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Easter’s new fire lights fire for justice
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
April 5, 2013
The annual legislative session will be over when this paper is distributed, many of the issues that we fought for that impact the poor and vulnerable, we still fight for. A pope resigned and a new pope was elected who said he is a “pope for the poor.” His simple living and outreach to the slum dwellers of his large archdiocese in Buenos Aires, gives hope to all of us working for the poor. Washington talks of immigration reform, but so much waits to be seen.
Holy Week came with its drama and symbolism. The Biblical texts of deliverance and liberation, the calls for conversion echo against press conferences in the capitol as voices for compassion seem to fall on hard hearts. The readings from the prophets and the Torah seem to fit. They were written in a time of exile and impoverishment, and often were drowned out in the noise of kings and pharaohs.
The kings and pharaohs are long gone. The Roman Empire is but history, but the prophets and the Torah remain. That is encouraging to me. Constant struggle for justice has always been the normal way of things. We achieve successes, but confront new challenges. One generation succeeds another, and the elders pass on their wisdom to young people in a new century.
One event that occurred in this past month was the annual Conference of the Veterans of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement. This organization, composed of those who took on the struggle for desegregation, voting rights and equality, comes together every year to hand on their wisdom to a new generation.
Teaching young people the history of how they reached where they are is crucial to help a new generation confront the challenges of this new century. Reading the calls for prophetic justice in Isaiah and Jeremiah was an excellent preparation for the day’s sessions.
Listening to Isaiah 58 call for what is true fasting in the morning office of praise set my mind to the various workshops on the Voting Rights Act, the nuts and bolts of redistricting, and a better understanding of the political process, how to make your voice heard.
This year we are commemorating the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Medgar Evers. There will be events all spring with a major series of events in June. At the conference we commemorated all who gave their lives for justice and equality. They must never be forgotten.
What the veterans commemorate each year is our history, all of our history, not somebody’s history. We have a long way to go in this country for everyone to own the history of struggle of minorities as the story of all of us. The young people gave hope to us older folks. One example, the Young People’s Project is addressing issues in McComb.
During a press conference, I was telling some friends at the capitol about how we Catholics celebrate Easter. I explained how in the dark of night we light this fire in the midst of gloom and light the tall Paschal Candle, symbol of the risen Christ that dispels the darkness of fear.
I went on to describe the reading from Genesis of creation, and the call and mission of Abraham. I spoke of Exodus and the struggle for deliverance. They were fascinated. One said, “I never knew how Catholics did it. They are so mysterious to me.”
I told the person how all this symbolism and Scripture readings about justice and deliverance, the death of Jesus and the power of his resurrection gives such energy to those who carry on the work for equality, for justice in our towns and in our advocacy. Our conversation went on, and someone said, “The power of Christianity is despite failure, we shall achieve our goals.”
That explains very well, what social activists are about. We struggle for equality and fairness in whatever we are engaged in. The famous question the youngest child asks the elders during the Passover Seder, ‘Why is this night different from all other nights’ opens the floodgates to tell the story of deliverance from generation to generation.
We have so much good news to dispel fear, so much energy to give hope. We just need to do it, especially in this year of faith.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
New labor priests’ assume ongoing struggle
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
January 18, 2013
From the mid 19th century, European Catholic immigrants poured into the country to work in the factories and other industries clamoring for labor. They worked under abominable conditions and were paid a pittance.
Oppressed people have always turned to their spiritual leaders for help in understanding their plight or, to give them courage to change it, so it is with Catholics. Our Catholic tradition has a long history of solidarity with and support for people in struggle
The history of the labor priest developed in those days. The likes of Msgr. Charles Owen Rice in Pittsburgh, Msgr. George Higgins in Chicago, and many more brought Catholic social teaching front and center. Reading Rice writing in the Pittsburgh Catholic in 1937 sounds like something written now.
Rice never minced words. “Last month some of the good Catholic people of Pittsburgh were startled to hear that a group of priests had been interested in organizing, of all things, a Catholic Radical Alliance. There was a general lifting of the eyebrows all along the line of Catholic Radicals.”
He and two others, indeed, founded this as a support group for the unionization of workers at the Heinz Pickle Plant and the Loose Wiles Biscuit Company in Pittsburgh.
He asked who are the radicals they follow? Then he opened up Pius XI encyclical Quadragesimo Anno that was recent. It commemorated Leo XIII Rerum Novarum 40 years earlier. The English title, “On the Condition of Labor.”
He complains that their principles “have not gotten around.” He said, “Outside the fold the church has the reputation … of being reactionary – the friend of the rich rather than the poor; … yet if the plain facts of Christian principles and practices were known, it is just the opposite. The church is the church of the poor, and must be. She is the friend of the oppressed against the oppressor.”
Today there is another group of labor priests throughout the country. They met in May of 2012 in Chicago sponsored by the National Federation of Priest Councils.
There are other labor priests out there. Today it is an interfaith enterprise in supporting workers to organize for fair and just working conditions, salaries and benefits. The priests are scattered throughout the country, even here in Mississippi. “They need to organize,” according to their convener Father Clete Kiley of Chicago, director of immigration policy at UNITE HERE, a union representing hotel maids and casino workers among others.
The worker priests that emerged during the Great Depression gave their lives for working people. Catholics, by and large, were blue collar working people. In some places still looked upon with suspicion.
These men connected Catholic workers with the church’s support to form unions to better their conditions. This moral support kept many workers in the church, and they identified that “being union” as “being Catholic.”
Catholics moved up the social ladder and became wealthy and heads of the corporations they worked for. As one writer put it, “Msgr. Rice watched his fellow Catholics grow increasingly conservative and removed from their immigrant roots … He didn’t take it lying down.
He said, ‘What we need in this country is a healthy and vigorous conviction in the bosoms of the lower class, that the upper class is their enemy and is out to fleece and suppress them. We need working class solidarity, and a sturdy recognition that the poor and the almost poor have to stick together.’ He was 80 when he wrote those words.”
Today conditions are international and more complex. They include immigration reform and reform of international trade policy. Msgr. Rice lamented that Catholic social teaching “principles have not gotten around.” Jesus said “When you light a lamp you don’t put it under a basket, but on the table where it shines.” In these hard times let our Catholic Teaching on labor blaze like a torch.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
African clergy opens our eyes to broader world
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
August 24, 2012
Many of you reading Millennial Reflections over the years recall that occasionally I will write about our community here in Raymond. We are a unique community of men religious living according to the Rule of St. Augustine, who was inspired by the writings of St. John, “Before all else, dear brothers, love God and then your neighbor.” This opening line of the rule sets the tone of our life: to witness community, ever expanding to include others.
When this piece appears the second general chapter, in the Order’s almost thousand year history, will be ongoing at our Abbey and College in De Pere Wisconsin. The first time was the 1976 Bi- Centennial Year of our country. Wherever the delegates gather for these six year events, represents a map of the world. Speakers of dozens of languages and cultural variations truly witness to the unity of humanity all over the world.
Here in Raymond we have a multi-cultural community of Africans, African Americans, Euro-Americans living together, engaged in various ministries, expressing their various cultures forging a community of peace. Nigeria and the Congo are represented, attracting other Norbertines from the Congo and Nigeria to visit and encourage us.
Recently a publication reported about a little known office in Washington DC, under the direction of Father Aniedi Okure, a Dominican, a good friend of ours who, some years ago, participated in the ordination of Father Onwuham Akpa, our vocation director. Father Akpa serves in Canton and Gluckstadt, and reaches out to many inquirers both in the US and abroad. In Nigeria and in the US religious communities support one another in the ministry of surfacing vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
Father Okure appears young with a great sense of humor that engages people. He runs an organization called the Africa Faith and Justice Network (AFJN) in Washington DC, an NGO (non governmental organization). People become involved and, before they know it, they are learning about countries in Africa: Nigeria, Burundi, Congo, Ethiopia etc. Father Okure says, “The images in the media, and even in religious media, didn’t match the Africa they had come to know.”
Father Akpa says, “Father Aniedi went to help his community in the Congo, and had to learn French quickly. He was sent to Kinshasa with a newly ordained Dominican. They were determined to do meaningful outreach. They went where the young people were, and were warmly greeted.
To see priests come and be with them, where they ate and drank, made them take to them easily. They loved it.” This connection with Congo stayed with him as he moved on to new ventures.
AFJN network tries to call attention to efforts in Africa aimed at promoting social justice. Okure has a dedicated staff, as one reported they were working in war torn Burundi at a youth center located in a slum. It was between neighborhoods of warring ethnic groups, so the youth had to enter from separate doors. Once inside, they all engaged each other as one friendly group in contrast to the still simmering world around them.
Recently the media reported that a fanatical Muslim group was bombing churches in Nigeria, some accounts immediately linked them to Al Qaeda. This is the sort of thing that throws gasoline on fires. Muslims are different, and Muslim groups are different.
Father Okure organized a conference on Boko Haram, the Muslim group bombing churches in Nigeria. This was at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC. He brought together policy experts and activists to discuss this whole situation. They emphasized its home grown roots, and why US efforts to lump it with Al Qaeda would be disastrous.
AFJN is involved in many African countries and is linked to the many religious communities serving there. Fr. Okure says, “It operates on a shoestring budget and takes no government money, and is mostly supported by the religious communities with whom it works.”
With the numerous African priests, brothers and sisters working in the United States it is good to get to know a group like this, and to tap into the vibrant spirituality of our African brothers and sisters.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Church’s teaching grounded in dignity, respect
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
July 13, 2012
The heat wave goes on, the days move slowly. We just celebrated another Independence Day, July 4. The twogigantic tents selling fireworks on each side of the highway are beginning to be dismantled. Barbecues were wonderful. Families enjoyed one another. It was all good.
This got me to thinking about our country. For more than 20 years we have become increasingly polarized. Opinions, philosophical positions, theological positions, political positions have ossified to become competing ideologies. We see the gridlock in Congress. The needs of the people are being sacrificed to make one ideology trump another. As one writer put it, “There is no ‘dislike’ but plenty of ‘hate’ There is a widening disconnect….”
The gap between rich and poor is wider than any time in history and getting wider. It is becoming socially acceptable to publicly say we don’t care about the poor, let them fend for themselves. If they become too obnoxious we have a growing private prison industry to get them out of sight.
It’s not just the poor, but the ‘working poor’ those making minimum wage or lower. Anything that is less than total self sufficiency is looked down upon.
Respected lawmakers in Congress wage war on the poor. Some are Catholic and make a lot of noise about that. It is time to set things straight. This twisted ideology is not Catholic Social Justice. Our tradition is grounded in respect for each person. It is based on the theory of the common good. This Ayn Rand individualism is destructive. Greed is splitting the country apart.
Our tradition is based on community. We belong to a community.
An essential principle that came from Vatican II is “the preferential option for the poor.” That means public policy is evaluated on its impact on the poor and most vulnerable. This also means we work to change the conditions that create mass poverty with the same thoroughness doctors use to stem an epidemic.
The U.S. Catholic bishops list Seven Principles of Catholic Social Teaching. I call to mind these two: 1. Option for the Poor and Vulnerable. “A basic moral test is how our most vulnerable members are faring. In a society marred by deepening division between rich and poor, our tradition recalls the story of the Last Judgment (Mt. 25:31-46) and instructs us to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first.”
2. The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers. “The economy must serve people, not the other way around. Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God’s creation. If the dignity of work is to be protected, then the basic rights of workers must be respected: the right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to the organization and joining of unions, to private property, and to economic initiative.”
Our tradition is well aware of the “deepening division between rich and poor.” It uses the adjective “marred”. This is well chosen since our country is the richest on earth. It is scandalous we have such a widening gulf between the “haves” and the “have nots.” Our tradition is based on human respect, and to label and vilify the poor and amass great wealth is not only immoral, but is not the America I know.
The America I know had a war to eliminate poverty, not a war on the poor. Our tradition teaches that everyone benefits if we look out for our vulnerable. We have a duty to enable the vulnerable to rise up from their condition and get the tools they need to move to a good quality of life. History has shown that when the gulf between rich and poor is so great the society is in danger.
The other principle I cited stresses the dignity of work, the rights of workers to organize and form unions to safeguard and better their working conditions. This is found in papal documents from Leo XIII to Benedict XVI. We live in a “right to work state” with its history of slavery and get the anti-union propaganda at an early age. To be pro union is not communist, but solid Catholic teaching. Just a thought.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Retiring editor: a special witness of Good News
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
June 22, 2012
This is a different column for “Millennial Reflections” for this June. Over the years this column has focused on issues of social justice, so much at the heart of Vatican II.
The years of the council coincided with the sit-ins, the voter registration drives, what the country called “Freedom Summer” but what the organizers called the “Summer Project” to register African Americans long denied the ballot. So much blood was shed. The anti-war movement was escalating.
All this, and more, permeated the great aura where the council Fathers deliberated. Huge change took place, but now we still struggle against voter suppression, and fight for the right of peaceful assembly, and so many other issues.
This June I want to focus on my editor for almost 15 years who encouraged me to peck away at a computer and write what the Spirit says write. Janna Avalon has been running this paper almost as long as I have been a priest.
Her patience and her skill as a mentor have benefited me immensely. She was one of a handful of people who introduced me to Mississippi, and helped me grow to love it. Sitting in her office filled with books from my favorite theologians of the council, talking about issues, or the machinery of how the paper gets published, meeting with the committee to put out the annual “Legislative Preview,” the advice and free exchange of ideas was wonderful. Being an occasional “stringer” and sending in pictures from events was fun and educational.
I was learning a few things about journalism, from a dedicated, professional journalist and editor. Two qualities come to mind: fairness and having an open mind. A third quality also is present: humility.
Janna would never write a column about herself. Rather, she would do what an editor does, and put out a quality paper week after week. O, sure, people would complain, but she fought to have the best columnists that reflected the post-Vatican II church that she could get.
She really wanted lay people to contribute and write for the paper and they do. She could listen to ideas and see a story. She could take opposing views and give them an airing.
She worked under four bishops, although Bishop Richard Gerow was already retired. She guided the newspaper through the post council years all the way into the new millennium.
The special editions she put out reflected the diocese, its bishops and recorded the historic and special role the Catholic Church has in Mississippi. These will be archived.
There is much that Janna has done as editor of Mississippi Today then Mississippi Catholic that will be appreciated by future generations discovering what treasures the church in Mississippi has for those who read.
To be an editor of a Catholic newspaper in a period of such seismic change takes special skill and wisdom. By the time I came along, I could learn from some of her wisdom. Her patience, fairness and open mindedness held her in good stead.
We still are in a period of great change, and Janna’s experience and wisdom are still needed. However, after 41 years retirement is a reward and a blessing. I hope she does the things she has been putting off, but really wants to do.
She leaves a proud legacy and a fine record for her years reaching out to 65 counties telling them that the church is alive and well spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. She and her husband Billy remain good friends and I wish them all God’s blessings.
I look forward to the paper, in whatever form it takes. I hope that it keeps her open mindedness, tolerance of different opinions, and an inquisitiveness to record how Mississippi Catholics live their faith. I hope it continues to be the voice of those who have no voice, and be a bearer of the Good News of the Gospel.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
There’s good news in a troubling time
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
May 4, 2012
Writing a column before the end the legislative session is trying to tell the end of the story before you finish the book. When you read this it will all be known for good or ill.
Today is the 26th of April and several bills are inconference. Rumors are going around about a special session. The religious leaders, MRLC (Mississippi Religious Leadership Conference), had a prayer service April 25, on the feast of St. Mark.
That day began the hearings before the Supreme Court (known as SCOTUS if you like acronyms) on the draconian Arizona SB 1076, the “Show me your papers bill.” The first reports were ominous. The court seems to approve of the core provisions.
The story is still unfolding. My June column may be writing itself. So it is time to take a long look at what is going on.
For the last dozen years or so anti-immigrant bills have been defeated in the Legislature, even as they were proliferating all over the country. The current leadership wants to change that, regardless of the economic impact. Those of us who struggle for human rights are like the boy with his finger in the dyke. So what is it we are dealing with? Xenophobia, nativism, racism. Why now?
Look at Europe. The German government just smashed a vicious neo-Nazi cell. Anti-Semitism is on the rise. In some places Muslim-Turkish workers are scorned and derided like the Latino immigrants are here.
We can say the drive to migrate for a better life is part of this. We can say the 99 percent are suffering at the hands of the 1 percent. Certainly the data is in how NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement) have driven poor farmers off their land desperate for work. The world’s economy is to blame for a lot of this, both here and abroad.
I grew up during the Third Reich and the Holocaust. I came of age during the struggle to end American apartheid. I remember how the country changed. I have friends who came back down South who swore they would never set foot in such an oppressive place. They did, and liked it. The country really changed.
If you don’t believe me look at this. Interracial marriage was a crime. Then came the end of segregation. Today current census data report a big jump in interracial couples. “It is up 28 percent since 2000. We are becoming much more of an integrated multi-racial society, but we are a long way from a colorblind or post-racial society.” (The Clarion-Ledger, April 26)
This says our social attitudes are still very much in flux. Change is going on, but as is the case, it is zig-zag. Reports come in saying young people today are far more tolerant about ethnic and racial differences than older people.
