Brothers of Holy Cross, Eastern Province

JUSTICE NOTES

"What we have in us of the image of God is the love of truth and justice”—Demosthenes

Fall 2001                                                                                                                                   Jonathan Beebe, CSC
(jbeebe@bhsga.com)

Advent is the season of waiting and preparation to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

     This time of waiting is also a time for us to be working for peace among the nations, and peace with each other.  It is a time for us to change our priorities as we walk in the light that God gives us.

      As part of our Advent waiting we celebrate Christ's coming by making an Advent wreath and lighting its candles to remind us of the hope Christ brings to the world.  The round shape of the wreath reminds us of the unbroken love of God.  The green branches speak of new life, and the candles proclaim the light that came into the world with Jesus Christ.

     Soon we will light the first candle. The flickering of the flame reminds us that our waiting is a time of both contemplation and action.

     Build a justice and peace theme into your Advent season. 

      The following idea is suggested by Pax Christi:

  Friday Fast from Violence, for Peace - Shalom – Salaam

"Proclaim a fast,
call an assembly;
Gather the elders,
all who dwell in the land,
into the house of your God,
and cry out to God!."
                                                            Joel 1:14

      In light of the terrible tragedy of September 11th and in response to the growing clamor for retaliation and war, Pax Christi USA calls upon its members and all who yearn for healing and peace, to join us each Friday in fasting from violence and for peace in our country and in the world. Fasting is a part of many religion traditions and it offers a simple, yet profound way of combining the spiritual and the political. Gandhi called it "the sincerest form of prayer." At this time of grief and escalating tension in the US, we believe that a fast can communicate the seriousness and urgency of our call for peace and nonviolence as an appropriate way of honoring those who have died and healing the woundedness that our nation is experiencing.

      Fasting can take many forms, and we invite individuals and communities to discern the manner in which they will undertake this fast. Many Pax Christi USA members have already dedicated Fridays as days during which they will fast for peace, and in Islam, Friday is considered a holy day. We are asking that fast participants use each Friday to discern the ways that violence is a part of our everyday lives, and to take steps to eliminate the many ways in which we consciously or unconsciously contribute to the violence that permeates our culture. We invite all to participate in a water-only fast each Friday; if this type of fast is impossible for you, we encourage you to fast in such a way as you are capable. 

Where do Holy Cross Religious

Find Up-to-Date Information

on Justice and Peace? 

holycrossjustice.org

     Visit the Holy Cross Intercongregational web site for Justice and Peace on a regular basis to find up-to-date information on

Ø     Current World Events

Ø     International Holy Cross Justice and Peace Initiatives

Ø     Commentary and Reflections from Holy Cross Religious

Ø     Sign-On Letters to World and National Leaders

Ø     Resources and Publications

The following three selections are just some of the thought-provoking articles you will find on the Holy Cross Intercongregational web site for Justice and Peace at www.holycrossjustice.org:

A Pastoral Message:
Living With Faith and Hope After September 11

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

November 14, 2001

Pursuing Justice and Peace After September 11

September 11 made ever more clear that globalization is a reality requiring greater moral scrutiny. If the problems of Afghanistan or Central Asia seemed irrelevant to Americans before, that is no longer the case. Our nation, as a principal force for economic globalization, must do more to spread the benefits of globalization to all, especially the world's poorest. The injustice and instability in far away lands about which we know too little can have a direct impact on our own sense of peace and security. Maintaining a strong military is only one component of our national security. A much broader, long-term understanding of security is needed. In a world where one-fifth of the population survives on less than $1 per day, where some twenty countries are involved in major armed conflict, and where poverty, corruption, and repressive regimes bring untold suffering to millions of people, we simply cannot remain indifferent. We should also recognize how the export of some negative aspects of our culture can help undermine other societies as well as our own.

Our nation must join with others in addressing policies and problems that provide fertile ground in which terrorism can thrive. Years ago, Pope Paul VI declared, "if you want peace, work for justice." This wisdom should not be misunderstood. No injustice legitimizes the horror we have experienced. But a more just world will be a more peaceful world. There will still be people of hate and violence, but they will have fewer allies, supporters and resources to commit their heinous acts.

GOD BLESS AMERICA

 September 11, 2001

Overwhelmed, shocked and deeply saddened is how I feel today
for so many innocent people whose lives have been snuffed away.

Devastation, ruin, and waste pile so heavily upon the ground
as the search for bodies continues but so few now can be found.  

Family, friends, and everyone in hope and desperation wait
to hear the saddened news of their loved ones' desperate fate.  

For those who have not been stricken there is a chasm deep inside
that cuts upon the nations that reaches so vastly far and wide.  

There are so many people who have fallen upon their knees
who pray to God for comfort for all those who grieve.  

What prompts the heart to violence, to war, to terror, to hate?
The human heart must find its answer before it is too late.  

For evil forces have hit our nation on a beautiful sunny day
crudely changing the course of history forever more I say.  

Is war the only answer where more blood will be shed?
Will justice truly be avenged when so many more are dead?  

I pray today for wisdom for those who lead our land
that God will truly bless them and help them understand.  

As we rally together as a people for what is true and right
can war alone be the answer to end this bitter fight?  

Time has a way of healing and as I pray for peace today
may GOD BLESS AMERICA as we go along our way!  

