Religion

Mike Boover:

A Mass of Holy Remembrance for Tom Lewis will be celebrated tomorrow (Friday the 17th) at 7:15 PM at the Mustard Seed CW (93 Piedmont Street, Worcester) followed by the film, “Investigation of a Flame”…. and good conversaton following that! Please join us if the Spirit moves you!

Today is the anniversary of the Catonsville Nine action, when in 1968 nine Americans (including the late Tom Lewis) napalmed draft records.

Tom left us years ago, but he’s still in the news, most recently for his “role” last July in the “Transform Now Plowshares” action:

They poured and splashed blood that had once been in the veins of a painter-activist named Tom Lewis, one of the Catonsville Nine who, on Hiroshima Day 1987, hammered on the bomb racks of an anti-submarine plane at the South Weymouth Naval Air Station near Boston. In 2008, Lewis died in his sleep, and his blood was frozen so that he might one day participate in one last Plowshares action.

(The Transform Now activists currently await sentencing.)

Two items from the weekend.

The body of Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev has been at the Graham Putnam & Mahoney funeral home for the past few days. There have been small protests outside from time to time, and a visible police presence. I was shocked when I first heard about this, much less so when I heard that the saintly/cranky Peter Stefan was behind it. The Catholic Worker community is organizing a vigil Tuesday in support of burial of the dead (one of the Christian works of mercy.) More at the end of this post.

T&G:

For some 25 years, Mr. Stefan said, the Main South funeral home has dealt with burying the poor, the unwanted and even murderers. Because of that, Mr. Stefan said he’s even been involved in burials that took place well into the night.

Charles Pierce, Esquire: “Stop making jackasses of yourself in front of the entire nation.”

Dianne Williamson: Innocence, terror lay side-by-side at Worcester funeral home

Also, it’s being reported today that Worcester Bishop McManus “was arrested Saturday night in Narragansett, R.I., charged with drunken driving and refusing a chemical test”.

Bishop McManus released a statement this morning: “On Saturday evening, May 4, I made a terrible error in judgment by driving after having consumed alcohol with dinner. There is no excuse for the mistake I made, only a commitment to make amends and accept the consequences of my action. More importantly, I ask forgiveness from the good people whom I serve, as well as my family and friends, in the Diocese of Worcester and the Diocese of Providence.”

Initial reaction in the diocese appeared supportive.

“Like any brother in our family that this could happen to, I would support him,” said the Rev. John Madden, pastor of St. John’s Church in downtown Worcester. “All of us have made mistakes in judgment. Like he’s said, we can only apologize and make amends.”

Update: In RI court, Bishop McManus pleads not guilty to DUI

Read the rest of this entry »

There is no liberty that is more important to liberalism than the freedom to form, embrace, criticize, reject, and revise theories of every sort, especially political theories. For this reason it is misguided to suppose the liberal defense of civil liberties is well served by drawing a perimeter of privacy around “comprehensive moral views,” about which disagreement is expected, leaving theories of justice in the public realm, on the other side of the perimeter. It must be expected that in a liberal society political theories, like other moral, religious, and philosophical theories, not only may but will be objects of persistent disagreement. The consensus that a liberal political system certainly needs for its good order will have to be much less theoretical, and perhaps less tidy, than many have supposed. It will involve, most obviously, an agreement on a set of laws, especially constitutional laws, and a sharing of certain customs and habits of political behavior.

Fortunately, such agreement is possible and adequate. Those who have enjoyed the benefits of civil liberties, and the non-violent political participation made possible by democracy, generally recognize the advantages of the requisite agreed arrangements. And, in fact, it is at least as true of any society as it is of a human individual that its integration cannot be the integration of a theory. Even in a society ostensibly governed by an official ideology, most people are likely not to understand the ideology very well; and among those who understand it better, there will probably be implicit if not explicit differences in interpretation. There will also surely be interests and pressures within the society that are by no means in harmony with the ideology.

– Robert Merrihew Adams, A Theory of Virtue, ISBN 0-19-920751-8, pages 225 to 226.

From a WATCH: Women and the Church prayer card.

Request or command? Obedience or elated acceptance?
Surprise us, O God with your demands.
Inspire us with your grace.
With Mary, enable your Church to respond with
courage and joy, to new challenges and opportunities.
May the leadership of women as bearers of your Word
and nurturers of Christ’s body be welcomed amongst us.
– Nikki Arthy

The Lord GOD has given me
a well-trained tongue,
that I might know how to speak to the weary
a word that will rouse them.
–Isaiah 50:4

Palm Sunday mass is complicated for a lector. Not only is there an initial entrance into the church with blessed palms, but the Gospel is read like a play, with parts played by the priest, various deacons and lectors, sometimes people selected from the congregation, and even the congregation itself (roaring “Crucify him! Crucify him!”).