Yes, there are pockets where bigotry is still handed down, just look at the Craig Anderson case in Jackson, however this is not the trend.
Like in my day, young people are picking up the new direction and are going with it. The push back is severe. We have a lot of cases of racial profiling and immigrant harassment, but this does not change the progressive direction toward a more inclusive society.
The forces of resistance are determined to replay the 1960s and come out the winner. No, you cannot turn back the clock.
Economy aside, the fear of real change in attitude and values drive those who can only see the progressive trends as evil incarnate. Fear is something that reason and logic cannot dispel. Change takes time. It takes patience.
Look at St. Paul. He traveled all over his world and preached the Good News of Jesus Christ. He made the nations see that there is a whole new inclusive relationship between humanity and God. It is so profound we still struggle with it.
He told the Galatians (Gal 3:26-29) “For through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendent, heirs according to the promise.”
We are now in the third millennium, and still have not experienced the full meaning of that text. In the last years of the 20th century we did something about getting rid of labels, breaking down barriers, talking inclusivity, and meaning it.
Now the barriers are back, the labels beat people over the head, but the future of our world depends on our experiencing and understanding and living Galatians 3: 26-29.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
`We must strive for common good for all people’
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
April 13, 2012
Since the beginning of the new millennium, “Millennial Reflections” has reported a continuing polarization in our society reflected in a lack of civil and disrespectful, even abusive discourse passing for social commentary.
Right wing commentators hurl insults and libelous attacks on people or ideas they don’t like. They set a model for others to follow. They defend all this as “entertainment.” This type of intolerance of differing opinions and points of view continues to degenerate to disrespecting people and personal attacks.
Over the years numerous articles have appearedcomplaining that the negative volume was too high. Some plead for polite and civil discourse, others wonder have we lost civility and can we get it back? Facts get drowned in noisy assertions. People get frustrated and irritated. Nothing gets done.
Our annual legislative session always takes up the first quarter of the new year. Several of us are advocates for those who count the least in terms of policies that would improve their lives.
People I have collaborated with, notably Sister Donna Gunn, CSJ, have inspired me as well as Rep. Steve Holland who has fought for fair health and human service legislation.
Since I am passing out kudos, I must mention Rims and Judy Barber who have monitored the bills over the years and continue to be the eyes and ears of many public and private agencies and groups who faithfully meet Mondays at noon during the session.
But I have to mention a group of legislators who especially inspire me. They have come up from the hard struggle of civil rights. Each one can tell their story of the part they played to change Mississippi from its segregationist past to where it is today.
I speak of the Legislative Black Caucus who represent far more than the districts that elected them. People in the country have no idea of the rough and tough struggle that goes on at the Capitol by people clad in suits and professional dress. Yet they stand their ground and keep pursuing fairness and equality.
Monitoring activities at the Capitol over the years, I have seen the tension mount. Several legislators have told me just how tense it is over there. Since this session started, several legislators have suffered verbal even physical abuse by their colleagues or others at the Capitol. This session is unprecedented.
I can list several cases of racial, verbal, even physical abuse toward legislators doing their best to represent the people. Twice I have heard eloquent speeches by members of the Legislative Black Caucus defend colleagues who were racially, verbally, physically assaulted. They demand the respect they are entitled to.
There is no turning back the clock. Quiet unreported remarks and asides go on that add to the tension. Also two white representatives got physical with each other. Large contributors to this negative atmosphere are groups espousing very right wing ideologies.
In the midst of all this, the Mississippi Religious Leadership Conference (MRLC) twice spoke out for human rights and fairness in lending practices.
At the Catholic Day at the Capitol, the governor held a press conference in the rotunda espousing his anti-immigrant legislation, and the two state Catholic bishops were on the steps outside without sound equipment. Nonetheless they spoke truth to power.
In the heated debate over immigrant rights, the MRLC held a press conference and sent a support letter to those who fought to kill a draconian anti-human rights bill against undocumented immigrants.
Among the legislators that voted for us, the Legislative Black Caucus members were solidly with us and also received this letter.
The religious groups were voices of calm and reason in a contentious divisive atmosphere. This negativity and hostility are unbecoming to our Legislature, and everyone who participates over there.
This includes not only legislators who should at all times demonstrate a professionalism that befits their office, but lobbyists, advocates, concerned citizens and groups should also exercise professional decorum, even when arguing their positions.
Yes, there are legislators over there whom I totally disagree with, but I respect them and their office. This should be reciprocal.
We are all Americans. We are all Mississippians. We all must strive for the common good. It is about all the people, not some of the people. It is about justice, fairness and mutual respect.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
`So let’s fight to kill HB 488’
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
March 9, 2012
Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012, was the second Catholic Day at the Capitol. More than 230 people joined Bishop Roger Morin of Biloxi and Bishop Joseph Latino of Jackson to speak out against anti-immigrant legislation and demand full funding from the Department of Human Services (DHS) to fully implement the “Olivia Y Decision” or risk having state foster care be run by an outside agency.
I intended to write somewhat of a review of a very successful day of witnessing the Gospel as Catholic Christians. Our two bishops spoke powerfully and eloquently for immigrant justice and human rights on the Capitol steps in the face of a megaphone of anti-immigrant rhetoric urging the passage of a draconian, unjust law.
The experience was a collision of visions for the state of Mississippi. Vision one was of compassion, human dignity, the common good, the protection of the weak and vulnerable.
Vision two was of the “old Mississippi” which for the last 40 years we have struggled to consign to history. This vision was of racism, hatred of the other, a message that the “other” will destroy “our way of life.” It was clothed in the hypocrisy of “legal” versus “illegal.”
What is that but arbitrarily putting a label on weak and defenseless people? What that vision does is gin up fear of people who do no harm, rather actively contribute to the communities they live in. How can Catholics look out in their churches and see the devotion of their Hispanic members and say “Deport the illegals!” making them non-persons?
You see the church also condemns racism. Whenever that rears its head it must be confronted and denounced for what it is. We can argue economics, civic contributions till we’re blue in the face, but like the Gospel readings this past First Week of Lent, Jesus denounces all forms of hypocrisy.
This is far more than politics, this is attacking the evil that almost destroyed the country in a civil war. Our church membership is African American and Hispanic, two groups still under attack by racist forces that we must confront and denounce.
Bluntly put racism is a sin. If we tolerate all the word play that says, “We are not racist, we only want to follow the law,” we condone the gross hypocrisy also clothed in the law that Jesus not only condemned, but was crucified for.
Yes, I am speaking above politics, I am speaking about the core of our faith. The president of our Guatemalan Directiva in Carthage St. Ann Parish, stood up in the church the Sunday after coming to the Capitol and heard us speak for human rights and social justice, for just laws that do not oppress people or destroy families, in the name of God.
He said, “I believe” pointing to Sister Pat Godri and myself, “they would give their lives for us.” You see this is not hyperbole. This is why this is far more than proper legislation. This goes to the heart of the Gospel, Matthew 25. This is the test and identification of our faith. In the Gospel of John, we do not have the Eucharist as in Matthew, Mark and Luke.
Instead Jesus gets on his hands and knees with a towel and water and washes their dirty feet. This is how he is present, by the way we treat each other. John’s whole message is, “My children, love one another.”
No, this is not pie in the sky, but a standard of behavior. When we confront the anti-human, hypocritical defense and promotion of unjust laws, we speak against it, even if we must give our lives. That is Gospel, people, pure and unvarnished. We spent centuries watering it down, but it won’t go away.
I can join many who argue for fair treatment of immigrants, saying “Mississippi has shed its racist past, let’s not bring it back.” So fight to kill this HB 488. But let’s really be fair, Mississippi wasn’t (or isn’t) any more racist than the rest of the country.
If we share our virtues, let’s share our sins. Just treatment of immigrants is an American problem. The only fair and just way to solve it is as Americans, to demand the Federal Government to pass fair and just immigration reforms based on Gospel teaching.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
‘Humility gave me strength in my struggle’
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
January 13, 2012
“Millennial Reflections” attempts to chronicle the changes in social issues from the end of the 1900s to the beginning and into the 2000s. Really it is nothing more than from one century to another. Looking back there is more in common between the 20th century through the 1920s and the last quarter of the 19th century.
Distance makes us see that, though back in the day people would object, after all the “Roaring Twenties” after World War I cheered the “War to end all wars.” They did not see the precipice ahead.
Today is similar in some ways. The economic collapse is compared often to the Great Depression. President Obama’s fight with Congress is compared to FDR’s fight with Congress. Pundits see the same resistant ideologies then and now.
Through this entire period the church has crafted a social justice doctrine that is a light pointing to the end of the tunnel. Human dignity is its ground. Simply put, everyone has dignity and worth just by existing, being here. All the polarity around “life issues,” including opposition to the death penalty, only reinforces this point.
The Catholic Church in Mississippi (its two dioceses) is speaking out to the Legislature about poverty. Poverty is an affront to human dignity. It is dehumanizing. To fight to eliminate poverty is pro-Gospel, it speaks to human dignity.
Yet as we have written recently, it will be much harder to get a fair hearing, let alone influence legislation. We spoke about the power of witness, now we want to talk about the affront to human dignity.
Though it may seem very redundant, even depressing, to record and publicize the negative impact of legislative and policy decisions on the poor by depicting struggling families or individuals, at the same time it is a direct statement against the hypocrisy of the powers that be.
For example, consciousness is raised when the Capitol is filled with people in wheelchairs speaking to the effects of cutbacks to programs vital to them. When rural people fill the Capitol speaking against closing the one single institution that affects them increases the volume that says, “Change now!” And so on.
There will be many groups speaking loud and long for justice and fairness. When the outgoing governor urged lawmakers, “Don’t regard the pleas of agency heads who have resisted funding cuts. It’s the nature of government agencies to want to increase their spending level, but cuts are required. There are gonna have to be more.” (Clarion-Ledger Jan. 5, 2012) This attitude draws a line in the sand and we are on one side of that line.
Compromise is a goal seldom reached in the last several years, but we must try and work with those who do not agree with us, and not give up our principles.
We also need to recognize our allies. We may not agree on everything, but on issues we agree on we must support each other.
I write these lines getting ready for the first half of the New Year, but I have learned a lesson in humility. Christmas was very different for me this year, after spending several days in the hospital with pneumonia. I had never had pneumonia, and I thought it was the flu.
Having visited many in the hospital over the years it was a learning experience being the patient. As of this writing I look forward to getting back in the swing, seeing familiar faces in church, and being active again.
I share that with you as we talk about the poor, those who cannot obtain the quality of medical care many of us can. This is not to spread guilt, which can be counterproductive, it is to make a point we are all dependent. We are dependent on one another, on the social structures we create, and most of all on God.
We say our social justice teaching is based on human dignity. That covers everyone. The guy leaving the shelter early in the morning in slept-in clothes figuring out where his next meal is coming from has equal dignity to the guy in the Joseph A. Banks (“Buy one, get two free”) suit walking smartly into a gleaming office building.
I close with Jesus in Matthew 25, “When you did it to the least of these, you did it to me.” Happy and Blessed New Year!
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Make straight road of justice
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
December 9, 2011
A few weeks ago there was the second preparation meeting for “Catholic Day at the Capitol” at St. Richard Parish, chaired by George Evans. You saw his column last week detailing what happened and how to go there and speak up for those who have no voice.
Sunday, Nov. 27, many of you read Joe Atkins’ fine column in the Clarion Ledger, which succinctly states what to expect in the coming session.
To say the least, those of us who are concerned about the poor, about child welfare, about education need to brace ourselves for bad things. So I would like to take this spaceand write about the power of witness.
We have a lot of examples right here in Mississippi. We could make a list of their accomplishments, but the point is, many bore witness, and made statements, and raised consciousness without a glimmer that what they said would come to pass. They did it anyway.
Ida B. Wells, for example, in the “gilded age” spoke out mightily against lynching, but those trees still continued to bear strange fruit. She never lived to see the end of Jim Crow or African Americans become full citizens with human rights. And even today that is still debatable in some circles.
Yet even in those dark times her voice kept encouraging people, who succeeded her, to speak out until change came. So it is today. To go to the Capitol and speak up for issues of child welfare, or full funding for education, or adequate funding for mental health, disabilities, Medicare and Medicaid, the list continues, expect to be ignored.
Nonetheless to stand with those who feel the impact of budget cuts on their quality of life, and speak for fairness and justice, does have an impact. The mere fact we make our case wherever and whenever we can will ultimately move toward compassionate change.
Christianity is built around mercy and compassion, regardless how some distort it. As Isaiah says, “Awake O advocates! Give God no rest until Jerusalem is built up to become earth’s crown!” (Is 62:7) We who go to the Capitol to advocate for those with no voice speak truth and justice until change comes.
It is easier to get fired up over issues, but I stress even to speak out to deaf ears still makes a powerful impact. As we say, “Educate, educate, educate!” That means say it once, say it twice, and repeat until they get the message. We saw it happen before, how legislators were won over. It may take some time, even years, but that is how progress happens.
The winter months are cold, dark and nasty. Thank God for Advent and Christmas. Thank God for eternal hope. Even as the bread lines lengthen, there is hope. Even if one person says to him/herself, “This must change!” Change is beginning right now.
Psalm 72 says the Lord hears the cry of the poor. When we advocate at the Capitol, in letters to the editor, in gatherings and meetings we are being microphones to amplify their cry for justice.
We can talk numbers forever, but the bottom line is until the most needy get their fair share everyone suffers.
Yes, the middle class is getting trashed. That is a major point of the Occupy Wall Street movement. When service personnel come back from tours of duty to find their homes have been taken, that is just one more on the list of injustices and there are many others.
Each and every one of us, whether we go to the Capitol or not, have a stake in what is happening.
There is one more thing. Justice for immigrants. This will impact our ministry to Spanish-speaking people throughout the diocese. Expect an Alabama-style anti-immigrant law.
Our church, more than any other, has stood in the breech to support fair treatment of undocumented immigrants. The bishops of Juarez, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, recently had a joint Mass on the border fence that spoke out for fairness and justice.
We cannot let immigrants be the scapegoat for what ails our country. The old 20th century demons are back again: racism, xenophobia, greed. We know how to deal with them. Despite what happens we need to have a strong voice for fairness and justice to immigrants.
As the nights get colder and longer, the days are crisp, sunny and bright, we strengthen ourselves by the wisdom of those who stood for us. Let us in the new year demonstrate proudly our Catholic tradition of social justice, of fairness, without hesitation. This, in the long run, makes change happen.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Catholic Committee of South meets, sets priorities
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
November 11, 2011
For over 70 years there has been a presence of Catholic social justice advocacy in the South guided and inspired by the Glenmary Missionaries. This is known as the Catholic Committee of the South (CCS).
Reinvigorated in the 1980s it has met throughout the Southeast to support and report on efforts in various areas of social justice throughout the region. The weekend of Oct. 28 - 29 they met at the Priory of St. Moses the Black in Raymond.
Father Les Schmidt, a Glenmary organizer, is the liaison between the Catholic Committee of the South and 40 Catholic bishops whose dioceses cover the region. Over the years they have issued strong pastoral letters against the proliferation of private prisons, for worker justice, for poultry workers, immigration reform.
Today the organization is a loosely structured coalition of church workers, clergy, religious and lay, and organizations ministering in the rural South. They have an annual meeting called a “gathering” in which they reach out to people working for social justice in churches and communities of poverty.
Over a year ago I was working in the area of proliferation of private prisons, particularly, how they have become warehouses to hold Latino immigrants awaiting deportation. I came across Father Schmidt and others working with an organization called Grassroots Leadership based in Charlotte, N.C.
He stopped by the priory and talked about the Catholic Committee of the South. It was exciting to hear that such a vibrant expression of Catholic Social Justice, involved in many issues, was operating throughout our region.
When he explained he was the Southern bishops liaison, that further energized me, for I could see the poor had a voice. He asked if I’d be on the board, to which I agreed, and we further agreed the 2011 “Gathering” would be at the Priory of St. Moses the Black.
Twenty-five people came together representing a variety of faith traditions and social justice enterprises. All held in common that the “preferential option for the poor” that came out of Vatican II was the focus behind every issue.
They sang vespers with the community and attended morning praise and Mass. For a day and a half they listened to the stories of the activists. This listening is a feature of CCS. It accomplishes several goals. It lifts the individuals and groups up from their issues to listen to themselves, their pain, their struggle, their commitment to change.
They came from Eastern Kentucky, North Carolina, Arkansas, Northeast Mississippi, Central and Southern Mississippi and Alabama. They talked about themselves, the issues they struggle with.
At the end of this process five issues surfaced that we will focus on this year. They are:
1. Immigration reform. We gave a presentation and material on a new comprehensive immigration reform called the “Dignity Campaign.” We urged Father Schmidt to get this to the bishops’ committee on immigration. 2. Prison reform, both what goes on inside prisons, the whole issue of juvenile prisons, and the need to fight the proliferation of private prisons. We are supportive of allied organizations in their efforts at this.
3. Death Penalty. Continue the fight to ban the death penalty. This is the pro-life issue that often is pushed aside. “Not in our name!” We connect with families of the executed and families of the victims. We educate them how their pain is manipulated by a system out to legalize vengeance. One participant spoke strongly how, at her weakest, she was being used.
