Updated: 10/04 4:03 pm
From Binghamton NYSR:
In 2011 New York State cut the SUNY/CUNY budget by over $300 million, passed a 5-year automatic annual tuition hike, and cut the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) by $31 million. Thousands of students throughout SUNY and CUNY are being mobilized by New York Students Rising (NYSR) to oppose these massive cuts to Public Higher Education alongside tuition hikes, crushing student debt, and rising unemployment. On Wed. Oct. 5 at 1pm, students from across the state will orchestrate a state-wide student walk-out to oppose the drastic austerity measures that continue to undermine New York State’s young people. As our economy crumbles and public universities are forced to price out working class students, Governor Andrew Cuomo continues to support efforts to give tax breaks to the wealthy and undermine our public institutions. This event will also coincide with a large march in New York City organized by the Occupy Wall Street group to combat the rise of austerity and income inequality, where many CUNY students will join activists and labor unions in the streets of the financial district.
Across the state, NYSR demands the repeal of NYSUNY 2020 and the related tuition hikes, an increase of state funding to SUNY and CUNY to be financed through the an extended millionaires tax and enforced stock transfer tax, and, instead of cushioning the financial crisis on the backs of students and staff, we ask SUNY and CUNY to "Chop from the Top," reducing top administrator salaries by 2.5 to 5% percent in order to make up budget short falls. At Binghamton, we call on Interim President McGrath to give his $70,000 salary increase back to the university to help cover the budget cuts. Binghamton's NYSR affiliate Concerned Binghamton Students also organized last year's Rally Against Irresponsible Spending, part the National Day of Action for Public Education on October 7 2010.
WHEN: Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at 12 PM to 3 PM.
WHERE: Walkout beings out side the Library Tower at 12 PM; after marching around campus and rallying in the Cooper Administration Building, there will be a Teach In in Lecture Hall 7 at 2:15.
PARTICIPATING SUNY & CUNY CAMPUSES: University at Albany, Binghamton University, University at Buffalo, Purchase University, New Paltz University, Hunter College, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Brooklyn Community College, College of Staten Island, Bronx Community College, and CUNY Grad Center.
Source
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Protests against Wall Street spread across U.S.
By CHRIS HAWLEY, Associated Press
In Manhattan on Monday, hundreds of protesters dressed as corporate zombies in white face paint lurched past the New York Stock Exchange clutching fistfuls of fake money.
Some protesters likened themselves to the tea party movement — but with a liberal bent — or to the Arab Spring demonstrators who brought down their rulers in the Middle East.
The Occupy Wall Street protests started on Sept. 17 with a few dozen demonstrators who tried to pitch tents in front of the New York Stock Exchange. Since then, hundreds have set up camp in a park nearby and have become increasingly organized, lining up medical aid and legal help and printing their own newspaper, the Occupied Wall Street Journal.
About 100 demonstrators were arrested on Sept. 24 and some were pepper-sprayed. On Saturday police arrested 700 on charges of disorderly conduct and blocking a public street as they tried to march over the Brooklyn Bridge. Police said they took five more protesters into custody on Monday, though it was unclear whether they had been charged with any crime.
"At this point, we don't anticipate wider unrest," said Tim Flannelly, an FBI spokesman in New York, "but should it occur the city, including the NYPD and the FBI, will deploy any and all resources necessary to control any developments."
Flannelly said he does not expect the New York protests to develop into the often-violent demonstrations that have rocked cities in the United Kingdom since the summer. But he said the FBI is "monitoring the situation and will respond accordingly."
Wiljago Cook, of Oakland, Calif., who joined the New York protest on the first day, said she was shocked by the arrests.
City bus drivers sued the New York Police Department on Monday for commandeering their buses and making them drive to the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday to pick up detained protesters.
"We're down with these protesters. We support the notion that rich folk are not paying their fair share," said Transport Workers Union President John Samuelsen. "Our bus operators are not going to be pressed into service to arrest protesters anywhere."
The city's Law Department said the NYPD's actions were proper.
