In Sunday’s first reading (Isaiah 43:18-25), God tells the people that he is doing something new. He will make a way for them out of exile, despite their history of sin and turning away from God. “In the desert I make a way; in the wasteland, rivers.” God also tells us something essential about our relationship to him and all of creation. “The people I formed for myself, that they might announce my praise.”

St. Francis, in his famous Canticle of Brother Sun, gives praise to God for all creation. As did Jesus, Francis lived simply, sustainably and close to the Earth. On his journeys, he took little with him, trusting God to provide through the abundance of Creation. Francis also experienced nature as a place for re-creation through prayer and the experience of God’s presence. Many of us have experienced God’s presence in nature through wonder at a magnificent sunset, the joyful splashing of a bird in a bath, or the miracle of a seed sprouting.

Next Sunday we begin the observance of Lent, a time of purification and reorientation toward the God who creates new life. It is a time for a conversion of heart. In many ways our consumer culture results in deserts, both spiritual and physical. There is growing awareness today that human dignity and God’s Creation are being severely damaged by a global economic system that prizes profits for a few over the good of the many. Through our prayer, self-denial and almsgiving this Lent, we can begin to find the new path that God makes in the desert.

Lent is a good time to reflect on our lifestyles. Are we living in a way that nourishes us spiritually? In what ways are we paralyzed and in need of an encounter with Christ, like the man in today’s Gospel (Mark 2:1-12)? How do our daily habits affect the health of the created world and the poor? What changes is God asking of us?

This Lent, the Justice and Peace Office will offer weekly reflections and action tips on living simply and caring for Creation. In connection with the Lent 4.5 Christian Simplicity campaign developed by our Passionist brothers and sisters, we will focus on seven themes: Christian simplicity, food, consumption, water, energy, transportation, and gratitude and generosity. We invite you to follow this blog as part of your Lenten practice.  Or follow us on Facebook (friend Francis of Assisi) or Twitter @SFA_Raleigh.

By Frank Lesko, Coordinator of Justice and Peace

Job’s cries of pain ring so loudly in today’s first reading.  There is almost no relief from his toil and suffering.  For millions of people around the world, life is an almost endless drudgery of malnutrition, sweat shop work and cruel oppression of every kind.  People are often brutally put down when they stand up for a better life, like the Irish immigrants in “Molly Daughter.” 

The Lord answers Job in the other readings, promising healing and wholeness.  The Catholic Church teaches that our life and work have dignity.  Work is not supposed to be a senseless drudgery but rather an opportunity to live out our vocation and share our gifts.  Human beings born in the image and likeness of God are built for a life of dignity. 

The market and the media can dehumanize people. We do not know their names or see their faces.  Yet all people pray “Our Father” to same God.  This teaches us to reconsider how we treat each and every human person, since we are all sons and daughters of the same God.  The Gospels shine a light that re-humanizes.  Even the so-called “least”, even the poorest of the poor, are all of great interest to our God.

The Second Vatican Council states, “Man is the source, the center, and the purpose of all economic and social life.” (Gaudium et Spes 63).  The economy exists to serve people.  All too often, it appears the other way:  That human beings are used up and exploited to make a profit for someone else.  The rule of the market is all-too-often unquestioned, even when people are chewed up.

The Justice Theater Project is producing a powerful story about the human price of industry, in particular our reliance on coal. “Molly Daughter” will be performed February 10, 11, 17, 18, 24 and 25 at 8:00 PM and February 12, 19 and 26 at 2:00 PM in Fellowship Hall.   Tickets are $20 for Adults, $15 for students and senior citizens, and $12 for groups of 10 or more.  All seating is general admission. Sunday, February 12 at 2 PM is $10.00 admission day.   (919)264-7089.  www.TheJusticeTheaterProject.org

We will have more details and photos from the evening up soon here on the Good News Blog, and further reflections from our young Adults after the March 3-10 Diocesan Young Adult Mission Trip to Honduras.

Witness for Peace SE is sending 12 delegates to Colombia, January 17-27.  Their mission is to see firsthand the effects of US military aid and drug policy on this South American nation.  They will also observe creative ways that people have developed to live in peace in the midst of conflict.  Going on this trip are two parishioners, Melanie Martin and Gail Phares, the trip leader (shown above, L-R).  Our prayers will be with them while they are away.  We offered a community blessing for them at the 11:30 Mass on January 15th.

Similarly, two parishioners Jim and Cindy Rice (pictures above) are part of a delegation to Palestine and Israel with Coalition for Peace With Justice (CPWJ).  Their trip will consist of meeting with local people who are working for peaceful, non-violent solutions that uphold the human dignity of all people in the region; working with Palestinian farmers to replace olive trees destroyed by the occupation; and visiting various holy sites.  We will keep them in our prayers during their trip, January 31 through February 16.  There will be a community blessing for them at the Sunday 5:30pm Mass on Jan 29.