4. Support for families of incarcerated people. We noted there is a strong group in New Orleans, and a small group in Jackson.
5. Support for disaster victims. Our own disaster specialist at Catholic Charities Jackson brought a family still struggling to rebuild after the terrible tornadoes that hit in Attala County. So often when these events drop off the news, people are forgotten. Rebuilding is slow, is painful and requires so much more than money.
We departed feeling energized. Next year we look to Memphis to meet. We will compile a report, and Father Schmidt will take it to the 40 Southern bishops who have, down through the years, supported the Catholic Committee of the South.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Poor people, minorities pay price
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
October 14, 2011
Executions abuse the victims. Vengeance never brings peace. The process by which the state puts someone to death is flawed.
John Grisham declared flatly that he is opposed to the death penalty. He cites reasons often given, and very true. The fact innocent people have been executed does not deter people who crave vengeance, because that is at the heart of the use of the death penalty.
The United States remains one of the few industrialized countries that practice the death penalty. In countries which have abolished the death penalty violent crime has gonedown.
However the Catholic Church has unambiguously gone on record, with official teaching, that declares the death penalty immoral and should stop.
Capital punishment is legally sanctioned, socially acceptable vengeance, no more no less.
If there was ever a reason to abolish the death penalty the Troy Davis case was the poster boy. Over the years, as the credibility of the case unraveled, and serious doubts as to his guilt kept coming, the imposition of the irrevocable penalty seemed to be a too final solution.
Once set in motion this legal killing machine is near impossible to turn off. Our criminal justice system is anything but reasonable. Judged by outcomes, it is built to round up black men, transfer public funds to private companies to warehouse them, and then kill them, all legal and tidy.
It targets minorities and poor people who cannot afford proper representation.
Visit any criminal courtroom in the country, you will find it packed largely with blacks and Hispanics and poor people waiting for the five minute consult with their public defender who literally has their future and their lives in his or her hands. This is reality.
No, this is not CSI Special Victims Unit. This is not the good guys win, the bad guys get caught. This is dirty reality with poor to rotten representation, with prosecutors out to score more wins. All of this is fed by a public perception that something is being done to be tough on crime.
Those who get sentenced to death are poor, are minority, and have poor legal help. As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg said, “I have yet to see a death case among the dozens coming to the Supreme Court on eve-of-execution stay applications in which the defendant was well represented at trial. People who are well represented at trial do not get the death penalty.”
Life has a price tag.
In our nation’s history we have often used quick violent methods to solve problems. Shall I mention lynching? In the course of the 20th century it became apparent that simple, violent solutions do not solve complex problems.
The United States is one of the most violent nations on the planet. As a society we refuse to deal with violence and its causes. Instead we use violent solutions to solve violent problems. Until we tackle violence as a national problem we will not solve the problems violence causes.
The climate we live in is beyond breakdown in civil discourse. It is evil. It is anti-life. It continues to degenerate. From agreeing to disagree, it attacks persons. Ideology renders facts irrelevant.
A culture of selfishness drives the national debate. It is “me, me, me!” Everybody else is on their own. The basic necessities of life have a price tag. Poverty is a crime. The use of the death penalty reflects this.
The death penalty does not address the causes of violent crime. It further romanticizes power. Further, the way the media continues to advertise executions as justice only perpetuates a culture of vengeance.
We can address the causes of violent crime, and we can do something significant to reduce their number. Tested solutions are out there. They have been proven to work.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
‘We need to rediscover national unity’
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
September 9, 2011
The year is two-thirds gone. They say a sign of aging is that time seems to go by so much faster the older you get. I anticipate spring every year, glad to be away from winter’s damp chill. Summer seems to burst with new possibilities.
Come the hot days of August the leaves take on a tired look about them. There is some kind of tree out here that begins turning leaves brown and shedding before August ends. In September I look to the fall equinox, and the bright colors of autumn and cooler days.
We remember a lot this year. Monday, Aug. 29, fittingly the feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist, brought the wrath of Katrina to our shores. So much was lost. So many lives gone, and families uprooted, never to be the same. Six years later we remember it like yesterday
Ten years ago, Sept. 11, 2001 the unthinkable happened. A few men with box cutters wreaked havoc in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. America changed forever. The pain is very much alive in families of the victims.
The American myth of being safe because two oceans were at each side of us was broken for good. We join other nations where security checks are common. We are still adjusting. We need effective security measures at airports and other public places where harm could come. We need to avoid the over compensation where people are abused, and credibility suffers.
9-11 spawned a whole new, or maybe old, way of thinking. A fear-of- the-other-mentality got a lot of traction, and the us-versus-them fear mode really makes us more vulnerable.
Wars are fought against nations with names, leaders with names. A war against an “ism” isn’t a war. The best weapon against terrorism has been superb intelligence and special ops units, hyper police work.
President Obama demonstrated that in the successful elimination of Osama bin Laden, the shredding of Al Qaeda, and other, some even unknown, operations that target terrorists who operate in cells or alone.
Terrorists are essentially weak. Their biggest impact is to create an atmosphere of paralyzing fear and over reactive response.
Sept. 5 was Labor Day. This day we remembered working people and those who struggle for worker rights, labor unions. The Catholic Church has championed the rights of unions from Pope Leo XIII to Benedict XVI.
In right to work states, like Mississippi, this has yet to drive our Catholic culture. Not just official statements, but at the grassroots, parish level we need to educate our people that unions are not the enemy of jobs for workers, or the enemy of business, just the opposite. We go along believing the hype and the rich get richer and the rest of us suffer.
We need to put the good of the nation, what Catholic social teaching calls, the common good ahead of partisan ideology. Civil discourse has unraveled.
When a sitting president can be insulted by a member of congress during a state of the union speech, or partisan bickering and brinkmanship over ideology risking national collapse can dominate governing is scandalous.
Like it or not, the world still looks to the United States to lead it back to solvency and prosperity.
This petty, mean spirited divisiveness is tearing the country apart. Everyone has the right to their own politics, but not at the expense of the good of the nation. Now, more than ever, we need to rediscover national unity. We need to think for the good of others, not just ourselves.
This Labor Day unemployment is 9 percent, but among minorities up to 50 percent. That hurts all of us.
The income gap between rich and poor is the widest in history. If our only response is, “Well, that is them, we are OK” and we follow it up with a bunch of moralisms, that not only hurts all of us but also shows just how bankrupt our thinking is.
If the government can only think of ways to invade our privacy and track our every move in the name of security, we are no longer the country we claim to be.
Now more than ever, preachers of the Gospel, need to teach about unity and community, not as abstractions, but as necessities.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
To facilitate transformative love, be willing to change
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
August 5, 2011
Last month I shared some reflections Father Brian Massingale gave the vocation directors of the National Religious Vocations Conference (NRVC). This month I will conclude with his thoughts and offer suggestions.
Two questions stayed with him: How do we cultivate a stance of unease with the world in which we live? And how do we facilitate a transformative love for the other?
Father Massingale quoted Juan Luis Segundo, “If you are at ease with the world as it is, you will never understand what we are about, for we are not satisfied with the way the world is, and we do not feel morally at ease with it.”
The response to these two questions are central to understand religious life as primarily the prophetic dimension of the church.
Globalization has many positive aspects, among them being this increased consciousness of being one world. This first awareness can be traced back to missions in space, those familiar screen-saver pictures of the blue and white earth in the void of space.
Then there was the famous “We are the World!” that was sung by mass youth choirs representing a multi-ethnic, racial, cultural, etc picture of humanity expressing hope. Today with technology this virtual community can be sustained, and friendships can develop worldwide.
In many ways the Catholic Church is “global.” It is one of the largest multinational institutions in the world. Its teachings appear in every known language, yet there is more to this than meets the eye.
We have heard in local publications, and the media that there is a “browning” of the church, especially in the United States. The number of Latin Americans filling up formerly all white churches are steadily increasing, but don’t discount the Asian, African, Caribbean, and African Americans.
Globally, the vast majority of the Catholic Church now lives in the Southern Hemisphere, and the majority of Catholics in the United States are not white Anglos, or in the language of the Census Bureau, the majority of U.S. Catholics are “Hispanic non-white.”
Father Massingale points out every Sunday in the United States Mass is celebrated in dozens of languages. I personally preached in a church where 25 languages were spoken, and Mass was celebrated in 4 languages every Sunday. Here we are conscious of English and Spanish, but welcome the “new normal.”
Going back to his two questions. How do we cultivate a stance of unease with the world in which we live? And how do we facilitate a transformative love for the other?
In a global world and church, with its potential for good, and yet threatened by an encroaching tribalism, isolation, apartheid, and callous indifference, religious are called to be agents of social reconciliation, healing a divided church and divided world.
Religious are to witness the compassion of Christ to the outcast, despised and ostracized.
To do that, Father Massingale states, religious need to cultivate a stance of unease — a deep sense of visceral distance, outrage, lament and grief at the state of the world and the church — rooted in a deep transformative love for the outcast, despised and ostracized — a transformative love the Christian tradition calls “compassion” and Catholic social teaching calls “solidarity.”
This is not just incumbent on religious, but all Catholics should follow their example. To begin a transformative love we must accept we will be transformed. In no way does this suggest pity or bleeding hearts. That is mere patronizing and only rubs salt in the wounds.
It means to share and listen. It means refrain from judgment and become learners of another way of being human. It means to change a point of view. It means to accept negative judgment.
Genuine compassion means becoming one with, “family with” the outcast and marginalized, the labeled and condemned. This does not have to be noisy, only real. Only then do, walls of fear, xenophobia, hatred begin to crumble.
This is a gentle process, like water carving out canyons, it doesn’t make noise. It means relate equally to people of color, as collaborators, teachers, and partners in the common enterprise. Make our churches truly welcoming places where everyone can express themselves and be accepted.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
`Eucharist emphasizes unity, which can be scary’
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
July 8, 2011
We slog into this new century, this new millennium. Some are determined to repeat the battles of the last century seeking different outcomes. The breakthroughs we made in social change seem uncertain. The pushback to the old order is as strong as the struggle for justice and human rights.
I begin with this after thinking about the state of religious vocations and vocations to the priesthood. My community, like so many others, is part of the National Religious Vocation Conference (NRVC). Our vocation directors meet with others from all over the country to be reaffirmed by the commonality of their situation.
This group represents the best religious life has to offer. These men and women are dedicated and committed to their religious institutes. The organization publishes “Horizon” a journal that comes out periodically.
In the Winter 2011 [sic] issue there is a powerful article by Father Brian Masingale, a priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, an African American social ethicist, who teaches at Xavier University as well as Marquette University. These vocation directors wanted his perspective on their ministry and how to make it more effective.
Two questions haunted him. How do we cultivate a stance of unease with the world in which we live? And how do we facilitate a transformative love for the other?
These stayed with him as he talked about the impact of globalization. He talked about religious life being in a persistent state of unease with the world in which we live. He quoted the great theologian of Uruguay, Juan Luis Segundo, “If you are at ease with the world as it is, you will never understand what we are about, for we are not satisfied with the way the world is, and we do not feel morally at ease with it.”
Globalization in every way brings the contrasts in unavoidable stark relief. The tiny percent that live well, safe, secure, healthy and fed come up against the vast majority of the planet who are in dire poverty, starving and dying of diseases eradicated in the so called developed world.
Technology brings us even closer. We can see and hear the pain of the world’s masses on every kind of electronic device. Yet, Massingale points out, globalization rather than urging people to change the situation, makes them totally unconcerned.
He told of visiting a famine camp in Kenya. Overwhelmed by the place he turned to a missionary friend and said, “How can this be! Doesn’t anyone know or care?”
His friend explained people in the Kenyan government, the U.S. State Department, and the United Nations know of this camp, and many others besides. He added, “But nobody gives a damn about Africa.”
We can see this destitution throughout the world on television, on the Internet, but with a click we are watching beautiful people enjoying themselves. The unconscious drumbeat of commercials further sedates us to the real world of which we are a part.
Father Masingale brought it home to his city of Milwaukee, Wis. “While many lament that our national unemployment rate is hovering at 10 percent, few seem to notice or care that the unemployment rate for working age African American men in Milwaukee hovers around 53 percent.”
Other national disparities can be listed, but the callousness and unconcern by the vast majority is overwhelming.
Rather than bringing people together, globalization engenders all forms of fear and xenophobia. Globalization represents an acute compression of time and space, and an unprecedented relativizing of national borders and boundaries driven by two factors: 1) the economic integration of the world financial markets and 2) technology.
Means of communication are like never before. We can communicate with people all over the world instantly. Recently I was communicating with friends in Angola and a Norbertine in Portugal, online. Nonetheless for the vast majority of people this creates all manner of free floating fear and anxiety.
Out of all this comes the anti-immigrant movement out to blame “them” for taking from “us.” This “them versus us” is driven by fear. Borders and boundaries are never going to be the same.
The implications of all this for the church and for an increase in vocations are many. This Year of the Eucharist is to emphasize our unity, but unity can be scary. There is more to come.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Remember `Laborer is worthy of his hire’ (Lk 10:7)
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
June 10, 2011
We call this column Millennial Reflections for a reason. When a millennium is crossed strange things happen. Predictions of the end of the world, the second coming of Christ, all manner of dire phenomena are predicted, little comes to pass.
Yet significant things do happen, reform movements of one sort or another are attempted. Most of these usually reappear in different forms in succeeding centuries. Any history buff can have fun reading and trying to make comparisons.
We already went through Y2K, and recently a sincere, dedicated, fundamentalist preacher struggled with his numbers, predicted the end times, and here we are, and I am sure he is somewhat embarrassed. The pundits had fun with that for a week, until something else took the spotlight.
On a more serious tone, movements have sprung up that have attacked what is called the “social contract,” the presumptions of American life from the New Deal to the present. Ideology aside, some of this, of course, is from what economists predicted about the long term solvency of social programs enacted in the last century that we all depend on.
Another part of this is American workers right to organize and bargain for fair wages and benefits. In last month’s column we mentioned the long history of Catholic social teaching in support of worker rights, now under severe attack in several states.
Also we have mentioned immigrants have rights under American law, regardless of status. That too is under relentless attack. However, a closer look at just who is reaping benefits at the expense of American and foreign workers may shed light on why people risk everything, including life and imprisonment in migrating to the United States to find work to feed their families.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) encompassing Canada, the United States and Mexico has resulted in huge profits for multinational corporations at the expense of less wages and more work, less to zero benefits to workers, primarily in Mexico. NAFTA is probably the biggest driver of migration in the last several years.
We have mentioned that American agribusiness dumping thousands of tons of American corn at the cheapest prices forced Mexican farmers out of business. Successive agreements between Mexico and Washington have only benefited corporations at the expense of workers.
The changes Mexico has proposed to its constitution are drastic, because on paper at least the rights of Mexican workers are extensive. These rights are being stripped all at once.
Here is, but one, example. Mexico is proposing changes to its constitution that would remove protection of workers rights, like an earlier program which returned land to small farmers during much of the 20th century. That was a condition of NAFTA that allowed the takeover of small farms by U.S. agribusiness corporations. This drove Mexicans into extreme poverty and forced increased migration to the United States.
The changes to Mexico’s labor laws, imposed by the outside over the last two decades, are stripping workers of their rights to any kind of job security. Corporations are allowed to set their wages as they please. The process of terminating workers is simpler and allows no recourse. Hours are longer, wages are lower. Workers suffer, corporations make profits.
This is not in line with Catholic social teaching. This is called exploitation. The benefits to Mexico’s elite as well as their partners among American corporations are huge. The cooperation between the two governments benefits the wealthy at the expense of workers.
Recently the Supreme Court upheld a law to verify worker information through E-verify, a not quite perfected program for social security to verify authentic numbers. The law allows this to screen undocumented workers. The results of trade policies and laws like this are to drive wages even lower, to demand longer hours, and not at all to stop the flow of desperate migrants.
As I have written before, there is no intention to stop migration. There is only one goal and that is to get the biggest bang for the buck with low wages and longer hours. American workers are also caught in this vice, but are being played off against the immigrants. Both lose. The corporations get richer. The middle class is even shakier.
The Gospel says, “The laborer is worthy of his hire.” The popes defend the right of workers to organize. We need to stand in solidarity.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
‘Despite catastrophies we carry on’
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
May 13, 2011
Spring 2011 has brought even greater disasters than Spring 2010. The names say it all: Smithville and Clinton, Miss., and Tuscalousa, Ala., EF4 (some reports say EF5) strongest tornado since 1966. Terrible records continue to be broken.
The one that ripped up Clinton, plowed a path of destruction to North Carolina. I saw the cars tossed on Interstate 20, like a little kid playing with his toys, unrecognizable pieces of metal. And then the death and destruction, the grief.
Now it is flooding, a headline said “major flooding.” When you read this it may have already taken its toll. Floods, unlike tornadoes, are silent killers. Remember Katrina? Who can forget it?
In the course of all these things, there are the search and rescue teams, the army of workers who struggle to clean up the debris. Everybody with a chainsaw, gets out to help. Community is born of disaster, when ordinarily people pass by about their business. Then there is the long recovery and rebuilding, when the headlines drop off, and the rest of us forget.
