are you ready?

Woke up with the sun shining and my mind and body ready to take on this day! Decided to gather a little inspiration and prayer for the road, and this is what was placed in front of me:

 Everyone can contribute much that is good, and in that way trust is achieved. The common good will not be attained by excluding people. We can't enrich the common good of our country by driving out those we don't care for. We have to try to bring out all that is good in each person and try to develop an atmosphere of trust, not with physical force, but with a moral force that draws ot the good that is in everyone, especially in concerned young people.

Thus with all contributing all can build the beautiful structure of the common good, the good that we construct together, and that creates conditions of kindness, of trust, of freedom, of peace.      

- Oscar Romero, from The Violence of Love

you hear that? we all have a role in contributing to the "beautiful structure of the common good." Archbishop Oscar Romero spent his days working on behalf of the poor and speaking out against poverty and social injustices. He was assassinated while celebrating mass (coincidentally his death anniversary is coming up on March 24) at a small chapel in El Salvador.

Two weeks before his assassination, Archbishop Oscar Romero said the following, “I have often been threatened with death,”... “If they kill me, I shall arise in the Salvadoran people. If the threats come to be fulfilled, from this moment I offer my blood to God for the redemption and resurrection of El Salvador. Let my blood be a seed of freedom and the sign that hope will soon be reality.”

I truly believe there is all good, beautiful work that we can do with this life that we have been given - but it's up to each one of us to find out what that is, and how that looks like. How exciting! How can we ever be bored? There is so much work to be done!

Are you ready?

 

discomfort, anger, tears, and foolishness.

As we begin this Lenten season, may we enter into a deep experience with Christ, and may God anoint us with the following... And so we pray:

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.

 May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, and starvation, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done. (A Franciscan blessing)

AMEN.

time to move.

We Can Not Merely Pray

- Rabbi Jack Riemer

We cannot merely pray to you O God to end war;

For the World is made in such a way

That we must find our own path of peace

Within ourselves and with our neighbors.

We cannot merely pray to you O God to root out Prejudice:

for we already have eyes

With which to see the good in all people

If we would only use them rightly.

We cannot merely pray to you O God to end starvation:

For we already have the resources

With which to feed the entire World

If we would only use them wisely.

We cannot merely pray to you O God to end despair:

For we already have the power To clear away slums and to give hope

If we would only use our power justly.

We cannot merely pray to you O God to end disease:

For we already have great minds

With which to search out cures and healings

If we would only use them constructively.

Therefore we pray instead

For strength, determination, and will power,

To do instead of merely to pray

To become instead of merely to wish:

So that our World may be safe,

And so that our lives may be blessed.

freshmen 101 keepin' it real

Yesterday, I had the great opportunity to attend the launch of two social justice/communication sites of a freshman communications course here at Cabrini College. Taught by Dr. Jerry Zurek, from the Comm department, one of the most inspiring mentors and educators that I have had (and he was never even my teacher! - clearly, i'm not saying this for a grade!), I left the class motivated and even more affirmed with the work that I was doing. Moreso, it made me even more hopeful for the upcoming generations! There is great work being done out there, but unfortunately the media does not highlight that "good stuff" as much.

BUT - this class of Comm 101 freshmen are heading in a GREAT direction.

The longer I am here at the college, the more I am impressed by the curriculum that engages students in issues of justice right off the bat - beginning in freshman year. Jerry's part in this? He integrates his course work with social justice issues, and provides students with the opportunity to explore different ways of using communication (esp via social media) to promote awareness and raise consciousness about these perpetual societal problems.

Awesome? um, YES! Cabrini College also holds a course called, "Photography for Social Change." Unreal!

Conflict-Free Minerals

One of the groups developed a Facebook page, Clean Cabrini, which raised issues about conflict-minerals, which are defined as: "Minerals used in cell-phones that cause conflict between human rights groups and cell-phone companies." Perhaps you have heard of conflict diamonds...same sort of thing. If you have ever seen Blood Diamond, then you may have captured a Hollywood glimpse of what really happens behind the diamonds that so many people wear (unknowing of the lives that suffered as a result of the rock on your finger. something to think about!)

This group has the goal of making Cabrini College a conflict-free campus, and to influence other colleges to make the same choice. The Congo is the #1 poorest country in the world, and with the number of mines that are in the area, many in the population work in these conditions, receiving unjust wage and treatment.

Food Justice

The second group developed a blog entitled, Cabrini Food Justice, again, to educate and promote awareness of this issue that may not be at the forefront of our lives. We all need food live, but how many of us are really conscious of what makes up our intake? Fair treatment for the worker, the consumer, and the planet - that is food justice. What does this look like for Cabrini, and how can we as a community take the right steps towards healthier, more just food options on campus?

This group did a great job with their presentation, as well as with their audio-visual material, really emphasizing the climate of the food industry in poor conditions. You can check out the video here.

In listening to these presentations, something I jotted down in my notes was, "hearing about these issues (re: conflict minerals) make me lose my appetite. as if there's a pit in my stomach somewhere...--> we must do something about it!" For me, I find that it is those thoughts that give me indicators as to where I want to go with my future actions and with how I live my life. If there is something that moves me, that causes a shift in my emotion, affecting me in some way, I need to pay attention to that. No matter what that is. Definitely takes time to explore, but it is something to pay attention to.

In this case, it's issues of social justice. I think the beautiful part of this specifically, is integrating the academics of communication and joining it together with social justice. What are the ways that we can use our majors/areas of study to create positive social change? to start movements? to think differently of what could be?

Call it what you want - I was inspired and also challenged to take more socially-conscious steps in doing my small part towards creating a more just society.

My hope is that these students will not lose hope, but that they will continue to use their passion to drive them forward, and bring others along board with them. Sometimes people just don't know about these issues around the world. I certainly didn't know a lot of the details and information that they shared with me and the class, and so I was grateful! So many issues out there to explore and get involved with, and it's nice to see what happens when faithful people come together to bring about positive change.

I believe that having information holds responsibility and sometimes, many times, it is meant to be shared, especially with regards to these issues. What I mean by that is, because of research about different issues, especially about the horrendous situation of human trafficking, the stories, hard facts, perhaps that is what has stirred up emotion and passion for others in wanting to join in bringing an end to this atrocity. If we are aware of situations of human trafficking going on, we need to bring that to attention. So many times we don't want to step on anybody's toes in sharing information with them - things we found interesting in class, or super informative websites that we happened to stumble upon, for fear of what others may think of us (what? he/she's totally talking about something other than college drama?)...but - dialogue and sharing of information is key - especially when these things relate to the global community.

and seriously though, what better way to do that, than through social media? :)