Sister Rachel S. Anderson, CSC
Sisters of Holy Cross  

Pilgrimage for the Third World
October 28, 2001  - Niagara – Ontario, Canada
by Jim Mulligan, CSC  

On a beautiful fall Sunday, close to 3,000 students from the nine Catholic high schools in Niagara participated in the annual Pilgrimage for the Third World.  The “pilgrimage” is a walk to a holy place; the holy place is the school gym in four centres – Welland, Port Colborne, St. Catharine’s and Niagara Falls - where, at the conclusion of a 20-kilometre walk, students, staff and many alumni and parents gather for a celebration of the Eucharist.  The month leading up to the pilgrimage is a time for justice education.  It is also a time for “pilgrims” to seek out sponsors for their walk.

The English Canadian Province of Holy Cross is keenly involved in the animation of the pilgrimage experience.  The first pilgrimage took place 26 years ago at Notre Dame College School, Welland, a Catholic high school founded and staffed by the Holy Cross Fathers.  From Notre Dame, Holy Cross priests were responsible for starting Denis Morris and Holy Cross high schools in St. Catharine’s and Saint Paul in Niagara Falls.  In 1985, Catholic high schools in Ontario received full government funding and the high schools came under the administration of a Catholic school board.  There are still a hand full of Holy Cross Fathers who continue to work at formation and animation in the Catholic schools in Niagara.  The impact on justice education and the support for Third World development remain strong and have a definite Holy Cross orientation.

                   Increase the Minimum Wage

 From Bread for the World
November 1, 2001

Recent Developments:

Due to the slowing economy, Congress is now considering whether or not to pass an economic stimulus package to ward off further economic weakening.

Congressional leaders have already discussed including several tax-cut proposals, including tax cuts for low-income wage earners. Some members of Congress have also recommended including a minimum wage increase in the package. The $1.50 minimum wage increase that Bread for the World supports would almost immediately add disposable income to millions of low-income family budgets. 

Urge members of Congress to include a $1.50-an-hour, three step increase in the federal minimum wage, in any economic stimulus package.

→  Points to make:

§        A boost to $6.65 an hour would mean up to $3,000 more a year for more than 10 million full-time workers. That's enough for a typical family of four to buy groceries for nine months or pay rent for six months.

§        Forty percent of minimum wage workers are their families' sole support.

§        A full-time minimum wage worker earns $10,700 a year-nearly $4,000 below the poverty level for a family of three. 

Two bills have been introduced in Congress to increase the minimum wage to $6.65 and hour over three years.  These bills are S.277 and  H.R.665.

Contact your congressional leaders and voice your support for a living wage!

     The following news items from Bro. Larry Lussier, CSC, pastoral assistant at St. Gabriel’s parish in Milford, CT, highlight the social justice activities of the parish and challenge us all to find creative and energizing ways of spreading the Gospel message.  Many thanks to Bro. Larry for sending the newletters. 

Ø     St. Gabriel’s parish recently sealed its sister relationship with St. Brendan’s parish in Kitete, Tanzania, with a visit by Fr. Tom Smith, CSC, associate pastor of St. Brendan’s.  The exchange included not only gifts, but Fr. Smith brought with him 72 pen pal letters from the children at St. Brendan’s for the Sunday School children.  Could your ministry start a sister relationship with another Holy Cross ministry in the States or abroad? 

Ø     Over 50 parishioners volunteered for the Homefront 2002 program that provides free home repairs to those in need.  How can you educate yourself about substandard housing issues in your area?  What can you do to help ensure that all of us live in safe homes? 

Ø     Meg Robertson, speaker and community organizer from New Haven’s Connecticut Center for a New Economy was invited to speak at a parish breakfast.  Ms. Robertson focused her remarks on local workers’ issues.  Whom can you invite to speak to your ministry or local community on a social justice topic of interest to you? 

Sojourners Magazine demonstrates that even simple daily rituals, such as drinking our morning coffee, can impact the lives of others: 

SojoBlend: Brewing up some justice 

Behind every cup of coffee there is a farmer to produce it. But usually the economics don't work in the farmers' favor.

We coffee drinkers in the developed countries can pay $2 or more for a premium cup of coffee. But many small farmers in the underdeveloped world are lucky to live on $2 a day. 

The coffee industry is dominated by four multi- national companies. Proctor & Gamble, Philip Morris (yes, profiting on more addiction!), Sara Lee, and Nestle account for 40 percent of worldwide sales. Likewise, just six multinational firms control 40 percent of the world's export coffee market.

For every pound of coffee sold in the United States farmers get less than 35 cents and coffee pickers less than 14 cents, according to industry statistics. The causes lie in a complex system in which coffee beans can pass through as many as 15 hands between shrub and cup, with price increases along the way. In between the farmer and the exporter are multiple middlemen who mark up prices and pad profits.

That background helps explain why Sojourners has decided to get into the coffee business. Beginning in August we will be selling online our own special SojoBlend - three blends, actually, from which to choose. 

All of our coffee is "fair trade," which guarantees coffee farmers a set price at least four times higher than the industry average, regardless of world price fluctuations. All of our SojoBlend coffee is shade-grown and organic as well. Call it the "triple seal" of java justice. And just to show that justice doesn't have bad taste, the coffee is just as good or better than you can get at a premium coffee house.

Our partner in this venture is Pura Vida, a non-profit charity that contributes 100% of its profits to provide hot meals, clothing, medicine addiction treatment, and hope to thousands of needy families in Costa Rica. So every time you buy SojoBlend coffee, you...

·        ensure organic coffee producers get a fair wage

·        supply funds for street kids in Costa Rica

·        support the mission of Sojourners and SojoNet

·        get a great cup of coffee

Please consider making your coffee drinking an act of justice. You can order by the pound, or become a "Constant Cup" member and we'll deliver to you a fresh pound every month.  Order your coffee at www.puravidacoffee.com.