Every year it seems to get worse. Explanations abound. Two things come to mind: One, despite our technology, etc, we are totally helpless when nature revolts. Two, I think of the workers who risk their lives to save the victims, and whatever is left of a town, a neighborhood, the lives and memories of people.
I think about all workers. April and May mark two days significant to workers. April 28th is Worker Memorial Day, an annual commemoration of workers killed on the job each year. It is marked by prayers, listing of names, speeches on fairness and justice for workers. A slogan reads, “You do not have to die to make a living!”
Those of us who “drive desks” don’t think about that, but electrical linemen, for example, know daily their lives are literally in their expert training and skill. This is marked annually on the fourth Saturday of April, in the morning, at the Capitol steps by the Greenville-based Mississippi Worker Center, a support group and advocacy group for all workers. It was born of the struggle of the catfish workers to form a union.
The UFCW (United Food and Commercial Workers) now represent them. Members of unions and non-unions, people working for justice join them to remember those who gave their lives for the lives we all enjoy.
The other day in May, is May 1st the International Day of Labor. Why May 1? That was the day the 8-hour work day became almost universal, out of the struggles in Chicago in the Haymarket neighborhood in the late 19th century. There was a political travesty of a trial, and four men were hanged in the old Hubbard Street Jail, martyrs of the labor movement. Today a bronze monument there, at Desplaines and Randolph, commemorates those who struggled for justice.
This had a Catholic resonance. It was in 1891 Leo XIII issued the famous encyclical, “Rerum Novarum” (“On Capital and Labor”), advocating the morality and affirming the right for workers to form trade unions and advocate for fair and just working conditions. Forty years later, 1931, Pius XI commemorated this in “Quadragesimo Anno” (“On Reconstructing the Social Order”), and reaffirmed the right for workers to organize. This was during the Great Depression.
Furthermore, in 1991, John Paul II, commemorated the 100th anniversary of “Rerum Novarum” in his “Centesimus Anno (“The Hundreth Year”).” He reaffirmed again the duty and right for workers to organize for fair and just conditions.
We see there is a long tradition of Catholic social justice teaching around labor unions. Priests like Msgr. John Ryan and Msgr. George Higgins were staunch advocates of worker rights and membership in unions.
Growing up in a union family was part and parcel of being Catholic back in that day. Some of the most admirable men and women I know have led unions or have been organizers. The labor movement joined with the civil rights movement to usher in a new era of equality in our country, for example, A. Philip Randolph and the Sleeping Car Porters and Walter Reuther and the United Auto Workers.
The job is not done by a long shot. This month we remember the freedom riders, many were college kids who “jumped on a bus to Mississippi” to make a difference, many got as far as the fairgrounds in Jackson or Parchman penitentiary. They did make a difference.
The struggle for worker rights and human rights continues. Despite catastrophes, we carry on. A new 21st century generation is out there working, inspired by the prophets and the Gospel, and those whose shoulders they stand on.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Let’s look at immigration issues again
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
April 8, 2011
We dodged another bullet this legislative session. The editorial in the Clarion Ledger March 31, 2011, expressed the political motivation behind this session’s Arizona-type anti-immigrant law.
“The possibility of profiling was all too great. What would be the basis for suspicion – facial features, skin tone, or better yet, accent? Perhaps it better should be called ‘The You Ain’t from Around Here Bill.’ But the bill performed its function, rallying troops for this year’s elections, a nice divisive emotional issue for politicians to run on …. The bill is dead. Good riddance.”
The bill also galvanized supporters of fair treatment for immigrants. The bishop spoke out. Clergy from all denominations spoke against it. The Hispanic ministries of both the Catholic and Methodist churches opposed it. While we have a breathing space, this column would like to introduce the reader to another type of comprehensive immigration reform. Comprehensive in that this addresses the causes of Latino migration to this country as well as proposing remedies.
It is called the Dignity Campaign. “We need an immigration policy that is based on dignity, and human labor and civil rights for all people. One that recognizes migration, immigration and the movement of people is a permanent feature (italics mine) of globalization caused by social and political forces and policies over which migrants themselves have no control.”
So begins the proposal on the Dignity Campaign Website. This piece will address some of the causes of the current situation. First of all, this has been going on a very long time. There is a history over 200 years of Latino migration to work in the United States. The purpose was always get the most work for the least pay.
“Migration is not an accidental byproduct of the free-trade system. The economies of the United States and other wealthy countries depend on the labor provided by a constant flow of people.”
There are two consequences of this. First, displacement of communities where the workers live is unspoken policy, but creates the flow. Second, inequality in the countries where these workers go is official policy to keep wages low. The goal is not to stop immigration, but to manage migration as a source of vulnerable, low wage labor.
Let us pause here. If we can grasp the purpose of migrant labor, we can begin to see certain steps that should be taken to correct abuses. This has far reaching effects for the quality of life we Americans enjoy.
Migrant labor is fluid labor, but necessary nonetheless. Industries that provide cheap goods depend on cheap labor to sell their products. Farm labor comes to mind, lettuce and grape growers, poultry industries are just three I think of. These industries provide cheap products everyone uses, the basic components of our lifestyle.
The economy from all this has international implications. What really ramped it up in the last 25 years or so, was the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). This has caused massive poverty and displacement in Mexico and Central America.
American goods, like corn, flood local markets and put local farmers out of business. They riot over tortilla prices in Mexico! Whole villages and regions of Mexico and Guatemala are rendered destitute, thus driving migrants to seek work “up North.” Thus, NAFTA guarantees a free flow of cheap labor.
Immigration policy, however it is advertised, is about managing the flow of cheap low wage labor. It is never about sending all the undocumented workers home. Their status insures their vulnerability. Often they come here with work visas. They leave or are terminated by their employer, and immediately go out of status and are labeled “illegal.” They find another job, but take whatever they are offered because they are vulnerable.
Let’s stop here for now, and consider what has been created. First, an unlimited cheap labor force. Second, basic goods can be sold cheaply to consumers here. Third, American goods can be sold in foreign markets cheaper than local goods. Employers clean up. Consumers are satisfied. Workers suffer.
None of this is Catholic Social Teaching. From Leo XIII’s encyclical “Rerum Novarum” (“On the Condition of Workers”) and papal and episcopal documents since, laborers deserve a just wage. They have the right to organize for better working conditions and wages.
Further the international conventions and treaties the United States has signed on to guarantee the above plus health care and decent housing.
Immigration policy is not about immigration, but about keeping people dependent. We need to create a just and fair immigration policy that guarantees the same rights as American born workers have. None of this is about security, but about profit and justice.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Let’s all work for change Jan. 26 at Capitol
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
January 14, 2011
2011 is here. We are now beginning the second decade of this new century and new millennium. When “Millennial Reflections” first appeared on the scene, there was so much hope and optimism. Crossing into the third millennium since the coming of Christ, we believed most of the bad things of the last millennium would not cross over to this one.
We were sadly mistaken.
Ten years have gone by and a resurgence of hate- filled rhetoric, draconian laws, vicious division and polarization and worse is unprecedented. We are celebrating and lauding heroes of the civil rights movement, and celebrating studying the period and learning its lessons.
At the same time Arizona has recently banned “ethnic studies” and, don’t excuse the pun, an officially whitewashed American history will be taught in its schools.
Respected leaders right here in Mississippi with PhDs in African American Studies, human rights, etc., are doing great things, yet a bill is in the hopper to ban the study of civil rights. There is a concerted attack upon knowledge and the freedom to know like never in our lifetime.
Poverty is worse across the country since the days of sharecropping. The gap between rich and poor is greater than ever before, at the same time all manner of bills are being written to shred what is left of the social safety net, and to label the poor as “morally defective” and blame them.
This is a large group, not just the obvious poor folks, but middle class physically and mentally challenged people, unemployed people, sick people. A rugged amoral individualism is invoked to justify this, but greed is at an all time high. Most of the nation’s income goes to the richest one percent.
The Catholic Church has issues with this. It stands with the poor and vulnerable. Jan. 26 is “Catholic Day at the Capitol” to lobby for laws to help the poor and block attempts to make life harder than it already is. Read my colleague, George Evans’ column, “Completing the Circle,” from Dec. 17, 2010, and be familiar with the issues, and come and make your presence felt.
The longest war in American history drags on in a place is known as the graveyard of empires. People are not in the street, because there is no universal draft. A small percentage of the population feels the brunt. The massive anti-war movement us older folks remember isn’t there.
We do not need to be in that place. We are not the world’s policeman. To save the planet we need to learn to talk and dialogue with opposing groups. There is too much at stake.
It isn’t that we lack the guidance for what to do. We need to resist those who try to keep us perpetually afraid. Fear equals paralysis. The truth is we are in far better shape than they would have us believe.
We have a clear social teaching to guide us in every issue whether it is immigration reform, health care, peace, unemployment, etc. Catholic social teaching provides a road map. I quote this often, because it is true.
Paul VI said at the United Nations, “If you want peace work for justice.” Vatican II is very clear on what that means. We are our brother’s keeper. It is not about partisanship. Today it is about the Gospel. It is the challenge to save our planet and our future.
A new decade, a new millennium, the same old stuff to deal with. As people of faith, we cannot sit idly by and do nothing. We have to look at the issues in light of the Gospel, in light of the teaching that policy is morally evaluated on its impact on the poor and vulnerable. It is not about, “getting and keeping mine, and the rest forget it.” However labeled, selfishness is wrong.
If we are blessed with resources, that is not a moral validation, it is a moral challenge to use the corresponding responsibility to improve conditions for those least able. No ideology can get around Matthew 25. It is all there. This is a new year, new challenges.
We can meet these challenges, at the same time bring more peace to our families and communities. We can bring more hope to more people all because of our faith we hold so dear.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
They shall see glory of Lord
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
December 10, 2010
Advent is filled with all manner of hope and expectation. This past Sunday we had John the Baptist, the herald, the voice crying in the desert. The readings spoke of rebuilding after destruction, “A shoot shall spring from the stump of Jesse….”
This time of year is filled with eager expectation. Children anticipate the joy of Christmas day. We take time out from the struggle to savor that “what if…? moment.” I have a very special “what if…? moment.”
This year when I think of our young people, I can’t help thinking of Guatemalan and Mexican kids excelling at school. Some become fluent in three languages. They look forward to college, the real gift that keeps on giving. They have good family support, and become the bridge of cultures for the old ones in their families.
Years ago I remember Lithuanian-American children being the bridge of cultures for the grandmas who only spoke Lithuanian, who cleaned houses, and sent their children to school.
It is going on, right now, under our noses in Mississippi. Hispanic parents are working long hours struggling to send their children to school, to excel and be good Americans. They are no different from the refugees who came here after World War II.
Still the hope-filled readings stir us. The Third Sunday of Advent has “The desert and the parched land will … bloom with abundant flowers …. They will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God.” Each week urges us to think outside the box.
The Guatemalan girl, fluent in three languages, straight As in school, lived here almost all her life. She was three years old when daddy carried her on his back across the river to a new life. She, and so many others like her, represent the future, the hope of Mississippi. The lack of papers makes her dreams remain just dreams.
This doesn’t have to be. I don’t know how many emails I received urging us to pressure Congress to pass the DREAM Act during this lame duck session. This is a win-win for everyone. The full title is “The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act.” It has been around Congress since 2001 and was reintroduced in 2009. It is a bi-partisan piece of legislation, sponsored by Senators Orin Hatch (R-Utah) and Dick Durbin (D-Illinois).
This is an eminent piece of fairness legislation. Over 65,000 youth trying to live the American dream, are smeared by the label, “illegal alien,” through no fault of their own. They grew up in the United States and are culturally Americans.
The DREAM Act would give these deserving youth a path to citizenship if they meet the qualifications. They would be given a six year long conditional path to citizenship that requires completion of a college degree or two years of military service.
Already we have cases of exemplary youth being not only stopped from further education, but being deported to a country they have never seen, and in some cases, have no family there. Among the lists of injustices to immigrants, these cases are particularly nasty, unfair, and wrong.
This lame duck session could be the best chance for passing the DREAM Act. The Catholic Church is behind it. It is the right thing to do. This column joins the chorus to urge everyone to call your congressman or senator and urge them to vote for the DREAM Act.
It says in Isaiah for the Third Sunday of Advent, “Say to those whose hearts are frightened, be strong, fear not, here is your God … He comes to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared.”
By passing the DREAM Act, our youth will be given courage, the light and insights of education, to join us as productive American citizens.
We have been saturated with all manner of anti-immigrant bigotry. None of which befits a Christian, even though some thump the Bible. Here is a chance to right a wrong, to bring peace and love during this Advent and Christmas season. What we do for these youth, we will benefit from for years to come.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Blood of Christians demands peace
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
November 12, 2010
Buried in the political news these past weeks was a story describing terrorists invading a Chaldean Catholic Church in Baghdad during Mass and shooting the place up, killing 58 people. This was no ordinary church, but the Catholic cathedral in Baghdad under the Patriarch Cardinal Mar Emanuel III Delly just returned from Rome after the Synod on the Church in the Middle East.
Christians in the Middle East go back to the Apostles.
We are part of them. They are part of us.
We have to blame history for this disconnect. We forget our religion began in the Middle East. Jerusalem was our center, not Rome. The Acts of the Apostles tell us it was in Antioch in Syria they were first called Christians.
The great Christological debates took place in the Middle East. Coptic bishops from Alexandria Egypt, Syrian bishops from Antioch and Damascus, as well as European bishops from Constantinople were some of the main players in hammering out the creeds from the five ecumenical councils.
When the Muslims arrived on the scene in the seventh century, they found a rich Eastern Christianity. Centers like Tikrit were surrounded by monasteries and churches, the same for Baghdad. This is the same Tikrit that was Sadam Hussein’s home town.
In the beginning Muslims and Christians appeared more similar than they later became. Coptic and Ethiopian monks to this day say, and with much historic credibility, they taught the Muslims about the postures for prayer. Both Christian and Muslims prayed touching their foreheads to the ground.
The religions took on quite different characteristics as the centuries rolled on. Politics and imperialism separate them further. They used religion to justify beating up on each other. Muslims taxed Christian churches, occasionally raiding monasteries. Christians fought Muslims to keep what was left of their Byzantine Empire.
Then the Crusades came leaving painful scars both among Eastern Christians and Muslims that linger to this day. The split in 1054 between the Eastern and Western church that exists to this day also added to the disconnect between Eastern and Western Christians.
We still live in a world split and divided by religion, politics, race and ethnicity.
The current strife between Sunni and Shiite Muslims are acting out a schism between Muslims that goes back to the death of the prophet Mohammed. They’re fighting each other often targeting Christians whom they suspect are “fifth column” spies from the West.
The fact is Eastern Christians can be a buffer and a force for dialogue between Muslims, Israelis and Europeans. The more they are driven out the more polarized and dangerous the whole region becomes.
The Vatican’s observer at the United Nations said this attack is “another tragic incident of the continued intolerance, discrimination and violence directed at Christians.” On Nov. 2 the streets of Baghdad were filled with people taking part in a funeral for victims of the carnage at the Catholic cathedral of Baghdad.
“They are we. We are they.” The pope declared the attack “ferocious” and unjustified. The Vatican’s UN observer further said there is “a need to ensure all religions and all believers have the most basic rights to religious freedom and worship.”
We are all Catholics. That is an adjective that, among other things, means inclusive, unified yet diverse. We pray in many languages including Syriac and Arabic. We are Asian as well as European, African as well as American.
There is too much polarization, hatred and division. Both the Bible and the Quran teach tolerance, compassion, mercy and love. When the believers who revere these books go at each other they violate their own basic teachings. Religion cannot justify atrocities.
Strife like this is not about religion. It is about power and money. Not since the collapse of the Soviet Union has the world been so divided. Even in our own country, rational discourse gives way to intolerance, insults, lies, and hate speech that drown out any rational discussion of issues based on facts.
We just finished a tough election. People say to me “I never saw such lack of civility and open hostility in my life.” This must take center stage. We must come back to basic civility and respect. There is no excuse to appeal to basic hatreds and prejudices. That is unacceptable.
Would be candidates for public office who use this kind of language should be challenged, not made into celebrities. We see in Iraq, in this incident on our Catholic cathedral, the extreme end such behavior can cause.
We need to pray for our fellow Arab Catholics in Iraq, and pray for a return to respect and civility in our own country. Our religion and our values demand it.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
‘We come together as one, move forward’
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
October 8, 2010
When you read this, a powerful statement to bring the country together will have been made. For years the country has deepened its divisions. Theology is twisted into ideology. Theory is twisted into slogans. The complicated and the complex are twisted into mind numbing simplicity.
Institutions that are supposed to be the voice of the people, demanding the people’s right to know, have become entertainment. The more they can ratchet up intolerance and negativity, and get away with it, they do. No longer is it to inform the people, but to report ratings to a corporate board.
President Jimmy Carter said on national television the country “has not been this divided since Abraham Lincoln.”
Where is St. Francis when we need him?
Glenn Beck’s show at the Lincoln Memorial woke people up to say, “When do the rest of us get our say? How about a word from rational, thoughtful, tolerant people who make up the true “silent majority”?