When I was first learning to be a lector as a teen, Palm Sunday was my trial by fire. Fr. Ed Bell gave constant feedback in the form of smiles and dirty looks. He always presided over a great mass, and I think his priority was never individual excellence or self-expression, but universal competence. If the details are attended to, the mass will be not only worshipful but nourishing to the heart.

I was a lector tonight at St. Peter’s, and it went great. I appreciated that Deacon Reisinger, in his homily, drew out one of the lessons of Easter, that “hope springs forth,” and connected it to the wonderful event of the election of Pope Francis.

Read the rest of this entry »

Today Bishop McManus said mass at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Worcester to celebrate the election of Pope Francis.

In his homily, the bishop said:

It seems to be true, very true, that God gives the Church what the Church needs at this time.

The bishop highlighted the new pope’s South American origins and his asking for the people’s blessing before blessing them at the announcement of his election.

I believe what the Church needs desperately at this moment is another Francis Xavier . . . a man who knows first-hand what it is to be a missionary.

These were very appropriate remarks for a celebration. I appreciated the recognition that “this moment” is a crucial one. Maybe it’s a sign of my pessimism and anxiety about the hierarchy that my own thoughts kept drifting to unresolved questions about Pope Francis’s past actions under the Argentine dictatorship, and whether he will be willing and able to take bold action on the child sex abuse crisis.

Update: The Catholic Free Press has non-cellphone pix of the mass and lots of local reaction.

Read the rest of this entry »

Today this blog outlives one whole papacy.

The OSCE has relaunched its magazine as Security Community. Get your free copy here.

City Councilor Konnie Lukes, in Worcester Magazine:

It was clearly a publicity stunt geared to embarrass police and the city. I’ll leave it to [the police department's] judgment as to how they handle it.

Police Chief Gemme:

We were made aware that there would be a peaceful protest focusing on poverty and the panhandling ordinance. Based on the communication that we received from Saint Francis & Therese Catholic Worker, we know that the protesters are well aware of the ordinance and we gave them latitude to peacefully conduct their protest.

Our approach to panhandling has been stated publicly. Our focus has been on education and gaining voluntary compliance. If enforcement action is necessary, we will take it . . . But we will not make arrests for the sake of making arrests.

Today, between 1:00 PM and 2:00 PM there were 21 calls for service throughout the city. None of these calls were regarding panhandling. During this time period, we directed our limited resources where they were most needed. We used discretion to monitor the protest, and our decisions were made in the best interest of the entire community.

As much as I’d like to quibble with these words, I’m not going to do that, because the upshot of the city’s actions is so interesting.
Read the rest of this entry »

In an act of civil disobedience against Worcester’s new anti-panhandling ordinances, three Worcester residents today begged for money on the median in Lincoln Square, directly across from police headquarters. The event was held on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, which Christians mark with prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

Gordon Davis, a blind anti-discrimination advocate, held a bucket reading BLIND and represented the disabled. Scott Schaeffer-Duffy, a Catholic Worker who has housed the homeless in Worcester for decades, was dressed as St. Francis, himself a beggar. Robert Peters, a long-time Buddhist meditator, dressed in the robes he wears as a lay Buddhist.

At least four people called the police to complain. According to the supporters demonstrating legally on the nearby sidewalk, the only police response was one officer giving the thumbs-up when he drove by.

In a statement, Chief Gemme said that “Today, between 1 and 2 p.m. there were 21 calls for service throughout the city. None of these calls were regarding panhandling.” (I’m not sure what the difference is between a call for service and these calls. Maybe there were 21 911 issues?)

None of the beggars was arrested, cited, or warned. “This is a victory for Worcester,” said Schaeffer-Duffy.

Womag has more pix. The T&G reports “$14.68 collected,” all of which will go directly to those in need.

Facebook is a great thing to “give up” for Lent. It’s not the worst thing I can do with my time, but the line between “connecting with friends” and “spending an hour clicking aimlessly” is easily crossed.

Back when I was a big TV watcher, giving up TV for Lent always seemed like a good idea, but not a very practical one. Even if the time I spent with my family in front of the tube was not “quality time,” it was still a social activity and a shared experience.

Both TV watching and Facebook are strange in that from one angle they’re very solitary, and from another communal. At its worst, watching TV let strangers program my brain as I sat staring; Facebook, at its worst, is an exercise in narcissism.

So since I always feel like “I should spend less time on Facebook,” and since I have no lack of other ways of catching up with folks, I’m giving up Facebook again this year, and replacing some of that newly-freed time with morning and evening prayer. I’ll be on the road a lot of Lent, so I’m putting off deciding what to give up on Fridays in lieu of meat—I’ll try various dietary experiments and see how they go.

Also:

• River Sims of the Temenos Catholic Worker is doing an online Lenten retreat on the Gospel of Luke.
• Susan Stabile is posting materials from this year’s Lent Retreat in Daily Living.