PAX CHRISTI USA

We know “Journey Towards Justice” is going to support your relationship with God and give you the spiritual energy needed to work for justice. We all need to be still and be fulfilled by the ever-present source of love to make real change in this world.

It is much too easy to react to the war and death we see every day with anger and hate when we do not have a spiritual foundation. It is also easy to avoid these atrocities and practice denial.

This social, economic, and racial justice work isn’t easy, but we know how important it is. A spirituality of nonviolence is absolutely necessary to fuel our work so we do not succumb to rage or denial.

We believe in the Peace of Christ and the love of God that transcends the frailty of ourselves and the world. Let’s get into this true peace and true love.

Only three more days to order. We will not be selling booklets after September 26 so order today!

When we all join together, something shifts for good in this world. The collective spirit of peacemakers cannot go unnoticed!

We want to see how many prayed for peace today! Share on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Allow the “Journey Towards Justice: Reflections for Advent & Christmas 2016” to accompany you through the journey of Advent, and strengthen your commitment to justice and peace.

We are not by ourselves on this journey, because God is with us every step of the way. The journey towards justice is about embracing the spirit of God within and doing the next right, just action.

It’s a simple path but not always an easy one. Yet, God is still with us; even when the journey towards justice feels stagnant and we can only take baby steps. We must trust and always return to the God within.

We have extended the deadline to pre order until September 26. We are accepting pre orders only so be sure to order today!

Booklets are $3.50 each plus shipping and handling. Discounts are available for bulk orders. Contact Lori Nemenz, lnemenz@paxchristiusa.org, for more information.

by Tony Magliano

As the first pope in history to write an encyclical letter on the environment, Pope Francis demonstrated to the Catholic Church and world, the urgent importance of caring for God’s creation.

But Francis’ challenging green encyclical Laudato Si’ was but the first major initiative of a papacy significantly dedicated to teaching us to care for both humanity and the earth – which he insists are intimately connected to each other – “integral ecology.”

The Holy Father’s next major environmental step was establishing the “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation” celebrated every first day of September.

In this year’s Sept 1 message titled “Show Mercy to our Common Home” Pope Francis highlights, along with Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, “the moral and spiritual crisis at the root of environmental problems.”

Supported by overwhelming scientific evidence the pontiff warns, “Global warming continues, due in part to human activity: 2015 was the warmest year on record, and 2016 will likely be warmer still. This is leading to ever more severe droughts, floods, fires, and extreme weather events. … The world’s poor, though least responsible for climate change, are most vulnerable and already suffering its impact.”

The Holy Father points us to another fact: “Human beings are deeply connected with all of creation. When we mistreat nature, we also mistreat human beings. … Let us hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.”

In highly prophetic language, Pope Francis challenges us to personal and ecological conversion. He writes, “As individuals, we have grown comfortable with certain lifestyles shaped by a distorted culture of prosperity and a disordered desire to consume more than what is really necessary.

“And we are participants in a system that has imposed the mentality of profit at any price, with no concern for social exclusion or the destruction of nature.

“Let us repent of the harm we are doing to our common home.”

Continue reading →

We imagine a world replete with justice and no war, no racism, no poverty, and no hate. May God’s kindom come!

Journey Towards Justice: Reflections for Advent & Christmas 2016 is available for order through September 18. $3.50 + s/h, bulk prices available – contact Lori Nemenz

by Tom Cordaro, Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace

Members of Pax Christi Illinois are offering support and solidarity to the #LetUsBreathe Collective ongoing occupation protest across the street from the Homan Square police detention center in Chicago. Freedom Square has become a place of protest and a celebration of an alternative model of community based on the principles of a shared economy. The encampment (which has been going since July 21^st) is in the North Lawndale neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side. It includes an outdoor kitchen, tents to sleep in, a collection of books, an arts and crafts tent, a clothing tent and a fresh produce table – all of it free to anyone in need. Freedom Square is also a place for political education and organing that brings together people from the neighborhood and people from the all across the Chicago area and around the world.

In stark contrast the Homan Square Detention Center created by the Chicago Police Department operates an off-the-books interrogation compound, rendering Americans unable to be found by family or attorneys while locked inside what lawyers say is the domestic equivalent of a CIA black site. Alleged police practices at Homan Square, according to those familiar with the facility include:

• Keeping arrestees out of official booking databases.
• Beating by police, resulting in head wounds.
• Shackling for prolonged periods.
• Denying attorneys access to the “secure” facility.
• Holding people without legal counsel for between 12 and 24 hours, including people as young as 15. (At least one man was found unresponsive in a Homan Square “interview room” and later pronounced dead.)

Pax Christi Illinois members have raised money for an on-site port-a-potty and have volunteered time, food and supplies to Freedom Square. More important than the resources provided to those who continue the occupation, Pax Christi members are beginning to build accountable relationships with communities of color who are leading this effort. In many ways it feels like the first day of school and we are eager to learn all we can.

You can learn more about Freedom Square and the Homan Square detention center at this link: http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/37132-at-freedom-square-the-revolution-lives-in-brave-relationships