So a national movement for unity has kicked into gear. They billed it as One Nation. On Saturday, Oct. 2, a massive number of people and organizations espousing racial justice, immigrant rights, worker rights, in solidarity, spoke out for jobs, for justice, for equality.
We are one nation. Our diversity is what unites us, and our unity safeguards our diversity. This is what sets America as a light of hope to the world.
Authentic religion must be about unity and fraternity. Every Sunday we pray, “We believe in one holy catholic….” These are all adjectives. They are a work in progress. We struggle to be one. We struggle to be holy. We struggle for inclusion that is at the heart of catholic. It is the opposite of anything that smacks of sectarian.
Last week Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, Ariz., spoke to a large gathering of clergy and laity engaged in ministry throughout our far-flung diocese. He took Ezekiel, one of my favorite prophets, who lived in tumultuous times. He read in Ezekiel no longer two nations divided, but one, repossessed by God (Ez 35/10), no longer divided. Reading further in the New Testament we see unity as the identifying mark of the People of God. No division in the household of faith.
We dialogue, we express our different views, but we do all in charity as Paul admonishes.
Bishop Kicanas spoke passionately about the struggle to achieve unity: the great vision of the dry bones. “Son of Man, can these bones live?” They came together, a vast army united before God. We can have that moment of coming together in unity like those dry bones becoming people again. To carry the image a step further, divisions and polarization will leave nothing but a field of dry bones.
Bishop Kicanas spoke of the process of change. He spoke of the grieving, of the unsettled, unorganized, mistake-ridden process of change. He spoke of the final adjustment, the owning of the changes. All that takes time.
We have been there before. Our young people have not. Many of our young people grew up with parents living through changes in a state of plasticity that something solid and sure was in the distance.
Their children crave surety and clarity of “the way things were” before they were born. The more the past becomes the past, the better it looks. Its warts and faults get air brushed out with time.
A little reflection and a little history quickly tell us there is no reverse gear. We go forward, like it or not. Reading Ezekiel is reading an eyewitness account of hope in the face of disaster. It is seeing the hand of God in everything.
This is not what the fear mongers clog up cable TV with. Their vision has no hope, only further destruction.
We Christians are a people of hope. The mercy of God always overcomes bad things. Those who call the country to become one nation are expressing this hope. It is not getting to the mountain top. It is God who is on the mountain reaching down to us.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Fasting refocuses us on God’
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
September 10, 2010
We Catholics have a very long tradition of fasting. In fact we adopted it from our Jewish forebears. In the 5th Chapter of Luke read Friday, Sept. 3, the Pharisees complain to Jesus. “Why do the disciples of John fast and pray, and your disciples eat and drink?”
Now to be fair the Pharisees were the best reform group among the Jews. They were determined to keep the people focused on the Law and discipline and the wisdom of the elders in the midst of growing Hellenism: Greek philosophy, religion, morals etc.
Sound familiar? Jesus had many encounters with them. He called them hypocrites so often, Pharisee is synonymous with hypocrite. Our greatest Apostle, Paul, was a Pharisee.
In this encounter Jesus directs us to why we fast. “Do the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? No. When the bridegroom is taken from them indeed they will fast.”
By this he announces the joy that the Messiah is among them, but when he accomplishes his mission, then they will fast. Indeed we do, every Lent. Jesus died and he rose from the dead. We fast and we rejoice, isn’t that so Catholic? Fasting and feasting. The Catholic French influence in Louisiana and along the coast celebrates feasting and fasting.
We are not alone. Ramadan began on Aug. 11. During the 30-day fast Muslims rededicate themselves to the One Holy God. Over the years I remember Lebanese and Iraqi Catholics telling me how common it was to share Ramadan with Muslims.
They fast sunup to sundown, then they eat and share their Iftar meals often with their Christian neighbors. I have heard it said that was the best time the religions of Abraham came together. This isn’t new; try 1,400-odd years doing this.
Okolo Rashid, the cofounder of the International Museum of Muslim Culture, the only one of its kind in the country, right here in Jackson, wrote a wonderful piece in the Clarion Ledger, “Ramadan fast is for God alone” (Aug.14, 2010).
She wrote, “The act of fasting is unique among the other principles of faith, in that it is about self denial and restraint, which is hidden and private. Only God knows, and thus he rewards.”
She goes on to say fasting refocuses us on God, and brings our souls closer to God. It reminds us of our origin as created by God and our social role as custodians of creation. A major emphasis is seeking justice and a strong emphasis on providing for the poor and disenfranchised. To be conscious of God is to be humble, knowing oneself and dependence on God.
I had the opportunity to celebrate an Iftar meal with Mahmut Gok and his family. He is the director of the Mississippi Institute of Interfaith Dialogue, a Turkish organization based in several states in the South and Midwest.
Many groups from here have gone with them to visit the Muslim and Christian shrines in Turkey. For me that was a spiritual experience.
During dinner someone asked him, “Why do you fast?”
He explained they fast for four reasons:
1. Fasting teaches us we can eat less.
2. It teaches us to control our eyes; a lot of stuff isn’t worth looking at or even harmful.
3. It teaches us to control our ears; a lot of stuff isn’t worth listening to.
4. It teaches us to control our speech. Words can be toxic. We listen in humility.
Believe me, the following Sunday I used much of that in my homily. Recently at the Dinner of the Abrahamic Traditions I told him so. He was pleased.
That Iftar dinner was held at the Turkish House in Ridgeland with almost 125 people from every faith: Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Muslims.
We shared things we have in common in our Scriptures. This is the real experience of Islam. In light of so much hatred, we need to make this better known. Truth will eventually destroy lies.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
‘We are stronger than wind and oil’
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
August 20, 2010
The other night on CNN the weather person was talking about hurricanes. A big tropical depression was forming off the Lesser Antilles and it could turn into a hurricane, but it was too soon to plot a course.
She went on to say the peak of the hurricane season was from August to October. We have record heat. The heat index tells you just how bad it is. Jackson is opening cooling shelters. The heat is page one.
Katrina hit at the end of August. It was near the time the Norbertines celebrate the feast day of St. Augustine, their founder. He is the founder of all the clergy living life in common.
We all remember the day Katrina hit. It is etched in our minds. The scars still slice the coast. The 24-hour news channels are asking what is the state of Katrina recovery today? Parts of our coastal towns still lie vacant. Little cement stairs can still be found climbing to nowhere. But all that is unimportant because physical things get rebuilt or replaced. Life goes on.
I still reflect on the people. Whether it is an anniversary of Katrina or the BP oil spill, what about the people? Casinos on the Gulf look as if nothing ever happened, what about the people?
For a few years now up in Carthage at St. Anne, otherwise known as Iglesia Catolica Santa Ana, we have been praying a prayer for protection from hurricanes.
We tweaked it a bit for protection from the spreading oil. We call the Gulf of Mexico, holy. We call the marshlands, the bayous, the oyster beds, the whole ecosystem, holy. All our technology cannot create that. We are not sure that we can repair it. Every bit of good news that we receive we attribute to faithfully reciting this prayer.
This time of year, for us, we put ourselves in God’s hands. The news tells us about businesses coming back. There is not much news about the people unless they are trying to tell their story, the real story, to some reporter, who advocates for the people.
These are hard times. A chicken plant is cutting back to four days. That means less pay. Benefits, what there are, are few. The people go to work determined to make it. “Pray for us” somebody said. “It is hard. But God can make a way out of no way.”
A young twentysomething Haitian woman struggling to care for her family, still asks, “What does God want with us?” I have not heard anybody answer her question. The people are tough. They are used to hard times. They know what it is to struggle in Mississippi.
We don’t need platitudes because that is rubbing salt in the wounds. We need to stand in solidarity, to stand with the people, to listen to the people.
Christianity was born in a time of persecution. Struggle has been a part of its genes. Our central tenet of faith boils down to death, destruction, and resurrection, rebirth.
Our families struggling at that chicken plant, our families on the coast struggling to rebuild a fishing industry, homes and towns still scarred from Katrina are living it out.
The shrimpers and the oystermen, the fishermen and the deck crews, the processor and the packers, come weary to the door of the church every Sunday to hear “Take this and eat it. This is my body broken for you. Take this cup and drink from it. This is the cup of my blood, poured out for you.”
This is the source of their strength to keep getting up, to keep on going back to those marshes and struggle to clean them. This is the strength that keeps them going back to those chicken plants. This is the strength of endurance, of recovery, of resisting the mighty winds that may come.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
‘It’s midyear, who advocates for the people?’
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
July 23, 2010
Two wars are still ongoing. Planes carrying bodies of American troops in military caskets still land at Dover AFB. Afghanistan slogs on. The government there is horribly corrupt. What is the point? It’s time to leave, to end the longest war in our history.
Iraq. It is time to give them their country back, it’s time to work out reconstruction arrangements, and it’s time to get the troops out. Terrorism is not a war, it is a tactic. We know how to deal with that without the phony fear and greed.
This oil spill is overwhelming. Marshes, wetlands, oyster beds, crabbing, shrimping, an entire culture going back centuries around fishing, are all at risk of destruction.
Just look at this. Centuries ago people were driven from their land in Acadia to settle among the French in Louisiana. They built a culture around fishing, shrimping, oystering, and all of that. The Cajuns, the African Americans, the Creoles, the Vietnamese maintain a unique piece of Americana.
People come to the coast to experience a culture like nowhere else. Their ships are tied to docks. Businesses over a hundred years old at risk of going broke. People are bonded to the land and region. This cannot be allowed to disappear.
We’ve had enough of the big banks getting rich again. Where are the jobs? How does an auto industry bailed out by the tax payers get away with closing plants and outsourcing jobs? Where is justice for American workers? Who advocates for the people?
Congressmen on national TV whine for the corporations. Attempts at reform are blocked at every turn. What about the people?
If you can’t solve problems you pick on somebody to blame. You name the scapegoats. Today it’s the immigrants. Suddenly these invisible people doing backbreaking labor intensive jobs for a pittance are stealing jobs from Americans.
Aha, they overstayed their visa, they are, what? Illegal. Suddenly washing dishes is illegal. Picking melons is illegal. And so on.
A fabricated threat is ginned up because white people discovered they are the new minority. Suddenly differences are a threat. Foreign languages are corrupting the culture.
In most of the civilized world people study foreign languages and use them. This isolated, insulated fear makes America a laughing stock. When times are bad Americans go back to those old time hatreds, racism, xenophobia, religious bigotry and so on.
Haiti still suffers. Agonizingly slow is the pace of recovery. Volunteers still come from the United States and other countries.
Recently when I flew up North I met a young man from a church in Byram going for his second tour of duty in the reconstruction of Haiti. He radiated hope and purpose.
Yet a worse than normal hurricane season is predicted. The people fear what could come. The Miami Herald reported the experience of the Lafortune family fleeing Gonaives, Haiti, for the safety of Port au Prince, but what now with so much in ruins?
Christeldine Lafortune, 23, the oldest of eight siblings said recently, “I am always asking what does God want to do with us?” telling how the cascading waters of tropical storm Jeanne in 2004 and tropical storm Hanna in 2008 sent her family to a rooftop as Gonaives became buried in a rising sea of mud and water. The worst is yet to come.
We are in mid-year and we are surrounded with all of these situations and more. Problem solving is getting hopelessly mired in politics. I won’t even venture a suggestion. I just want to stop and think about the people. Like the big, rich, chairman of the board of BP, “I am sorry for the little people.” How arrogant! He describes the people as if describing medieval serfs, expendable commodities.
We are talking about Americans not little people. We are talking about families whose skills created a culture and way of life. We are talking about people nurturing a natural resource, the first line of defense from hurricanes.
Little people, indeed.
Many of us who read this paper came from such little people as these. Many of our families were driven here by oppression only to face the same know nothing xenophobia immigrants face today. The recovery of our country has to begin by recovering its soul.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
‘What a year this has been’
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
June 25, 2010
It is June already! The year is almost half over. You know you are growing older when the years seem to fly by. For some of our younger readers the months seem to drag on. “When will school be over?” Well, here it is. Summer is on, heat and all. But what a year this has been.
Horrible catastrophic tornadoes tore up over a dozen counties. The slow, painful part of rebuilding will drop off the news, but it still goes on. Then the oil spill. It is too painful to predict the future.
They say opposites attract. Growing up in a big city, the only thing like major water I encountered was Lake Michigan. I found the deep bayous, swamps, fisheries, the languages, cultures, and, of course, the cuisine of the Gulf Coast a magnet.
Traveling down in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, along the coast is a world all by itself. There is nothing like it anywhere else in the country. Oh, I suppose San Francisco’s waterfront with memories of Jack London scribbling short stories on the backs of envelopes inside a ship a hundred years ago might be some competition.
But the Cajun and Creole going back and forth, and Vietnamese fishermen shouting to one another, plying their skills like they did back home on the other side of the world, evokes mysteries and histories begging to be explored.
There was Pierre who could shuck oysters like a surgeon … I can go on.
This is why I and countless others live with a growing helplessness as the weeks turn to months. The oil 50 miles out in the Gulf has invaded this pristine, never to be duplicated, region. The people, the culture, the cuisine are one thing, but I haven’t spoken of the wildlife, the nesting grounds, the precious marshlands that do so much. The thought of this all being destroyed forever is too painful to dwell on.
What makes it worse, this is all man-made! Investigations go on and on, but 11 people lost their lives. Their tragedy is covered over by the ecological disaster unfolding before our eyes in prime time!
The memorial service recently held in the Jackson Convention Complex put some closure on it, at least some balance. This oil rig blowing up, with all the attendant disasters will leave scars that will last the rest of the century. This happens to the same region recovering from Katrina and Rita. Then they say this approaching hurricane season (Welcome to June!) could be very severe.
I am tempted to go into a speech on conservation, protecting the environment, alternate forms of energy. As important as all that is, right now I cannot get away from the human tragedy unfolding.
I’ve been reading the Washington Post, the New York Times, both on-line, in order to get a bigger picture about what is happening. All the media seem to say one thing, “Do Something!!” then there is the repetitive, “This has never been tried….” or “At this depth, no one is sure….”
The current “top kill method” percentages of success swung from 80 percent to 60 percent depending on what you read. As the tragedy unfolds, it is becoming fodder for political distortions and mud slinging.
Watching the disasters, man-made and otherwise, since this century began, I am appalled at the crass selfishness that gets in the way of serious concern for what is happening. Is there anything that can bring Americans together for the betterment of the country without appealing to ideology?
The truth is this is a first. The more we learn, the more frustration grows. As people get more frustrated, they want to blame somebody. BP Oil is a fat target. The criticism is well founded. At some point, however, we have to focus on the human and natural damage that this will leave behind.
I want to go down to the bayous and marshes, and see the birds, and watch the fishing boats sail out to sea, one more time.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Social justice advocates, demonstrates, reaches out
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
May 14, 2010
May 1 is the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. He has been the patron of workers worldwide. It is also the International Day of Labor. Throughout the world it is the day to honor labor. April 28 is Worker Memorial Day. We honor workers who have been killed or maimed on the job.
These three days focus on workers, especially unseen workers, workers low on the food chain that do the heavy lifting. We take them for granted, but if they disappeared our world would not run. They haul garbage. They clean offices. They wash dishes. They mine coal.
We remember West Virginia. Specifically we honor those miners and their families, victims of a disaster that should not have happened. Safety of workers must always take top priority.
This past year, in many industries, workers have paid with their lives. We mourn the 11 lost in the recent oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Day after day the news gets worse. We join with the coastal fishermen in their struggle to save one of the most precious resources of our country.
We demand reforms to prevent this from happening again. People are more important than profits.
We denounce laws that mock the basic rights available to all in this country. We oppose a Nazi mentality in Arizona’s “Show me your papers” law. We demand fair and just immigration reform, not more of the same that continues exploiting workers and killing those struggling out of desperation to find work.
Social justice is at the heart of Catholicism. We look at the recent devastating damages from tornadoes and floods throughout our state — the loss of life, the loss of homes, dreams and aspirations of people.
In the midst of this we applaud the heroic efforts of Catholic Charities throughout Mississippi. From Yazoo City in Yazoo County, to Ebenezer in Holmes County, to Weir in Attala County, Catholic Charities sent out trauma teams and disaster response teams based in these regions. Despite the economy, Catholic Charities is on the ground actively engaged in the whole range of recovery. I could mention names, but I’d leave somebody out, and get an e-mail reminder. I refer everyone to the Parish Social Ministries Newsletter sent out by Catholic Charities.
With all the disasters around us it is a breath of hope. In a region with a miniscule Catholic population we see Catholic Charities and churches reaching out to help everyone in need. There is an ecumenical coming together in Christian love that transcends differences.
We just read things like, “They will know you are my disciples if you love one another.” Can’t say it plainer than that. We are in for a long period of recovery. We are in a long struggle for worker justice and human dignity. We have what it takes. “Though I walk through the valley of death, you are at my side.”
Social justice is not just advocating or demonstrating or raising consciousness. In its most powerful form, it is reaching out and helping those in need.
The Catholic Church has been suspect and historically maligned in our state’s history, but the most powerful weapon to dispel hatred, has been the unconditional outreach by Catholics to everyone.