On Monday, the zombies stayed on the sidewalks as they wound through Manhattan's financial district chanting, "How to fix the deficit: End the war, tax the rich!" They lurched along with their arms in front of them. Some yelled, "I smell money!"
Reaction was mixed from passers-by.
Roland Klingman, who works in the financial industry and was wearing a suit as he walked through a raucous crowd of protesters, said he could sympathize with the anti-Wall Street message.
"I don't think it's directed personally at everyone who works down here," Klingman said. "If they believe everyone down here contributes to policy decisions, it's a serious misunderstanding."
Another man in a suit yelled at the protesters, "Go back to work!" He declined to be interviewed.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire who made his fortune as a corporate executive, has said the demonstrators are making a mistake by targeting Wall Street.
"The protesters are protesting against people who make $40- or $50,000 a year and are struggling to make ends meet. That's the bottom line. Those are the people who work on Wall Street or in the finance sector," Bloomberg said in a radio interview Friday.
Some protesters planned to travel to other cities to organize similar events.
John Hildebrand, a protester in New York from Norman, Okla., hoped to mount a protest there after returning home Tuesday. Julie Levine, a protester in Los Angeles, planned to go to Washington on Thursday.
Websites and Facebook pages with names like Occupy Boston and Occupy Philadelphia have also sprung up to plan the demonstrations.
Hundreds of demonstrators marched from a tent city on a grassy plot in downtown Boston to the Statehouse to call for an end of corporate influence of government.
"Our beautiful system of American checks and balances has been thoroughly trashed by the influence of banks and big finance that have made it impossible for the people to speak," said protester Marisa Engerstrom, of Somerville, Mass., a Harvard doctoral student.
Some stood on the sidewalk holding up signs, engaging in debate with passers-by and waving at honking cars. One man yelled "Go home!" from his truck. Another man made an obscene gesture.
Patrick Putnam, a 27-year-old chef from Framingham, Mass., said he's standing up for the 99% of Americans who have no say in what happens in government.
"We don't have voices, we don't have lobbyists, so we've been pretty much neglected by Washington," he said.
In Chicago, protesters beat drums on the corner near the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. In Los Angeles, demonstrators hoping to get TV coverage gathered in front of the courthouse where Michael Jackson's doctor is on trial on manslaughter charges.
Protesters in St. Louis stood on a street corner a few blocks from the shimmering Gateway Arch, carrying signs that read, "How Did The Cat Get So Fat?," "You're a Pawn in Their Game" and "We Want The Sacks Of Gold Goldman Sachs Stole From Us."
"Money talks, and it seems like money has all the power," said Apollonia Childs. "I don't want to see any homeless people on the streets, and I don't want to see a veteran or elderly people struggle. We all should have our fair share. We all vote, pay taxes. Tax the rich."
———
Verena Dobnik, Karen Matthews, Cristian Salazar and Jennifer Peltz in New York; Jim Suhr in St. Louis; David Sharp in Portland, Maine; Mark Pratt in Boston; Patrick Walters in Philadelphia; Pete Yost in Washington; Bill Draper in Kansas City, Mo.; Carla K. Johnson in Chicago, and Christina Hoag and Robert Jablon in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
By Charles Rex Arbogast, AP
Protesters gather on the corner of LaSalle and Jackson during an "Occupy Chicago" protest Monday, Oct. 3, 2011, in Chicago.
Demonstrations are expected to continue throughout the week as more groups hold organizational meetings and air their concerns on websites and through streaming video.
NEW YORK – Protests against Wall Street entered their 18th day Tuesday as demonstrators across the country show their anger over the wobbly economy and what they see as corporate greed by marching on Federal Reserve banks and camping out in parks from Los Angeles to Portland, Maine.
In Manhattan on Monday, hundreds of protesters dressed as corporate zombies in white face paint lurched past the New York Stock Exchange clutching fistfuls of fake money.
In Chicago, demonstrators pounded drums in the city's financial district. Others pitched tents or waved protest signs at passing cars in Boston, St. Louis, Kansas City, Mo., and Los Angeles.