Jim explains, “as we studied more, and learned more, we felt increasingly called to get more directly involved.  We (especially Cindy) have been working with CPWJ on many different educational and advocacy efforts.  For some time we’ve been wanting to take the next step and visit; when this opportunity arose everything came together and we felt compelled to go.”

“We will do our best to represent our Community of St. Francis well,” says Jim. “We appreciate your prayers and look forward to sharing our experiences with you after we return.”

Christ, the Traveler

In their words on National Migration Week this year, the USCCB has asked us to see Christ in the traveler, pilgrim and migrant.  We send our heartfelt blessings to these parishioners as they witness on behalf of us and our faith in their upcoming journeys!

 Take the Immigration Quiz

Question:  Why would someone travel hundreds of miles over parched deserts, leave their homeland and family, risk their lives at the hands of bandits, rapists and border guards, sneak into a country illegally to live under constant threat of deportation… only to earn less than minimum wage under hazardous work conditions? 

Immigration can be complicated, but the answer to this question is surprisingly simple.  There is only one reason why someone would do this.  The answer:  Because the alternative is worse.

Illegal immigration into the USA is a humanitarian issue.  Much of the immigration to the US—particularly from Latin America—is fueled by desperation.  War and stifling poverty compel many to look northward for hope.  The US Catholic Bishops understand the right of each nation to have borders to establish an ordered society.  However, they also remind us that the right to life trumps that.  The earth is full of God’s abundance, and people should be allowed free movement in order to provide for their families. 

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has declared Jan 8-14^th as National Migration Week.  This year, they ask us to see the face of Christ in the migrant:  “We want to thank you [the immigrant] for the Christian values you manifest to us with your lives—your sacrifice for the well-being of your families, your determination and perseverance, your joy of life, your profound faith and fidelity despite your insecurity and many difficulties” (Letter of the Hispanic/Latino Bishops to Immigrants, Dec 12, 2011).  Indeed, migrant workers are not merely to be pitied or tolerated, but in the words of our bishops, they are to be looked up to as role models of the Christian faith!

The Catholic Community of St. Francis of Assisi has a long and proud history of reaching out to immigrants.  The time is ripe to wake from our slumber and rise up in splendor on behalf of them once again. There are widespread misunderstandings and potential laws on the horizon which threaten the safety, family unity and human rights of immigrants.  In the Franciscan tradition, there is also plenty of room for open debate as we confront difficult issues.

The Office of Justice and Peace would like to gather people to be part of the discussion for how we as a parish community might respond to these issues both simple and complex.  Will you join this dialogue?  Please contact frank.lesko@stfrancisraleigh.org or (919) 847-8205 x267 if you would like to be part of a parish effort to pray, study and act on the issue of immigration!

When I was a stranger, you welcomed me

The Holy Family greeted Magi who brought exotic gifts from disparate ntions.  Soon after, the family that once welcomed strangers is themselves on the run.  They flee to Egypt as refugees to escape the genocide of King Herod.  How did they survive in a strange land?  Perhaps some kindly souls offered safe haven for them.

Refugees today are coming in increasing numbers from Burma, Nepal, the Congo and Iraq.  Groups are needed to provide a 6 month commitment to meet them at the airport, help with tutoring, transportation, learning American culture and be an emotional support.  Most are fleeing persecution in their homeland—how nice to find friendly faces waiting for them in America!

This is a great opportunity for a cultural exchange, as you may be invited to a home-cooked Burmese dinner or to learn about the Hindu religion from a Bhutanese family.  You may also make new friends.  This may be a great ministry that you can do together with your own family.

If you would like to explore this possibility, contact frank.lesko@stfrancisraleigh.org at (919) 847-8205 x267 and stay tuned for an informational session in the near future!

1 + 1 ≠ 0

Mary is first among saints and the model for all Christians because she said “yes” to God.  Yet how many of us fear what we would have to give up if we said “yes” to God? 

I have been very moved by Kathleen Owen, our parish Coordinator of Care and Wellness, who talks about people seeing choices in zero sum terms:  In order for one person to win, they think someone else must lose.  In order for me to be $10 richer, they reason that someone else needs to be $10 poorer.  To follow God, it seems like I would have to give up the things that I want.  I wonder what Mary was afraid of losing when God approached her.

By following God, we may die to ourselves.  However, just like the paschal sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, this dying actually leads to new life—we are more ourselves than we ever were before.  If there is anything we have learned from the Resurrection, it is that Death ≠ Death, when transformed by Christ.