Hardly a week goes by when a Protestant friend will tell me how Catholic Charities is always there when you need them. The two biggest forces to dispel hatred and create an atmosphere of love and respect are Catholic Charities and Catholic schools.
Yes, we want fair and just immigration reform. Yes, we want stronger laws to ensure safety for workers on the job. Yes, we want regulations to prevent what is happening right now in the Gulf of Mexico.
At the same time we witness by our actions to those who are suffering from all these disasters. Whether it is running emergency shelters or speaking out for human rights it is all the same message.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Judgment depends on how poor treated
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
April 9, 2010
Social justice is based on the principle that all persons are entitled to “basic human needs,” regardless of “superficial” differences such as economic disparity, class, gender, race, ethnicity, citizenship, religion, age, sexual orientation, disability, or health.
This includes the human right of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the eradication of poverty and illiteracy, the establishment of sound environmental policy, equality of opportunity for healthy personal and social development ....
This definition, a rather comprehensive definition of social justice, is one place to begin. Pope Paul VI famous quote, “If you seek peace, work for justice,” boils it down to even less, but captures the essence.
The Second Vatican Council committed the church firmly behind social justice. Modern biblical scholarship clearly demonstrates the Bible is on the side of the poor.
Jesus, himself, was a staunch advocate of social justice. Judgment depends upon how the poor are treated. Concepts like fundamental option for the poor are so commonplace as to need no explanation. Simply put, policy is good or bad depending on its impact on the poor.
Catholic commitment to social justice goes back much farther than Vatican II. It can be said social justice is at the heart of Catholic Christianity.
Hate groups are at an all-time high. The Southern Poverty Law Center monitors such activity. Right now there is a radical right populism that is dangerous. Recently nine members of a militia were arrested by the FBI. They intended to kill police officers, even disrupt the funeral in order to kill more. Groups like these see the government as the enemy. Then there was Timothy McVeigh blowing up the Oklahoma City Federal Building. We do not have to go to the extreme to see this.
This same Southern Poverty Law Center report pointed out the patriot groups, tea partiers, and similar groups are shot through with anti-government paranoia, racism, and fear.
The so-called mainstream media gives extremists a bullhorn to air their views. Recently Glenn Beck, conservative radio and television host, stated if you belong to a church that teaches social justice, leave the church. The church is infected with Marxism. Jim Wallis of Sojourners magazine fame took up the challenge of Glenn Beck’s twisted view of religion.
We Catholics influenced by Vatican II and the heroic efforts of many of us to implement social justice as a direct response to the Gospel should speak out on this.
Many of us have died witnessing to social justice. We recently commemorated the martyrdom of Bishop Oscar Romero, the eight Jesuits and their housekeeper, and Sister Dorothy Stang. The list goes on.
Throughout the world Catholics have witnessed to social justice as Jesus taught in the Gospels. For almost 50 years the Catholic Church in the United States witnessed unambiguously to social justice in various issues and causes, and still does today.
Rather than review all that, or even give a brief explanation of Catholic teaching on social justice, which has been so well presented over the years in this diocese, especially through the work of Catholic Charities, I issue a warning.
There is a virulent right-wing populism that opposes what we Catholics preach and demonstrate about social justice. There is an attempt to rewrite history of the last 50 years that not only distorts the truth, but attempts to fight old battles already lost.
Just a week ago in Memphis, Father Maurice Nutt, CSSR, celebrated the 20th anniversary of Sister Thea Bowman’s death at a Mass at her grave in Elmwood Cemetery. She lived and breathed social justice. Her witness and the impact of African American culture and spirituality in the Catholic Church in the United States are witness to social justice.
Both internally and externally the Catholic Church through its many agencies and prophetic people remains at the cutting edge of social justice.
Something called “religion” that attacks social justice and ferments hate is not religion. It is something to be denounced and repudiated. The so-called main stream media should present a more accurate and balanced view than being the sounding board for bigotry and hatred.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Haitian people hope Lord hears their cry
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
March 12, 2010
It is now two months to the day, March 12, that the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the Western hemisphere devastated the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere.
Then came the earthquake in Chile, 8.8, breaking a new record, this time striking the wealthiest country in Latin America, a country used to earthquakes. It has the strictest building codes and was as prepared as it could be to meet this catastrophe. It is home to world renowned seismologists and earthquake experts.
Rich or poor, people are homeless. The numbers of the dead keep climbing as time goes on. The media, always looking for a new story angle, immediately began to make comparisons. There is something ghoulish about comparing and rating other people’s misery. Chile will bounce back and make even greater safety precautions than Haiti will.
More than ever, with each passing month, we cannot forget Haiti. The generous responders to Haiti were right there when Chile needed them. As the stories get cleaned up for accuracy, better assessments can be made. Haiti will still be in “intensive care” long after Chile is well on the mend.
In the Feb. 26 issue of Mississippi Catholic, Bishop Joseph Latino wrote, “I thank you from the depth of my heart.” He reported as of “Feb. 19, over $203,000 has been collected in our diocese and distributed to Catholic Relief Services (CRS) for direct aid to the Haitian people who are struggling to survive, once again, from a catastrophic act of nature.”
He goes on to note Mississippi, the poorest state in the Union, is the most generous in helping the afflicted in times of crisis. He pointed out CRS, by far, is one of the most effective responders and utilizes resources directly to the afflicted of any agency. We are where we ought to be.
I want to imagine the scene, a year from now. In what condition will Haiti be? Long term, we already have heard good things, like nations canceling Haiti’s debt.
Haiti did not become the poorest nation in the hemisphere by accident. Some people remember the infamous Duvalier family, “Pappa Doc” and “Baby Doc” who bled the country as much as they could, running it like thugs.
The infamous Tonton Macoute were their feared enforcers. They kept the people in fear. All that was just a blip, just another symptom in a history designed to keep the nation at the bottom.
The loss of Haiti, France’s 19th century cash cow, wrecked the national economy. Napoleon sold off France’s southern colonies to the United States, President Thomas Jefferson, in order to pay his bills.
France was the strongest ally of the new United States. The two countries collaborated to punish Haiti for posing a major threat to the “labor pool” in the South and the Caribbean. Slavery made the economy run. So it was a race to the bottom, with all the attendant corruption that followed.
Colonialism succeeded the slave driven economy, and sealed Haiti in a bubble of poverty ever since.
This “mother of all earthquakes” may have hit a new level of conscious awareness in the international community. Many of us pray and hope it did.
Out of immense catastrophe, good can come about. One way to help in this is to learn about Haiti, its history, its culture, its struggle. As poor as it is, Haiti and its liberators were heroes to the rest of the Caribbean in its struggle to free itself from slavery.
It was also hero to other parts of the world locked into colonialism. It is time the international community helps Haiti to take its rightful place as a prosperous nation in the Caribbean.
Our rich Catholic tradition of social justice lends a theological and philosophical rationale to engage all we can in order to restore Haiti.
The Gospels in Lent lean in this direction, and so, too, the readings, especially from the Prophets. Several times Jesus castigates “this generation whose ancestors killed the prophets.” Tradition has it that most were killed for speaking out.
Reading them they become a collective voice for the oppressed, and those struggling for freedom. We find this in the Psalms as well. Psalm 72, “The Lord hears the cry of the poor” is the prayer of faith of the Haitian people.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Let’s walk long walk of recovery with Haiti
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
February 12, 2010
The year is barely a month old. Already a disaster of epic proportions has befallen the poorest nation in our hemisphere. As Catholics, our brothers and sisters in the faith are suffering unspeakably. Our generosity has been magnificent. All of our Catholic agencies and foundations are responding well. We responded with a special collection to aid relief.
Archbishop Timothy Dolan, chair of Catholic Relief Services, presided at the funeral of Haiti’s archbishop, surrounded by Haitian bishops, clergy, and large numbers of people. Their Catholic roots go as deep as ours.
The history of Haiti is intertwined with the history of the United States. Haiti is a land of proud people, very resourceful and strong people. They know their history. It gives them strength.
They were the first people of African descent to throw off the yoke of slavery since Europeans first colonized this hemisphere. They beat the superpower of the 19th century. They beat Napoleon. They were instrumental in Napoleon selling the French colonies to Thomas Jefferson. Thirteen states were carved out of all that.
The Haitian people were an inspiration to those in the United States struggling to abolish slavery and achieve true citizenship and human rights. Throughout much of the world the witness of Haiti is encouragement to oppressed people everywhere.
All this the Haitian ambassador to the United Nations said shortly after the earthquake. Haiti has given much to the United States.
Haiti suffered dearly for their independence for the next two centuries by policies of the United States and France. Despite it they survived. Poor as they are they gave the world writers, artists, poets and musicians. Good news. Today we hear leaders of the United States, France, Britain acknowledge Haiti’s history, and say out loud that we owe Haiti.
Britain has announced it will cancel Haiti’s debt. We need to look at our policies and do more.
Disasters can be a wakeup call for people to reexamine themselves. Countries all over the world have responded to Haiti’s calamity.
Turkey, for example, was one of the early responders. I thought to myself, what inspired this land of the Sultans, the pinnacle of the Islamic world for centuries, to reach out so quickly to this small island nation, so far away, to a poor Christian nation.
In time of major crises, beyond what people can control, we see our common interdependence. We recall the common teachings of compassion, forgiveness and mercy that are so much a part of Christianity and Islam. In times of crises sometimes the best in humanity surfaces. This gives hope.
We are connected in a special way to Haiti through our common faith. I served a church with a large Haitian population. They express an intimacy with the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus that only a people who have experienced suffering, death and rebirth can.
In 2007 I had the opportunity of speaking words of encouragement to Haitian youth moving on from our Unaccompanied Refugee Minor Program of Catholic Charities.
Part of what I said can be said again to all of them here and in Haiti. I adapt it here.
“Your strength comes from within. The power and richness of your culture, the best of it, not the nightmare you fled, but the Haiti that first brought freedom to our hemisphere. The great ones like Toussaint and Desalines. Your writers and poets who continue to speak out for human rights throughout the world.”
This is the strength of the Haitian people. The horrors and pain today are gargantuan. Sen. John Kerry in his foreign relations committee speaks of an immensity hard to get our heads around.
Our commitment must be for the long haul. Not only to rebuild the country, but enable the Haitian people to remake the country in the way their founders envisioned — a place of freedom and prosperity. Haitian people have overcome worse.
Now is the time we respond to Haiti. We respond in every way that is right and just. Now is the time the international community discovers the best in itself, and walks the long walk of recovery with Haiti.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
There’s hope for new decade
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
January 8, 2010
January 2010. No, this is not a standard “New Year column.” This is not a standard New Year. This column has been titled “Millennial Reflections” since we left 19 and went to 20. Remember Y-2K? What a fizzle.
The last 20 years have brought so much technology we don’t understand it. The first deanery meeting of Deanery 1 held yesterday at St. Richard was about technology. Some of us “senior clergy” still can’t give a definition of I-pod or pod-cast.
I was at a meeting in Chicago a few years ago, and we were trying to remember the contents of a document. Somebody with the new I-phone started reading it, all 20 pages, from her cell-phone. OK, I still am stuck in the 20th century. Being the unreconstructed optimist that I am, I can only anticipate the new techno wonders that are coming, more than that, the simplification of their use.
I am old enough to remember television, those little round Zenith screens, remember? I remember adjusting rabbit ear antennas to get a more or less clear black and white picture. Ten years into the New Millennium we have made amazing advances.
You can read, hear, see, all over the place about the new wonders to keep us busy. Would that we made as much advance in social progress as we have in technology.
I wrote in 2000 about leaving the hatreds, discrimination, oppression, scapegoating, racism, sexism, classism, etc., back in the last century. Start the millennium based upon the wisdom we acquired.
The Second Vatican Council reengaged the church with the world. There was dialogue. The Civil Rights Movement brought people together in ways that redefined the social fabric of the country.
Cultural diversity continues to grow. Today’s youth are not nearly as hung up as people were in the last century. There is much hope for the future.
Would that it were so. The country broke another barrier from the past in the election of the first black president in history. The country still remains polarized. It has reached a new decibel level.
Terrorism has become a part of our world. We have suffered grievously. Rather than unite us, criticism turns political. What we were achieving in the last century, has crumbled. Intelligent conversation has given way to bitter slogans and denunciations.
Columnists continue to explain it. Many write the discord is affecting the way we look at ourselves and govern ourselves. Then the greed machine needs no comment. Unemployment lines, home foreclosures, tell it in human terms.
The list goes on, but we must look forward. Life has no reverse gear. From the moment we enter the world, it is all forward, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, but it goes on. Historians and sociologists can explain it after the fact.
For the first time in history we have the power to destroy all life on the planet. Global warming is a fact. The effects of pollution are facts. However we want to argue about it, the results are dismal. There are enough weapons in the world to wipe us all out. The planet is smaller, in ways that compel us to get along or perish.
As religious people we need to rediscover the purpose of religion. Regardless of nationality or culture, there are values of respect and decency that are universal among all religions. We do not need to turn religion into weapons of mass destruction.
Those of us who lived through the horrors of the 20th century pray that we do not repeat it in the 21st century. People who never lived through it all chirp slogans and labels, but they do not really understand the horror. We need to build upon our strengths and wisdom that we learned.
2009 began with great promise and great hope. What we heard articulated touched many of us and gave us hope. Those ideals may take another hundred years to realize.
We need to unite around our leaders. We have the blessing to actually select our leaders. Many people do not. We need to take ownership and responsibility, and do our part to make our world a better place.
The saying that we get what we deserve has truth to it. It is never about me, it is always about us, every one of us. Our religion does teach us that we are our brother’s keeper.
This little blue and white orb in space is all we got. God loved it so much, he entered it, became one of us. “God so loved the world…” (Jn 3:16)
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Make us one as you are one
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
December 11, 2009
December is here. It’s one of the busiest months on so many levels. In Mississippi it is the month before the annual legislative session. This year with revenue shortfalls that increase by the week and unemployment at Depression levels, it is imperative we be the voice for those who have no voice. Organizations and coalitions have begun to meet.
Throughout our 65 county diocese, parishes are preparing for Christmas. Reconciliation services are planned, and we ask God’s pardon for failing to measure up to Jesus’ teachings.
In Mississippi and throughout the country efforts intensify to forge unity among groups often pitted against each other for the purpose of exploitation. In Jackson this month we concluded the 4th Annual Unity Conference: Building Bridges through Diversity: One Goal, One Vision, United Power.
“Jobs, education and workers rights are among the issues that should bind rather than divide immigrants and the African American community,” say the organizers of this three-day conference that concluded last week. This year a greater number of Asians and Middle Eastern people also participated. Throughout the world there is a growing thirst for unity.
I am not going to report on the conference, rather I am going to write about unity. Did you know that a central feature of our Eucharist is praying for and expressing unity? The very name Communion speaks of a most profound degree of unity.
We have entered a season of expectation and anticipation. As the gray skies of autumn move toward winter, and that bite in 40 degree weather whips at us, we need to look up, to see the light in the darkness.
All around us there is that frantic shopping season some call Christmastime, but Christmas is but a glittery backdrop. We, church people, see the blues and purples of Advent, and need to rekindle hope and, even childlike anticipation.
The Scriptures we read are some of the most powerful of the year. They speak of wars and devastation, of exile and captivity, of bombed-out cities and “the dead lying in the fields.”
Was Jeremiah writing about the war in Iraq? Baruch just told Jerusalem to stop mourning. “God will show the earth your splendor.” Jeremiah had it right, “We have sinned and we know it.” There is a powerful need for forgiveness. Before that there is the need for reconciliation.
Reconciliation, what is that? I read recently the government of Peru apologized to Afro-Peruvians for 500 years of oppression. Think Martin de Porres. Over 500 years of oppression! Today Afro-Colombians are being robbed of the ancient lands they have held for 500 years, for corporations to profit.
I also read that Connecticut, I believe, apologized for stealing the land of a tribe of Indians 400 years ago. Someone said after so many centuries does it mean anything? Another said the symbolic value is powerful. Symbols can reach people in ways other things cannot.
Reconciliation is first acknowledging the parties offended. It is first giving respect. Feelings matter. It is above and beyond blame. Blame cannot undo offenses. It is saying “I hurt.” The other says, “I know, I understand.” So what is next? A number of things, among which is coming together. This coming together is the beginning of unity.
Our country, our church, our world struggles to come together in unity. To respect differences, to listen, to understand.
I have not done this, but it would be interesting to go through the text of a typical Mass and see references to “one” to “unity” to “communion” and to “catholic.” The ones that come to mind articulate a lifetime challenge. The coming together-respect-listen-understand-etc. are just the beginning. When we pray for unity, we are not talking uniformity. Nobody would take gumbo, run it through a food processor until it came out puree or broth. It would no longer be gumbo. That’s uniformity.
Parts are just cogs in the whole. Unity is each one and everyone. It is diverse, it is similar. One reflects the many, the many reflect the one. What is our national motto? From many one. We are a long way from that. We keep struggling.
“A voice of one crying out in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low.” This is what happens when we anticipate the coming of the Prince of Peace. We look to God and pray, “Lord make us one as you are one.”