A slice of America's discontented, from college students worried about their job prospects to middle-age workers who have been recently laid off, were galvanized after the arrests of 700 protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge over the weekend.
"We feel the power in Washington has actually been compromised by Wall Street," said Jason Counts, a computer systems analyst and one of about three dozen protesters in St. Louis. "We want a voice, and our voice has slowly been degraded over time."
The Occupy Wall Street protests started on Sept. 17 with a few dozen demonstrators who tried to pitch tents in front of the New York Stock Exchange. Since then, hundreds have set up camp in a park nearby and have become increasingly organized, lining up medical aid and legal help and printing their own newspaper, the Occupied Wall Street Journal.
About 100 demonstrators were arrested on Sept. 24 and some were pepper-sprayed. On Saturday police arrested 700 on charges of disorderly conduct and blocking a public street as they tried to march over the Brooklyn Bridge. Police said they took five more protesters into custody on Monday, though it was unclear whether they had been charged with any crime.
"At this point, we don't anticipate wider unrest," said Tim Flannelly, an FBI spokesman in New York, "but should it occur the city, including the NYPD and the FBI, will deploy any and all resources necessary to control any developments."
Flannelly said he does not expect the New York protests to develop into the often-violent demonstrations that have rocked cities in the United Kingdom since the summer. But he said the FBI is "monitoring the situation and will respond accordingly."
Wiljago Cook, of Oakland, Calif., who joined the New York protest on the first day, said she was shocked by the arrests.
"Exposing police brutality wasn't even really on my agenda, but my eyes have been opened," she said. She vowed to stay in New York "as long as it seems useful."
City bus drivers sued the New York Police Department on Monday for commandeering their buses and making them drive to the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday to pick up detained protesters.
"We're down with these protesters. We support the notion that rich folk are not paying their fair share," said Transport Workers Union President John Samuelsen. "Our bus operators are not going to be pressed into service to arrest protesters anywhere."
The city's Law Department said the NYPD's actions were proper.
On Monday, the zombies stayed on the sidewalks as they wound through Manhattan's financial district chanting, "How to fix the deficit: End the war, tax the rich!" They lurched along with their arms in front of them. Some yelled, "I smell money!"
Reaction was mixed from passers-by.
Roland Klingman, who works in the financial industry and was wearing a suit as he walked through a raucous crowd of protesters, said he could sympathize with the anti-Wall Street message.
"I don't think it's directed personally at everyone who works down here," Klingman said. "If they believe everyone down here contributes to policy decisions, it's a serious misunderstanding."
Another man in a suit yelled at the protesters, "Go back to work!" He declined to be interviewed.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire who made his fortune as a corporate executive, has said the demonstrators are making a mistake by targeting Wall Street.
"The protesters are protesting against people who make $40- or $50,000 a year and are struggling to make ends meet. That's the bottom line. Those are the people who work on Wall Street or in the finance sector," Bloomberg said in a radio interview Friday.
Some protesters planned to travel to other cities to organize similar events.
John Hildebrand, a protester in New York from Norman, Okla., hoped to mount a protest there after returning home Tuesday. Julie Levine, a protester in Los Angeles, planned to go to Washington on Thursday.
Websites and Facebook pages with names like Occupy Boston and Occupy Philadelphia have also sprung up to plan the demonstrations.
Hundreds of demonstrators marched from a tent city on a grassy plot in downtown Boston to the Statehouse to call for an end of corporate influence of government.
"Our beautiful system of American checks and balances has been thoroughly trashed by the influence of banks and big finance that have made it impossible for the people to speak," said protester Marisa Engerstrom, of Somerville, Mass., a Harvard doctoral student.
The Boston demonstrators decorated their tents with hand-written signs reading, "Fight the rich, not their wars" and "Human need, not corporate greed."
Some stood on the sidewalk holding up signs, engaging in debate with passers-by and waving at honking cars. One man yelled "Go home!" from his truck. Another man made an obscene gesture.
Patrick Putnam, a 27-year-old chef from Framingham, Mass., said he's standing up for the 99% of Americans who have no say in what happens in government.
