Monthly Archives: November 2013

‘The Girl in the Picture,’ Georgia Bulletin

Leave a reply

Photo By Michael Alexander. Holding an autographed poster, Jesuit Father Tan Pham, right, parochial vicar at Transfiguration Church, Marietta, poses with Kim Phuc Phan Thi, the girl from the famous napalm bombing photograph. “I grew up five kilometers (3 miles) from her village (Trang Bang). I’ve waited 41 years to meet her,” said Father Pham. The bottom of the poster bears Phuc’s words – “We cannot change history, but with love we can heal the future.”

“The more I pray, the more peace I have,” she said.

‘The Girl in the Picture’: Survivor of war teaches peace – The Georgia Bulletin

JFK, Obama, and the Unspeakable | Tikkun Magazine

Leave a reply

JFK, Obama, and the Unspeakable | Tikkun Magazine

“President Kennedy’s courageous turn from global war to a strategy of peace provides the why of his assassination. Because he turned toward peace with our enemies, the Communists, he found himself at odds with his own national security state. Peacemaking had risen to the top of his agenda as president. That was not the kind of leadership the CIA, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the military-industrial complex wanted in the White House. Given the Cold War dogmas that gripped those dominant powers, and given Kennedy’s turn toward peace, his assassination followed as a matter of course. Given what we know now, there can be little doubt it was an act of state.”

JFK’s Commencement Address at AU, 1963

Leave a reply

“Some say that it is useless to speak of peace or world law or world disarmament, and that it will be useless until the leaders of the Soviet Union adopt a more enlightened attitude. I hope they do. I believe we can help them do it. But I also believe that we must reexamine our own attitudes, as individuals and as a Nation, for our attitude is as essential as theirs. And every graduate of this school, every thoughtful citizen who despairs of war and wishes to bring peace, should begin by looking inward, by examining his own attitude towards the possibilities of peace, towards the Soviet Union, towards the course of the cold war and towards freedom and peace here at home.

First examine our attitude towards peace itself. Too many of us think it is impossible. Too many think it is unreal. But that is a dangerous, defeatist belief. It leads to the conclusion that war is inevitable, that mankind is doomed, that we are gripped by forces we cannot control. We need not accept that view. Our problems are manmade; therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man’s reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable, and we believe they can do it again. I am not referring to the absolute, infinite concept of universal peace and good will of which some fantasies and fanatics dream. I do not deny the value of hopes and dreams but we merely invite discouragement and incredulity by making that our only and immediate goal.”

American Rhetoric: John F. Kennedy – American University Address

▶ Blessed Oscar Romero’s last sermon

Leave a reply

Oscar Romero’s assassins were members of Salvadoran death squads, including two graduates of the School of the Americas. The 1993 United Nations Truth Commission report on El Salvador identified SOA graduate Major Roberto D’Aubuisson as the man who ordered the assassination.

▶ Blessed Oscar Romero’s last sermon – YouTube

Here is the full text.

4.2.7

 

Prayer for True Friendship

Leave a reply

I had a nice evening last night with an Air Force reservist, S.,  who is leaving for Afghanistan in a number of weeks. S. is also a Christian (Baptist). I was trying to convince him not to go. Knowing he had joined ROTC at the age of 14 and been involved in the military ever since, the task was daunting. Nevertheless, I tried! We had a good discussion. Needless to say, two hours wasn’t enough to convince him. I said that if I couldn’t convince him to refuse, that I might have to chain myself to him on his day of departure, so he can’t board the plane, like environmental activists chain themselves to trees to prevent them from being cut down. If I fail in courage to do so (I probably will), and S. goes to Afghanistan (he probably will), then S. and I agreed to try to attend the Georgia / Georgia Tech game together on November 29, 2014, to celebrate his return sometime next year.

S., I’m glad to know you. I appreciate your openness towards me and my ideas. This seems like a good prayer for today:

Jesus, loving companion of Your children,
You have extended Your friendship to all.
You opened Your arms without discrimination,
Offering Your warmth to those seeking comfort.
Endow me with the virtue of such a friendship,
To know, love and trust all on an equal basis;
To share my patronizing without favoritism,
And to be pleasant towards the destitute.
Fashion my heart to reflect Your qualities,
Those befitting of a cordial association.
Jesus, You showed me the way to true friendship:
Blessed is Your amazing and warm Person!

Go, Dawgs.

Internet meme contest!

Leave a reply

Constantine by Philip Jackson

Constantine the Great by Charlesdrakew (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

CAM wants to combat militarism in the Church. A picture says a thousand words, as they say, and “brevity is the soul of wit.” To that end, CAM is sponsoring a meme contest. Here is the image. Email us your submissions by November 30. Winner will receive the respect and admiration of a small Internet community and the satisfaction of a job well done. If you submit something, please let us know if we have your permission to share it on the website and, if so, whether you, the creator, would like to remain anonymous.

(Confused? Here is an example of an Internet meme. Have fun!)

▶ Born In The U.S.A.

Leave a reply

If you listen to the lyrics, “Born in the U.S.A.” is about the troubles of a young working class man who is sent to the Vietnam War and his troubles that continue upon his return. The Reagan administration, wanting to capitalize on its popularity but perhaps misunderstanding its message, asked if they could use it for their reelection campaign. Springsteen said, “No.” Springsteen was raised Catholic but we don’t believe he is practicing.

Some recommended articles:
Flannery O’Connor’s Mark on Bruce Springsteen
Springsteen Can’t Hide His Catholic Past
The Catholic Imagination of Bruce Springsteen

Born down in a dead man’s town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
You end up like a dog that’s been beat too much
Till you spend half your life just covering up
***
Got in a little hometown jam so they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land to go and kill the yellow man

Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man says “son if it was up to me”
Went down to see my V.A. man
He said “son don’t you understand now”

Had a brother at Khe Sahn fighting off the Viet Cong
They’re still there he’s all gone
He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms now

Down in the shadow of penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I’m ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run ain’t got nowhere to go

Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I’m a long gone daddy in the U.S.A.
I’m a cool rocking daddy in the U.S.A.