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Let my little light shine
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
November 13, 2009
For four days Father Clarence Williams, CPPS, Brother Ted Dausch, CFC, Director of Hispanic Ministries, and Father Anthony Bozeman, SSJ, of St. Raymond and St. Leo Churches in New Orleans preached to the Catholic Community of West Jackson also known as St. Mary Church and Christ the King Church near the Jackson State University campus.
The theme was building bridges, forging unity in diversity, understanding the common struggle of African Americans and Hispanic Americans.
Father Williams described the 500 year history of slavery, colonization, segregation in the Western Hemisphere. He described the culture of racism so all pervasive that no one is immune from it. Some may be unconscious of it, but it colors an all pervasive world view of the society we live in.
This piece will not develop that, but merely refer the readers to the many books of Father Williams who now works in Washington, D.C., with Catholic Charities USA. His famous book is “Racial Sobriety: A Journey from Hurts to Healing,” using the addiction model to both understand and free people from racism.
Both Father Williams and Brother Dausch saw St. Martin De Porres as a prime example and model to understand this. This fell on his feast day, and was a major feast at the Priory of St. Moses the Black.
The son of a Spanish viceroy and a black mother, Martin had to struggle with the church to enter the Dominicans. Even with that he could not be a priest; blacks were not allowed. As a lay brother he used his pharmaceutical skills and humility to heal people and bring them together. It all boils down to reconciliation, understanding and unity.
Father Bozeman, together with the Jackson State University Gospel Choir, energized the youth and raised the spirits of a large congregation at Christ the King Church on historic JR Lynch Street Wednesday night.
He emphasized everyone must recognize the call of God as Samuel did. He saw the role of mentor in Eli the priest of Beth El. He stressed, that saying yes to Jesus means change in behavior. This is our Catholic and Christian call.
Toward the end, during statements of witness and dedication, several in the choir joined parishioners thanking God for his wonderful blessings. It was an ecumenical sacrifice of praise giving God the glory! We need spiritual power right now.
The world today is more divided than ever. Even religion is extreme and polarized. Differences are touted as ladders of superiority. We need to hear messages of reconciliation and coming together now more than ever. Unity is not an option, it is a necessity. The stakes are too high. No place on the globe is spared. Civil wars in African and in Muslim countries drown the land in innocent blood.
As a nation we need to reassess our priorities. Yes, this is a time of change. We need to hear the call of God. As church, we stand for the preferential option for the poor.
Corporate greed continues to exploit people of color and the gap between rich and poor is greater than the 1960s. There is no united movement strong enough to push back against this.
Three preachers on three nights woke us up and sensitized us to our situation in the 21st century. We have the faith, the hope, and the love to unite us to meet the challenges.
There is hope. As Catholic Christians, there is always hope. Father Williams reminded us “catholic” means universal.
In the Creed we pray for “one, holy….” The oneness always eludes us, but it is just right there. We have the faith that grounds our hope. “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for, and evidence of things not seen. (Heb 11:1)
Young people today are energized to reshape the world. There is a healthy, growing movement among young people to push harder for justice, to articulate the cause of the marginalized.
We see them at conferences. We see them at meetings around social issues. We do our best to hand on the legacy of our heroes of justice, but know they will move us forward.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Lord, make us instruments of peace
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
October 9, 2009
Since the beginning of the year there has been a steadily growing drumbeat of inappropriate, noisy, hate-filled rhetoric. Civil discourse gave way to lies, distortions of truth, slogans, even death-threats against the president of the United States.
Not since the early ‘60s have I seen such a toxic atmosphere. What is different today is technology. The Internet, the television, talk radio, even print media magnify this outrageous, un-American behavior. This goes beyond politics or whatever your position on any given issue is. This is very dangerous.
Those of us who lived in the day when hate ruled and violence and riots were the result should be most aware of the danger that threatens our country.
Look at some of this. There is a rabid fundamentalist, literal religion that is militant and demanding. Some crave world catastrophe in order to be the gateway to the second coming of Christ. At the other extreme are the atheists, “A world without religion. The tyranny of religion is the problem.”
Then there are the personal attacks on the president of the United States. This goes beyond criticism. It is blatant racism. At the same time they blabber on about a post-racial America. On and on it goes. Where it stops nobody…. This is scary, folks!
This is not 1964. This is the 21st century. Much has been learned on both sides between then and now. Unfortunately the battle lines are the same, and the same players are in the game.
The G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh gave us a glimpse at the new day if marches and demonstrations took place. This, too, is scary.
I am trying my best not to sound partisan, liberal, or whatever. I am trying to raise concern for what is truly un-American and a genuine threat to our democracy.
I know people who have lived under tyranny. They have an appreciation for American freedoms that we take for granted. Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, the right to express grievances, the Bill of Rights. This is what makes America, America.
Abusing the First Amendment is un-American. To have an intelligent, respectful dialogue, and a resolution of issues is a right. Do not be fooled.
More than that, I will say, from my Catholic, Christian tradition, that all this is totally against the Gospel, and what authentic Christianity teaches. Turning religion into a hate machine is raping religion. Racism, in every form is grossly immoral, is an assault against humanity. This is neither liberal nor conservative. It is Catholic.
After the seismic social changes we lived through during the last 50 years, is change such a threat today, that the crazies rule? They contradict themselves. They make no sense. It is like trying to dialogue with a mad man. This is orchestrated, planned and deliberate.
Where is the response from sane, balanced, sensible people? Also, where are the genuine calls to take this seriously and stop it? The media plays for ratings and profits for their invisible owners. They treat this stuff as if it was something credible, not for what it is.
Where are journalists of the caliber of Jerry Mitchell or Bill Moyers or Christiane Amanpour dismantling this and shredding it in public?
I believe there really is a sensible, enlightened, silent majority who work to better the world, and not let this affect them. There is a belief system the majority has that says everything will be OK. We are beyond our violent past.
However, more and more evidence turns up to tell us our present is indeed as violent as ever. Ammunition factories cannot meet the demand for private gun owners. Laws allowing people to carry concealed weapons are popping up all over. To get up today and preach that non-violent resistance will affect positive change is greeted with looks of disgust.
Remember this? “Lord make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is discord, union. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. Where there is sadness, joy.”
Francis wrote this 800 years ago. Have we made progress?
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Gospels challenge us to eliminate poverty
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
September 11, 2009
The end of August found me glued to the TV set watching Ted Kennedy’s funeral. It made me proud to be a Catholic, not in any arrogant way, but it showed the great compassion of our church, and displayed our solidarity with the poor. For all his faults, and we all have our own, he stood in solidarity for the poor and discriminated.
September is here. School has been in session a few weeks now. We just celebrated Labor Day, for many of us the unofficial end of summer.
I recently dug up some articles on the situation between the wealthy and the poor in these United States. Whenever we do things like that the complete data lags a couple years. The latest figures are for 2007.
Add to these increased income gaps, isolation of the poor is now exacerbated by the economic crisis of the past year. David Hunkar on Aug. 14 reported the latest poverty data available from the census bureau is for 2007. The official poverty rate was 12.5 percent.
Say it another way, 37.3 million people were living in poverty, up from 36.5 million the previous year. Income inequality is at an all time high, surpassing levels seen in the Great Depression, according to Emmanuel Saez, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley.
Reports like these go on describing the widening gulf between rich and poor, the latter growing exponentially, wealth gravitating to a smaller number. This is very unhealthy, to say the least. So called safety nets for the lower income Americans have been systematically shredded over the last 25 years or so.
Vast numbers of these have no health insurance, thus posing risk for everyone. There is much here that poses concern for our democracy. People locked out of upward mobility become frustrated, apathetic, angry, and engage in greater criminal behavior.
As Catholics we need to pay attention to the poor. So much of our national culture blames them for their plight, but the Bible is much more merciful. While not minimizing personal responsibility and personal sin, Scripture urges compassion and help. The ending of that passage in James, “Religion pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction.” This clearly recognizes that their poverty is caused by or increased by things bigger than they are.
When I read that, the refugee camps in Chad, filled with women and children from Sudan came before my eyes. Then there are so many passages in the Gospels and elsewhere urging us to pay attention to and help the poor. This is more than charity, it challenges us to eliminate poverty at home and abroad.
Everything we teach about social justice tells us poverty must be taken seriously as a social disease that must be eradicated. Blaming the victim is not an option.
Advocating for those who have no voice is always risky. Those who defend the poor, become targets. Today, like no other time in recent memory, those who are weak are especially vulnerable. The gap between the haves and have nots are wider than any time in our life time. The bishops cry out against this great gap, and denounce the theory that the free market will make everything level out.
The pope just wrote an encyclical making the same criticisms. “Profit is useful if it serves as a means toward an end,” Pope Benedict wrote. “Once profit becomes the exclusive goal, if it is produced by improper means and without the common good as its ultimate end, it risks destroying wealth and creating poverty.” (“Caritas in Veritate”/“Charity in Truth”)
“The leader of the world’s 1 billion Catholics is reminding us there is a moral and ethical dimension to every dollar spent. It isn’t the economic system that matters as much as hearts inclined to hear the entreaties of the poor.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 11, 2009)
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
School days give 21st century, a challenge
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
August 7, 2009
August, the dog days of summer. Days seem to crawl by. However, go in the grocery stores. Displays are set up with the book lists, supply lists of school districts everywhere. I could not count the packages of loose leaf filler paper, boxes of crayons, pencils and pens, and on and on, that one lady had in the checkout line.
School is here with a thud. Just seemed like yesterday that schools let out for the summer. Soon parents won’t have to hear the “What can I do today, Ma?” Child boredom will vanish with new teachers telling them precisely what they will do today.
The beginning of a new school term always brings back memories to grownups, but I resist the temptation to nostalgia. People I know very well who have a passion for education and expanding the minds of young people are hard at work. From all over the state they came, from the Delta and the Hills, the Piney Woods, and the Gulf Coast.
For them and their constituents school is a lot more than classrooms, teachers and homework. School is a key to freedom. It is the gateway to independence and success, a step up and out of, you name it.
I spent a day and a half with dedicated people of all ages from all over the state drawing support from one another. They came with a laundry list of issues, all good, but issues that will take a long time to resolve. That deters no one.
It quickly becomes apparent there is a huge imbalance in resources in the school districts across out state. In many places families have no option but to deal with whatever their school district can provide. Other places have more resources than they know what to do with. So it goes.
The conference dealt with the educational needs of children, their parents and teachers’ rolls in this, not adversarial, but as a holistic partnership. Unfortunately in many places this is not happening, and local policies violate the most basic concepts of human rights. Much time was devoted to strategies to address these issues.
This is bigger than schools.
I am no economist, but a friend of mine is reading a book he finds fascinating. It is called “Small is Beautiful” by E.F. Schumacher. It attempts to deal with greed and envy and incorporating wisdom into our economic system. The book makes the point that no system or economic doctrine stands on its own, but is built on a metaphysical foundation, that is man’s basic outlook on life. It speaks of the idol worship of material possessions. The more people consume the more the standard of living increases.
Remember Pac Man? The disembodied mouth gobbling up everything in sight. TV commercials depict us as nothing but consumption machines that rob us of our dignity and self worth, play on addictive mentalities, and do what? Make the rich richer. They flaunt their wealth and tell us it is good for us.
Another view would say that consumption is merely a means to human well being. The goal should be maximum well being with minimum consumption. The less toil there is the more time and strength left for artistic creativity. The book goes on to develop an eco-friendly economic system. He calls it putting wisdom into developing economic systems.
Thinking about this and the various conferences I participate in, we have to step back and see the big picture. Scrabbling for resources, where wealth is gathered in small pockets, and vast areas are awash in poverty, people are exposed daily to what they will never afford.
Every year when school begins the struggle of low income families, as well as policies of the various school districts, make the whole enterprise morph from one of creating a nurturing, creative atmosphere for children to grow, to the annual struggle for fairness and basic human rights.
Our Catholic social justice tradition, based on human rights, the Gospel, and papal teachings, demands we all become familiar with this educational imbalance. We must recognize all children are our children. Wealth is not a measure of moral perfection any more than poverty is a measure of moral imperfection.
We see the sins of the wealthy as well as the poor paraded before us. Our future depends on how we address these issues.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Now is time for immigration reform
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
July 10, 2009
Welcome to July. We began by celebrating the Fourth of July, our nation’s independence, fireworks, barbecues, flags and all the rest.
Got me to thinking about who makes up this nation. Some friends of mine just returned from Europe, visiting a dozen countries, and pointed out to me that every one of them had a restaurant or a neighborhood somewhere in the USA.
Except for the Native Americans, the ancestors of everyone else in the country came from somewhere else. It is true, we are a nation of immigrants.
I stayed inside, trying to beat the heat and logged on to several articles about immigration. I have been reading Sr. Jean Juliano on immigration reform in Mississippi Catholic. I have written about it myself.
The bishops at their June meeting called for immigration reform. The current situation is unjust and inhumane.
At conferences and meetings that I attend I hear much about fair and just immigration reform. One part of this debate is the activity of all sorts of hate groups throughout the country.
They spread their lies and fake statistics and climb on a hypocritical high horse spewing hatred and venom. They are nativist and xenophobic and violate every principle of the Gospel.
We need reform, and we need it now. Call it whatever you want, but justice demands that those who have lived and worked here, and lived as good citizens, be granted a fair means to legalize their status, and move toward citizenship.
The hate groups go nuts when someone mentions this. Regardless of their arguments their hatred of the other comes through. Immigrants only strengthen the American culture as diverse as it is. They should be welcomed not persecuted.
The legal quotas are so low they only encourage exploitation and pander to racism. We need to fix this now.
Some argue for “guest workers.” This only ensures a legally protected underclass to be exploited at will.
David Bacon, a photojournalist and labor organizer from California, has written the history of guest workers from the 19th century onward. He documented this in his best seller, “Illegal People.”
Guest workers work at the will of employers, they cannot transfer to a better job, are poorly paid and exploited. The United States of America does not need a permanent underclass to exploit for cheap labor. We tried that with slavery, and we saw where that got us.
As Cristina Jimenez points out, guest workers’ vulnerability in the workplace weakens conditions and lowers wages for all workers. Any kind of guest worker program will hurt foreign-born and native-born workers.
Every principle of Catholic social justice cries out for justice for immigrants. Every time I pick up a package of chicken or pork I think of nameless immigrants, working for a pittance, making companies rich, and consumers paying low prices, but at what price?
Some readers will say, “There goes another bleeding heart liberal” and righteously appeal to current immigration law as if that settles anything.
Laws are just or unjust. Unjust laws need to be changed. The entire civil rights movement was about changing unjust laws.
It is no accident that the very hate groups that opposed civil rights have repackaged themselves to go after immigrants.
Most Americans want everyone to get a fair deal. Americans’ generosity toward the poor and vulnerable is legendary. They respect people working honest jobs.
Our nation’s story is built upon immigrants contributing and enhancing our culture. This continues. We do not need a system that forces people to be outside the law and victims of exploitation. That is not the American way.
Yes, our immigration system is unjust and unfair, and must be changed. Our bishops urge it.
Don’t buy the propaganda. It is false. Now is the time for fair and just immigration reform.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
‘Let’s celebrate, give thanks to God’
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
June 12, 2009
Writing this column I am looking out the window into the woods at a beautiful sunny day. The humidity is low, the temperature is perfect. Great day to take a hike and be outdoors. Five months have gone by, and we are at the door of summer. Days like these need to be treasured. Somebody will say that hurricane season has arrived, and my pleasant reverie will be gone.
This time of year we celebrate so many things: graduations, anniversaries, milestones of one sort or another. Life is too short to worry about what we cannot control. Let’s celebrate the good things and give thanks to God.
This month I want to share with you something special to the Norbertines. The present buildings of the abbey in Wisconsin, that sustains our efforts here, are 50 years old this year. Ancient communities like ours that go back centuries are rooted in places which draw people to step away from the busy world of commerce and activity.
Some of our ancient monasteries had towns that grew up around them, and whose lands crossed borders of the countries that came later in time. Abbeys have a charm all about them. No two are alike. Each has a history as old and complicated as you can imagine.
They all have something in common. They are places for prayer and reflection. People get all involved with them, just like their parish. Norbertine abbeys engage people to get involved in all manner of activities from retreats to days of reflection, from hosting events for the larger community, to participating in the liturgies of praise that go on throughout the day and week.
Our current abbey in De Pere, Wis., was built in the late fifties, in what a friend of mine would call “fifties gothic.” Clean lines, soaring towers, high ceilings, marble, lots of marble.
Our abbey church is quite unique for 1959. It has a free standing altar. The choir stalls were on one side curving toward the center where the throne was located, the nave on the other side. Our ancient rite required lots of space for medieval ceremonies. The acoustics are great for Gregorian chant. The old Norbertine liturgy was something to experience.
Some of us were so taken by this gleaming monastery, on what was then a flat field in Wisconsin, that when we came we never left. Fifty years later we celebrate jubilees and give thanks for all that God made happen.
There will be big celebrations this June. The feast of the dedication of the abbey church will be June 16. I believe we also celebrate the dedication of the “Cathedral Church” in Jackson on the same day. Like I say, there is so much to celebrate and give thanks for.
The Second Vatican Council was a second Pentecost, and the abbey became a center of renewal and missionary work especially in Peru. Our renewed constitutions were called just that, “Day of Pentecost.”