"We don't have voices, we don't have lobbyists, so we've been pretty much neglected by Washington," he said.
In Chicago, protesters beat drums on the corner near the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. In Los Angeles, demonstrators hoping to get TV coverage gathered in front of the courthouse where Michael Jackson's doctor is on trial on manslaughter charges.
Protesters in St. Louis stood on a street corner a few blocks from the shimmering Gateway Arch, carrying signs that read, "How Did The Cat Get So Fat?," "You're a Pawn in Their Game" and "We Want The Sacks Of Gold Goldman Sachs Stole From Us."
"Money talks, and it seems like money has all the power," said Apollonia Childs. "I don't want to see any homeless people on the streets, and I don't want to see a veteran or elderly people struggle. We all should have our fair share. We all vote, pay taxes. Tax the rich."
———
Verena Dobnik, Karen Matthews, Cristian Salazar and Jennifer Peltz in New York; Jim Suhr in St. Louis; David Sharp in Portland, Maine; Mark Pratt in Boston; Patrick Walters in Philadelphia; Pete Yost in Washington; Bill Draper in Kansas City, Mo.; Carla K. Johnson in Chicago, and Christina Hoag and Robert Jablon in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
National Student Walk-out Day October 5th/Occupy movement
Against unforgivable student debt and soaring tuition prices
posted 1 day ago
National Student Walk-Out Day
Against unforgivable student debt and soaring tuition rates
Visit for more information:
nystudentsrising.org
studentsunitedforafreecuny.wordrpess.com
takebackbrooklyn.wordpress.com
resistandmultiply.wordpress.com
Against unforgivable student debt and soaring tuition rates
Visit for more information:
nystudentsrising.org
studentsunitedforafreecuny.wordrpess.com
takebackbrooklyn.wordpress.com
resistandmultiply.wordpress.com
This is part of the Occupy Wall Street movement which is part of a wider movement tied in to the protests in Egypt, Spain, and more to fight for the voice of the people and not just the elite 1%.
How many friends do you have, or people do you know who have graduated from an institution of higher learning, who have no job, a part time job, an underpaid job, or a job not related to their field?
This walk out day is a demonstration to the institutions, but more importantly to our government and our economic sector that we as Americans, as students and as people striving to be productive members of society deserve a say in the way things are run!
Also check out....
occupywallst.org
october2011.org
nycga.cc
occupytogether.org
Read up on the new fiscal years Austerity budget plans, plans to cut back on consumer spending, and provide UNLIMITED funds to corporations and war!
Fight back against the machine, don't just skip class...email your professors and explain why you aren't coming, see if they'll help you. Ask if you can turn in work via email and find out what you may miss. If you are daring and feel like you need to let the world know that it's time for change, join the OccupyDC movement this Thursday, October 6th, or help create the movement in the making for Baltimore!
This is not a solicitation to be a radical or to skip out on your duties as a college student, this is a solicitation to take a stand for human needs, a stand for what we as the people of this nation, the next generation of our world need and deserve, our lives, our liberties, and our pursuit of happiness!
Monday, October 03, 2011
Justices attend toned-down Red Mass
By Laurie Ure, CNN Producer
updated 6:35 PM EST, Sun October 2, 2011
Supreme Court justices attend the annual Red Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington on Sunday.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Previous Masses have dealt with abortion, separation of church and state
Critics say it's inappropriate for justices to attend
Service is meant to invoke God's blessings on public officials
Group started holding Mass in 1953
Washington (CNN) -- A half dozen Supreme Court justices, hundreds of members of the legal profession and other dignitaries attended the annual Red Mass in Washington Sunday to hear what amounted to an uncharacteristically noncontroversial service.
Chief Justice John Roberts joined associate justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Stephen Breyer and Samuel Alito for the service at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, a beautifully ornate church located a few blocks from the White House. All are Roman Catholic except Breyer, who is Jewish. The current Supreme Court is composed of six Catholics and three Jews.