Our society pits one side against the other, and people are presented with false choices:  To the pregnant single mom, either the child wins or she wins, and the choice is perceived as one life against another.  The incarcerated murderer who receives mercy in prison is seen as winning when society rather wants revenge through the death penalty.  If the immigrant workers win rights, then that must mean that natural born citizens lose.  To “protect our national interests,” we use our military and economic might to oppress other nations—we keep them down before they keep us down.  Life is a constant battle of king of the hill, and people think that the best you can hope for is to be on top for a while.

The Gospels continually challenge this dog-eat-dog logic and urge us to try something different.  History has shown that win-win scenarios are possible, when tried.  Many were convinced that advances in human rights would ruin the prosperity of the business community:  Child labor laws, the 40-hour work week, safety standards, the right to unionize, the list goes on and on.  Yet with each advance in the rights of workers, business not only survived, but prospered.  It was a false assumption to believe that the success for one would equal a loss for the other.

I keep this in mind whenever someone says that the economy could never function based solely on fair trade principles.  Those are probably the same sort of people who said that the whole economy would fail if we abolished slavery, and look how that turned out.

Our tradition calls us to a deeper realization of the relationships we have with one another.  By saying “yes” to God and to the needs of our fellow humans when they cry for help, we are actually saying “yes” to the deepest part of ourselves.  Fear of what may happen clouds our ability to see this, which is why we need role models like Mary.

By saying “yes” to God as Mary did, we may indeed face some death.  Our lifestyle may change and we may have new struggles.  But if we approach that with the gifts of faith and hope that we nurture this Advent season, we too can be like Mary whose “yes” to the Lord helped bring new life into this world.  By giving all to God, she realized her best self.

Looking at the math, Life minus life = nothing.  Zero sum leads us, by definition, nowhere. Let us stay positive on all sides of the equation this Advent season and beyond:  Your gain = My gain = God’s gain.

On December 7, over 100 seniors from the St. Francis of Assisi community joined together for an Advent Reconciliation, and afterwards met in Fellowship Hall for a luncheon sponsored by The Franciscan School 7th Grade. The Luncheon was capped off with a musical performance by the 1st Grade students. Many thanks to Chef Michelle Cash, the TFS students and their families, and our seniors for making this a very welcoming (and delicious!) event.

On a dark Advent night in Durham, our new parish Coordinator of Justice and Peace Frank Lesko and I participated in the “Evening with Sr. Helen Prejean” at the Trinity United Methodist Church.  Sr. Helen, renowned for her book Dead Man Walking, shared her many experiences of the injustices surrounding the use of capital punishment in our country, including the way that race still remains a predominant factor in how the death penalty is sought and obtained.  This was a timely and poignant message in light of the recent decision by NC lawmakers to repeal the fledgling Racial Justice Act.  Rooted in the Gospel of Jesus and the Catholic view of the dignity of the human person, Sr. Helen advocates against our country’s codification of capital punishment as a kind of “justice.”  And with a firm belief that the entire death penalty system is full of flaws and thus inevitably executes innocent people wrongly, Sr. Helen renders the entire system unworkable.  Although there has not been an execution in North Carolina since 2006, when a series of lawsuits led to a de facto moratorium, there remain 154 men and 4 women on death row in our state; and the number of inmates rises every year.  In light of this evening with Sr. Helen, I am asking myself an awkward and difficult question this Advent:  What is it like to experience Advent and Christmas while awaiting your death behind bars? 

Sitting with that question this Advent has been really helpful for me to put this holiday season into perspective.  For prisoners and especially for those on death row, I know that this time of the year is particularly lonely and dark.  The distance and separation between family and friends is acute.  The juxtaposition between a cold life behind bars and a haunting death sentence and the cheery warmth of the holidays and plastic Santa lawn ornaments is felt to be especially disheartening.  I wonder how our men and women on death row hear today’s lectionary readings, especially the prophet Isaiah from whom we hear named the target audience and principal actions for the promised Messiah:  “He has sent me to bring to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners.”  The poor, the brokenhearted, the captive, and the prisoners:  these are the ones who live in darkness and long for a great light; these are the ones for whom the Christ-child was born; these are the ones for whom our promised Messiah comes in the form of healing, freedom, and liberating love.  Despite my own kids’ anticipation for Christmas Day, I might daringly say that Christmas really and truly comes as anticipated LIGHT to those most in darkness.  And it’s hard to imagine a darker place than death row.    

I believe we’d all do our Advent journeys well by asking ourselves who in our community and in our world most needs Christmas this year. 

Come, Lord Jesus, Be Our Light.

Participants are excited about opportunities to experience normal, daily life in the village in this trip whose primary purpose is solidarity.  However, they are also bringing 6 used laptops to donate to a new computer education center.  This center will replace a former typing school in the village.  Children will be gaining certificates for Office Programs, which are necessary for entrance into many secondary schools. 

St. Francis of Assisi has approximately 40 computers to donate.  The remainder will be sent to Second Choices, a ministry of Passage Home.