The purpose of the Red Mass -- so named because of the color of the garments worn by clergy -- is to "invoke God's blessings on those responsible for the administration of justice as well as on all public officials," according to the John Carroll Society, a lay Catholic group of prominent lawyers and professionals, which started the Mass in 1953.
The Mass is celebrated traditionally on the Sunday before the first Monday in October, which marks the beginning of the Supreme Court's annual term.
Critics have called the attendance of leading decision-makers, including members of the highest court in the land, inappropriate. They see the services as an unhealthy mix of politics, the law and religion. The Mass is a Catholic service, but power brokers of other faiths are asked to attend the invitation-only event.
Sunday's attendees included Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and White House Chief of Staff William Daley.
Archbishop of Seattle Peter Sartain gave this year's sermon, which was largely devoid of controversy, telling those in attendance that "we are not fully alive, even if we follow a balanced, healthy lifestyle ... unless we give ourselves to someone beyond ourselves."
"In the end, it is in our relationship with the Lord in which we find the spiritual health that reveals and makes possible true balance, true integrity," Sartain said.
However, at one point in the service after the main sermon during what's called the Prayer of the Faithful, Montgomery County, Maryland, Circuit Court Associate Judge Joseph Quirk made a quick reference to the unborn, reciting a short prayer, "We pray for the inevitable right to life for every human being."
See some of the important cases the court will consider
Archdiocese of Washington spokeswoman Chieko Noguchi Scheve said the prayer readings are determined before the service by the John Carroll Society.
Past homilies by individual speakers have lamented the high court's ruling legalizing abortion and the constitutional separation of church and state, prompting one justice to stop going.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg attended Red Masses in the past, but has said she grew tired of being lectured by Catholic officials. Ginsburg, like Breyer and Associate Justice Elena Kagan, is Jewish.
"I went one year, and I will never go again, because this sermon was outrageously anti-abortion," Ginsburg said in the book "Stars of David: Prominent Jews talk About Being Jewish" by author Abigail Pogrebin. "Even the Scalias - although they're much of that persuasion - were embarrassed for me."
CNN Supreme Court Producer Bill Mears contributed to this report.
Source
.
updated 6:35 PM EST, Sun October 2, 2011
Supreme Court justices attend the annual Red Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington on Sunday.STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Previous Masses have dealt with abortion, separation of church and state
Critics say it's inappropriate for justices to attend
Service is meant to invoke God's blessings on public officials
Group started holding Mass in 1953
Washington (CNN) -- A half dozen Supreme Court justices, hundreds of members of the legal profession and other dignitaries attended the annual Red Mass in Washington Sunday to hear what amounted to an uncharacteristically noncontroversial service.
Chief Justice John Roberts joined associate justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Stephen Breyer and Samuel Alito for the service at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, a beautifully ornate church located a few blocks from the White House. All are Roman Catholic except Breyer, who is Jewish. The current Supreme Court is composed of six Catholics and three Jews.
The purpose of the Red Mass -- so named because of the color of the garments worn by clergy -- is to "invoke God's blessings on those responsible for the administration of justice as well as on all public officials," according to the John Carroll Society, a lay Catholic group of prominent lawyers and professionals, which started the Mass in 1953.
The Mass is celebrated traditionally on the Sunday before the first Monday in October, which marks the beginning of the Supreme Court's annual term.
Critics have called the attendance of leading decision-makers, including members of the highest court in the land, inappropriate. They see the services as an unhealthy mix of politics, the law and religion. The Mass is a Catholic service, but power brokers of other faiths are asked to attend the invitation-only event.
Sunday's attendees included Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and White House Chief of Staff William Daley.
Archbishop of Seattle Peter Sartain gave this year's sermon, which was largely devoid of controversy, telling those in attendance that "we are not fully alive, even if we follow a balanced, healthy lifestyle ... unless we give ourselves to someone beyond ourselves."
"In the end, it is in our relationship with the Lord in which we find the spiritual health that reveals and makes possible true balance, true integrity," Sartain said.
However, at one point in the service after the main sermon during what's called the Prayer of the Faithful, Montgomery County, Maryland, Circuit Court Associate Judge Joseph Quirk made a quick reference to the unborn, reciting a short prayer, "We pray for the inevitable right to life for every human being."
See some of the important cases the court will consider
Archdiocese of Washington spokeswoman Chieko Noguchi Scheve said the prayer readings are determined before the service by the John Carroll Society.
Past homilies by individual speakers have lamented the high court's ruling legalizing abortion and the constitutional separation of church and state, prompting one justice to stop going.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg attended Red Masses in the past, but has said she grew tired of being lectured by Catholic officials. Ginsburg, like Breyer and Associate Justice Elena Kagan, is Jewish.
"I went one year, and I will never go again, because this sermon was outrageously anti-abortion," Ginsburg said in the book "Stars of David: Prominent Jews talk About Being Jewish" by author Abigail Pogrebin. "Even the Scalias - although they're much of that persuasion - were embarrassed for me."
CNN Supreme Court Producer Bill Mears contributed to this report.
Source
.
Red Mass Marks Start of Supreme Court Session
October 2, 2011, 7:16 pm
By WILL STOREY
In 58 years, the Red Mass, held the first Sunday of October at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington to kick off the Supreme Court session, has gone from a token ritual to a power conclave.
When the Mass started in 1953, there were no Catholic members of the Supreme Court. The service’s traditional “Catholic seat” had to be filled at the time by Justice Sherman Minton, a Protestant whose wife was Catholic. Today, there are six Catholic justices, three Jewish justices and, for the first time in history, no Protestant justices.
On Sunday, the ceremony was attended by five of the Catholic justices — Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Anthony Kennedy — plus Justice Stephen Breyer, who is Jewish. (Justices of other faiths sometimes attend as a sign of respect.)
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the sixth and least conservative Catholic on the court, did not attend. Neither did Justice Elena Kagan, who is Jewish, or Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who came once and was so offended by the “outrageously anti-abortion” homily that she never returned.
There was also a weighty Catholic contingent from the executive branch — the White House chief of staff Bill Daley, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta — listening to Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle give a homily emphasizing a quality that bickering politicians in Washington often
lack: humility.
The archbishop did not follow in the fiery footsteps of clerics presiding in the past who took the opportunity to lecture the high-profile audience on the evils of abortion, gay marriage and humanism. He dwelt instead on “the importance of the perfection and integration which self-forgetfulness, generosity and humility bring to a life of Christian service.” The abortion issue was touched on, however, by an associate judge from Montgomery County, Md., who led the congregation in a prayer and stated, “We pray for the inevitable right to life for every human being.”
The Red Mass, a tradition that dates to Europe in the Middle Ages, usually coincides with the beginning of judicial calendars. It is designed as a blessing and a call for God to bestow wisdom upon judges and lawmakers for the coming year. It takes its name from red garments worn by attending clergymen, symbolizing the fire of the
Holy Spirit. Similar ceremonies are held in Britain, France, Italy and across the United States.
The Red Mass has managed to stay under the radar, except when it was the subject of an episode of the television show “The West Wing.” Pressed by his aide Charlie Young about the breach in the separation of church and state, President Bartlet, who was Catholic, offered a lesson in Washington pragmatism: “How isn’t it a constitutional issue? It is. But sometimes you say ‘Big deal.’ ”
Source
.
By WILL STOREY
In 58 years, the Red Mass, held the first Sunday of October at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington to kick off the Supreme Court session, has gone from a token ritual to a power conclave.
When the Mass started in 1953, there were no Catholic members of the Supreme Court. The service’s traditional “Catholic seat” had to be filled at the time by Justice Sherman Minton, a Protestant whose wife was Catholic. Today, there are six Catholic justices, three Jewish justices and, for the first time in history, no Protestant justices.
On Sunday, the ceremony was attended by five of the Catholic justices — Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Anthony Kennedy — plus Justice Stephen Breyer, who is Jewish. (Justices of other faiths sometimes attend as a sign of respect.)
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the sixth and least conservative Catholic on the court, did not attend. Neither did Justice Elena Kagan, who is Jewish, or Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who came once and was so offended by the “outrageously anti-abortion” homily that she never returned.
There was also a weighty Catholic contingent from the executive branch — the White House chief of staff Bill Daley, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta — listening to Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle give a homily emphasizing a quality that bickering politicians in Washington often
lack: humility.
The archbishop did not follow in the fiery footsteps of clerics presiding in the past who took the opportunity to lecture the high-profile audience on the evils of abortion, gay marriage and humanism. He dwelt instead on “the importance of the perfection and integration which self-forgetfulness, generosity and humility bring to a life of Christian service.” The abortion issue was touched on, however, by an associate judge from Montgomery County, Md., who led the congregation in a prayer and stated, “We pray for the inevitable right to life for every human being.”
The Red Mass, a tradition that dates to Europe in the Middle Ages, usually coincides with the beginning of judicial calendars. It is designed as a blessing and a call for God to bestow wisdom upon judges and lawmakers for the coming year. It takes its name from red garments worn by attending clergymen, symbolizing the fire of the
Holy Spirit. Similar ceremonies are held in Britain, France, Italy and across the United States.
The Red Mass has managed to stay under the radar, except when it was the subject of an episode of the television show “The West Wing.” Pressed by his aide Charlie Young about the breach in the separation of church and state, President Bartlet, who was Catholic, offered a lesson in Washington pragmatism: “How isn’t it a constitutional issue? It is. But sometimes you say ‘Big deal.’ ”
Source
.
Sunday, October 02, 2011
At DC Red Mass, A Call "To Do the Good"
Sunday, October 02, 2011
Per tradition, this morning's 58th edition of the Washington Red Mass in St Matthew's Cathedral took place before a 5-justice majority of the Supreme Court, and an assortment of other top officials, including Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley.
As previously noted, though, the day's prime turn fell to this year's guest-preacher: Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle.
Here below, Sartain's fulltext (emphases original).
* * *
When I bought my first pair of Asics running shoes many years ago, I noticed a familiar Latin maxim on the box – “Anima sana in corpore sano” – and soon realized much to my amazement that the name “Asics” is in fact an acronym for that very maxim. It is a variation on “Mens sana in corpore sano,” usually translated, “A sound mind in a sound body.”
The Roman poet and satirist Juvenalis (55-127 A.D.) is usually credited with the saying, and his point is a good one. People of every age have championed the value of a healthy body, even if notions of health and beauty have varied greatly through the centuries. The body/mind connection is a reminder that we are whole persons, that one aspect of living directly affects the others. Physical, intellectual, and psychological health go hand-in- hand. We live more serenely, think more clearly and work more energetically when we take care of our bodies – when we literally put our Asics to use.
It is interesting that Asics chose “anima” over “mens” for its corporate slogan, because while “mens” usually referred to the mind in its intellectual aspects, “anima” referred to the more encompassing “vital principal” of life, the “breath of life,” one’s “heart,” and one’s overall sense of well-being. In fact, “anima” is the word used for “soul” in the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible, in Church writings and in the liturgy.
Juvenalis was not a Christian, but his famous maxim certainly lends itself to an essential Christian application: “A sound soul in a sound body.” We do well to remember that there is something deep within, something all-encompassing and literally life-giving, the very life-principle that makes the body human, which begs for attention, discipline and nourishment: our soul.
Juvenalis was just a kid as St. Paul was drawing near his martyr’s death, but Paul was keenly aware of the influence of comparable writers and thinkers in Greco-Roman culture. They shaped in part the environment into which the Lord sent him to preach the gospel, and it was critical to his mission to be familiar with them. Paul was a master of observation when it came to culture, law, language, philosophy – and yes, athletics – and put to work his highly-honed skills when framing the proclamation of the Christian message.
He borrowed from Stoic thought to exhort the Christian community in the Roman colony of Philippi to live a life of integrity:
“...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8).
A sound, healthy soul will be truly nourished only by the good and the beautiful, the noble and the pure. A Christian cannot live a life of integrity or peace when wittingly or unwittingly stuffing oneself with or indifferently absorbing the superficial and the fleeting. Moreover, one cannot hope to be healthy or to do well in one area of life when the rest of life is malnourished. The Desert Father Poemen said, “Do not give your heart to that which does not satisfy your heart.”
St. Paul recognized that Christian freedom is not only freedom “from” the constraints of sin but freedom “for” positive striving for fulfillment in Christ, a natural and critical outgrowth of faith and one’s desire to live life to the full, peacefully and integrally.
He also knew that at the heart of the Gospel is a mandate which both draws challengingly on the deepest resources of human freedom and opens up for the individual and for society the most complete fulfillment possible: and that is the spirit of loving self-giving, made manifest in acts – in lives – of total sacrifice.
As human persons we are not fully alive – even if we follow a balanced, healthy lifestyle and nourish ourselves with all that is good and beautiful in culture – unless we live for something beyond ourselves, unless we give ourselves to Someone beyond ourselves. It was that spirit, that stance, in Solomon which caught God’s eye:
“Because you have not asked for a long life for yourself, nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies, but for understanding so that you may know what is right – I do as you requested. I give you a heart so wise and understanding that there has never been anyone like you up to now, and after you there will come no one to equal you” (1 Kings 3:11-12).
Solomon desired to use his gifts for others – literally for the good of his people, who were, after all, God’s people – and thus for the purpose for which God gives every one of his gifts. It is love which makes the using of one’s gifts perfect; it is love which makes the gift of oneself beautiful in the eyes of God; it is love which best manifests the presence of God in our personal and public lives. This love is not just altruism. Rather, it is conscious participation in the sacrificial love of Christ, which the Christian disciple realizes he or she is called to communicate and proclaim – in everything.
It is impossible to overstate the importance of the perfection and integration which self-forgetfulness, generosity, and humility bring to a Christian’s life of service. Why? Because these virtues manifest our desire not just to do well, but to do the good and to deliberately manifest in our lives the One Who Is Good. We can barely grasp the extraordinary depth of God’s humility, the infinity of his love, and the mind-boggling truth that he has invited us to share in his very life and in his care for his people.
Try as I might to wrap my mind and heart around the image that Jesus presents in the gospel passage we have just heard, I am always utterly astounded and speechless when I picture it:
“Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them” (Luke 12:37).
The Lord Jesus, having left us “in charge” until his return, will himself return – but still a servant, ever a servant, with perfect love and unimaginable humility – and will serve us at table. It could not be otherwise for the One who “came to serve” and to “give his life as a ransom.” Likewise, it cannot be otherwise for us who are his disciples. St. Augustine writes,
“...the Christ who is preached throughout the world is not Christ adorned with an earthly crown, nor Christ rich in earthly treasures, but Christ crucified... Thus, at length, the pride of this world was convinced that, even among the things of this world, there is nothing more powerful than the humility of God” (see Epistle 232:5, 6).
In the end, it is in our relationship with the Lord that we find the spiritual health that reveals and makes possible true balance, true integrity. We are speaking here not of a formula, and certainly not of self-improvement: we are speaking instead of lives lived in God, for others. It is God who created us who makes us complete, and it is a life lived in humble union with the servant-Savior that literally does the most good.
A sound soul in a sound body makes for a balanced life, a life of integrity. And such sound, integrally healthy lives given to public service lift up and transform society. And consciously committed lives of discipleship reveal the living, saving presence of the humble Savior who gives himself as food to those who are his own. It is his love, his sacrifice which sets the standard for every life of humble service – and thus it is a living relationship with him that integrates our lives and makes them truly healthy. That is what we call holiness.
My sisters and brothers, we who are here this day know that it is from God that we come and toward God that we are headed. Each of us, according to the calling given us, has been put “in charge” of the Lord’s vineyard. The vineyard is his, we are his, and those we serve are his. And we pray that we will be humble servants like him, who seek to do only his good. It is that for which we were made – and it is that for which we are sent into the world. Amen.
PHOTO: Reuters
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posted by Rocco Palmo at 12:48
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