Like the upper room in the Acts of the Apostles, the spirit fills the community and we responded to the needs of the church. The spirit of Pope John is guiding us still, and the best is yet to come.
In the last 50 years we saw our oldest foundation become an abbey in its own right. Located in Paoli, Pa., it has become a focus of retreats, pastoral work, reconciliation ministries. It is a center of renewal for its region. We celebrate 50 years of the current abbey buildings in De Pere, symbols of stability and outreach, contemplation and action.
We were blessed to begin two more foundations in New Mexico and Mississippi. They follow the same pattern of becoming places of prayer and renewal, of outreach and ministry to meet the needs of the local church.
Remember us in your prayers this June. We will be in and out of the priory celebrating the jubilee year of our abbey. Pray that the spirit and legacy we bring bears rich fruit in Mississippi. Already we see good things happening, and everybody is blessed.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
‘This is Resurrection time – sweet smell of life, hope’
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
May 8, 2009
May, spring in full bloom. You can feel the energy, the hope. All this month we celebrate Easter time, Jesus’ resurrection and promise of our resurrection.
Construction after destruction. Here we can appreciate this in so many ways after Katrina, Rita, Ivan, Gustav. People who survive hurricanes and tornadoes and floods know the meaning of resurrection. There is a new spirit in the air this spring.
People ordinarily getting the short end of the stick are acquiring a new voice to get their message out. They feel hope that their concerns will be heard in the White House and Congress this year.
May First is the International Day of the Worker. Countries throughout the world (except the USA) celebrate the gains of the international labor movement. We take the 8 hour day, paid vacation, off on weekends for granted.
In the 1880s mainly in Chicago, activists paid with their blood, some executions were held at the old city jail on Hubbard Street. The name Haymarket calls up that struggle that opened the door to a better life for all of us.
It gave life to a movement that is international in scope. Today there is a beautiful bronze monument to the effect at Randolph and Desplaines streets. All over the world the struggle for worker justice is celebrated. Our church celebrates the feast of St. Joseph the Worker and all who work for the good of workers.
Speaking of struggle and achieving a better life for all Americans, the NAACP Jackson Chapter celebrated its annual banquet at the Marriott Hotel commemorating 100 years of fighting for justice, equality and human rights.
Like in other years on this day, immigrants, from all nations, demonstrated throughout the country to get their message out. This year the mood was even festive. Their demands are the same: End the raids, reform immigration laws, give a path to legalization, pass the Dream (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act.
Sister Jean Juliano, last week, gave a fine piece, in this paper, urging us to support this legislation. It is about our children and our future. It is about making America stronger and respected throughout the world.
Many people from many nations expressed their concerns. Organizations like the South Asian Alliance, the National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities raised other issues around refugees, worker rights, and human rights. All this says loud and clear, our immigration laws and system needs a huge overhaul.
We have the ability, and now maybe the will to fix what is clearly broken. Individual states do not confer citizenship. Put the federal government where it ought to be in this area. We are not citizens of states, but of the United States.
We have the same chorus of haters, racists and xenophobes as we have had in the past. Many of these are the same folks with new clothes. We know where we stand.
Our church continues to preach a social justice doctrine that reflects the Gospel. We speak out for human rights. We have a doctrine that says humanity, and all creation is holy, because God said that it was good. It was very good.
We celebrate this Easter season with renewed hope, with greater concern for the vulnerable among us. We welcome the stranger among us, for we were strangers once. Tune out the hate racket and tune in to the smooth sounds of peace, praise and thanksgiving.
This is Resurrection time. Jesus conquered it all, even death. People face persecution even death knowing that they will overcome. This is what made us survive all manner of persecution and prejudice. Knowing our own history as Catholics in these United States, should make us support those who struggle as we once did.
We look to spring. We plant gardens. We feel new energy. As we see new life burst all around us, never give up hope. Grounded in faith that keeps us focused, hope that gives us energy, and love that unites us, we shall see a better day for everyone.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Easter says, ‘there is hope for everyone’
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
April 10, 2009
April, spring, busiest month of the year. The “Big Heat” isn’t here yet, so everybody can be busy about so many things.
During spring break two weeks ago students and others came from all over the country to meet with the Veterans of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement and learn what Mississippi contributed to the furthering of justice in our country, and now the world.
Generations mingled, eyes were opened. People learned from one another and hope filled everyone. Michelle Obama and the Queen made history, warmth and affection replaced yelling and denunciations. Hope springs eternal.
Spring is the season of hope. New growth bursts through old dead stuff. The newness of everything just makes you feel good. Easter was the old Anglo-Saxon spring goddess.
Easter for us is overcoming even death to life that springs eternal. Newly minted Catholics throughout Mississippi join us sharing the One Bread and the One Cup and experience the unity of Jesus living in each of us.
We are one Body, Jesus, here and now like the yeast in that dough to make the Kingdom come, to spread love in the world.
O, you will all hear fine sermons on Easter Day, don’t need another one here. Spring is the year starting over again. The Romans began their calendar in spring. It is second chance time for us.
Give thanks to God for getting us this far. The economy is hurting everyone, and we have to be even more compassionate with one another. We will get through this. Lets not take it out on the weakest among us.
I just received an international magazine our order puts out. So many exciting things going on all over the world: awareness of the environment, a dedicated missionary after many years in the jungle being buried with his adopted people.
Unity takes so many shapes. Thinking about unity quickly makes us think of community. Our tradition sees community in some way sharing the life of the Trinity, Father-Son-Holy Spirit, always together. A piece in that issue tells how we work that out in our far flung diocese.
The Chrism Mass is not just about priests, but about all of us, as one, entering into the mysteries of deliverance during the holy three days. The oils symbolize our oneness, our reconciliation, our healing, and our sanctification.
Our symbols preach a powerful message, just like preachers opening up the Scripture. They are ways our physical selves can engage the holy, making our total selves lost in the wonder of God. That’s the joy of a “sacramental church.” Sacraments are the ways we physically and spiritually can be united with God.
There is a message to love and respect the earth. In the candlelight of the vigil we listen to the story of the creation of the world, how God made it all. It was good. It was holy.
Water, now becoming a crisis throughout the world. Even here, a company wants to tap into the Colorado Aquifer, that supplies water to places like Denver. Most of that state is very dry. They want to bottle and sell it.
We listen to the blessing of gallons of water, how God breathed upon the waters, how water binds us to Jesus Christ forever. The things we use, the places we live demand respect. They are holy because God is holy.
From the total destruction of the cross to the empty tomb and resurrection is the story of cosmic, gargantuan evil beyond all evil being forgiven for all eternity.
Easter says there is hope for everyone. Easter is the call to all humanity to thank God who gives all life.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Lent sets people free
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
March 13, 2009
We have just entered Lent. Thinking about what to share with you this month, I am pulled between social justice, coming from the readings in this season, and a more contemplative, prayerful focus. There is the desert as well as the criticism of the religiosity of the Pharisees.
Dom Virgil Michel, monk of St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minn., who among other things founded The Liturgical Press, was a giant in the liturgical movement in the 1940s and onward. He said the response to a liturgical life is a passion to work for social justice. This was to be realized at the Second Vatican Council.
On Ash Wednesday at Lauds, the Morning Praise Office (Liturgy of the Hours), at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, the reader read from Isaiah 58: 5-7. This passage will appear again in the readings of Lent, whether in the Mass or the Office.
This has both a contemplative and active dimension. “This is the fasting I seek, release those bound unjustly, untie the thongs of the yoke, set free the oppressed, break every yoke, share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless, clothe the naked, when you see them, and do not turn your back on your own.”
The contemplative part is to reflect on how we measure up or do not. The active part of that is, to work to eliminate oppression, discrimination, poverty; promote equality, understanding and dialogue.
This is superior to external practices that can make people feel good. However, to reach out to the oppressed, the hungry, the alienated, those under oppression puts one open to criticism and judgment, but this is conversion and brings justice that God seeks.
At a deanery meeting recently we heard of the experiences of youth doing volunteer work in Saltillo, Mexico, and how that exposed them to another world they did not know exists.
The huge gap between the region’s poverty and the opportunities just a few miles north of the border stood out in stark contrast. They began to see why people, who love their country and their culture, are driven north, at great personal risk, to find work just to feed their families.
The huge gap between Scripture texts like the one above or Leviticus 19: 33-34, or Matthew 25: 31-45, and the way we treat the poor or the undocumented immigrants is a challenge. Our policies are unjust and need to be changed.
The purpose of fasting is conversion. The physical expressions can be superficial, but accomplish little, but changing attitudes and principles is the beginning of conversion. Become aware of the discrepancies that oppress people, not justify them. These differences should not be explained away, but confronted honestly.
The oppressed and the poor read these texts and see Lent differently. As a result of the immigration raids, the Latino community began a practice they have in their countries called a vigilia, literally a vigil.
They have these on Saturday evenings. They have a band, they sing, they pray, they reflect on the Scriptures. They affirm their faith.
Recently I heard a magnificent reflection on the faith of the woman with a hemorrhage, who touched Jesus cloak, how faith should touch our hearts with confidence. The people come in large numbers to pray for forgiveness and recommitment, for justice and relief from oppression. The next day, the same group is at Mass, actively participating.
We know that in the days of Jim Crow, it was prayer and the Scriptures that filled people with confidence and strength, to know that change would come, because their faith is strong.
Oppressed people express their faith in ways more affluent people do not. It is the kind of faith that does not blink at the sight of death. The kind of faith that is strengthened because, Jesus overcame death, they, too, will overcome both death and oppression.
The journey of Lent means we open our eyes and unplug our ears to the Good News that sets the people free.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
‘Illegal People’ basic to understanding immigrants
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
February 13 , 2009
A new beginning, old issues. The Legislature is in session. Recently the Congregations for Children, headed up by the three bishops of the Catholic, United Methodist and Episcopal churches, spoke out for the vulnerable: children and immigrants, urging an end to oppressive laws.
David Bacon’s “Illegal People” is a “must read” book in order to truly understand the immigration problem in the United States. Bacon is a photo-journalist and former union organizer from California.
For too long the migrant labor issues in this country have been covered over with divisive racism and xenophobia pitting disadvantaged groups against each other, and planting fear in a gullible public.
This is no accident. Bacon describes a systemic plan that forces groups to attack one another, even if they are aware they are being used.
All of them are desperate for work. As Bacon says, “Anti-immigrant hysteria has always preached that the interests of immigrants and the native-born are in conflict, that one group can only gain at the expense of the other.
“In fact, the opposite is true. To raise wages generally, the low price of immigrant labor has to rise, which means that immigrant workers have to organize effectively…. Since it is easier for immigrants to organize if they have permanent legal status, a real legalization program would benefit a broad range of working people, far beyond the immigrants themselves.” (pg. 258-259)
Immigrants become the fall guys in order to break unions and destroy the labor movement that created the American middle class and standard of living over the last century and a quarter. This is corporations’ demand for the cheapest possible labor for maximum profit.
This is an international phenomenon in which governments, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other entities, collaborate for the benefit of multi-national global corporations to the detriment of immigrants and poor nations everywhere. To break the trade union movement throughout the world is their long range goal. To truly solve the immigration problem must be an international undertaking with a common resolve.
Bacon begins by looking at the word “illegal.” As he says, “illegal has become a one word mantra in the United States political debate.” He chronicles how the government labeled Asian immigrants, barred them from citizenship acquiescing to the demand of corporations for cheap labor.
Chinese, Filipinos, Latinos, and others were and are routinely exploited, in the 19th and 20th centuries. Their non-legal status made it possible, with government cooperation, to circumvent all the anti-discrimination laws won by blacks in the 1960s, thus beginning to drive a wedge between them.
This laid the seeds of seasonal migration by “braceros” who were vulnerable to all manner of exploitation. Bacon weaves his exposition with powerful stories of people who experienced these and similar abuses.
His fast forwarding to the plight of H-1 visa workers, guest workers, make clear they are equally exploited. They cannot organize unions if they cannot stay. Their vulnerability creates huge profits, in violation of every human right.
Migration is a systemic way to thwart the growth of unions. Bacon chronicles a long history of this. The struggle today is little different. The bracero program, now reinvented as guest workers, is at the root of oppression and crushes effective organizing.
This is precisely the motive behind contemporary guest worker schemes promoted by the previous administrations and the corporate community. This is a global initiative, not merely south of the border, but world wide, with massive violations of human rights against the international conventions many of these nations signed.
Every major raid this past year was at plants attempting to unionize. Laurel was no exception.
The struggle of Mexicans, Guatemalans and others in Mississippi are part of an international worker exploitation program packaged as globalization. Everybody gets exploited.
Corporations have off shore headquarters and pay no taxes. They exploit immigrant workers, and in complicity with government and international trade policies, leave their home countries dependent on the immigrants income. It just keeps getting worse.
This book is basic to understanding the dynamics of immigration in the United States with a direction on how to solve it.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Change lies within each of us
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
January 23, 2009
Looking back at 2008 is like looking back at a wild careening ride with twists and turns and frequent gasps of, “I don’t believe it!” or “Awesome!” Skilled writers could not have come up with narratives like we have lived through this year.
In the new century financial experts whisper about another Great Depression. Pillars of American finance and industry are shaking to their foundations, coming to the government to bail them out. The housing crisis, foreclosures…. O the list goes on.
Then the Middle East is blowing up. The rain forests are savagely being destroyed for beautiful furniture. They are crucial to the planet’s ecosystem. There are so many issues.
Then we had a presidential election like no other. A barrier was broken, and “Yes we can!” became “Yes we did!” And the younger generation is getting galvanized, the likes of which we have not seen in years.
People, home and abroad, are responding to a message of hope, and a new vision and idealism that brings back stirring memories of another time to the older generation. The rocking, shouting, chants for change spread to the Caribbean and Europe and around the world.
At the same time, the world’s economy is still shaking, the outcome of which is the New Year’s challenge. So many challenges there are.
In the dead of winter we hear similar messages of hope and deliverance in church. “Darkness covers the earth, and clouds cover the nations.” (Is 60: 2) Then we hear, “A people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” (Is 9:1)
John writes: “Through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race... The true light which enlightens everyone was coming into the world.” (Jn 1:4, 9) When things are bleak, we need to hear words like these.
It is no accident that we celebrate the light coming to dispel the darkness, and the truth to set us free in the dead of winter.
When they wrote all these things down, so long ago, the world was a torn up place, but the light chased away the darkness, the people changed. For each age in history, God visits his people giving strength to the weak, enlightenment to those who seek, and he raises up leaders, from every generation, to move things a little bit forward.
Christianity came to an empire that ruled with an iron hand. They were weak and they were poor. They saw the light and could walk straight. They were the yeast in the dough. A lot happened in 2000 years, but there are those still energized to make the world a better place, if only in their neighborhood.
With all that has happened this past year, and we are still living through it, the message I get is that all of us are called to do our part to make the world a better place.
The new legislative session has just begun. It is not about, “Well, let them do it.” No, it is about all of us speaking out what is needed, what the people need. It is about speaking justice for the vulnerable, who always bear the brunt when times are hard.
All of this is putting our faith in action. We also need to pray fervently for those who suffer, and for those who lead.
Each new year we have the illusion of, “This time we will get it right.” We are like Charlie Brown kicking the football, and Lucy grabbing it away. No, we drag the past along on a chain. Remember Faulkner?
This time let’s not just drag it, but be accountable, and change it. The change we can believe in lies within each of us. In 2009 we roll up our sleeves and take charge of our world.
Happy and blessed New Year to everyone!
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
‘Love doesn’t cost anything’
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
December 12, 2008
Recently, on the day after Thanksgiving, “Black Friday” they call it because retailers can end in the black even make their projections for the year, people wait all night or are up before dawn, camping out at stores, in malls to be the first to get inside.
This year was different. The drumbeat to go out and shop till you drop, run yourself into debt, marketers creating demand with no scruple, is really ironic.
We anticipate and celebrate the coming of the Prince of Peace, born in a slum, to poor people in order to save humanity from itself. We call it Redemption. Think about that.
This year it hit a new low. A man working for a Wal- Mart was trampled to death as shoppers forced the door open 5 minutes before time. Trampled, do you hear me? “Trampled”!
We all do our weekly shopping, has anybody seen anybody trampled? Tell this column and I’ll write about it. I have read several pieces since this incident. Some reflect on mob psychology, others take a moral higher level. The customary lawsuit was filed by his family.
Wal-Mart gave an apology promising better security. Now, really! The biggest retailer in the world and they could not have planned better? Sorry, I am digressing. When I first heard this a feeling of shock and sadness settled over me. Sort of, “Have we now sunk so low...”
The economy is at a record level since the Great Depression, Income gaps between rich and poor wider than ever in our life time.
One of our priests at the priory remembers the Depression well. He’s been quoting Roosevelt and looking for similarities on the nightly news. He has that unconscious thriftiness people have who lived through those times. I grew up in the post World War II boom. Generations have forgotten those hard times. Now we have sunk so low, that workers get trampled during a sale season.
We need, each of us, to have a private dialogue with ourselves about what do we really value. A custom of exchanging gifts at Christmas to show love for one another, has it morphed into some kind of monster?
I won’t answer the question. I think of that man and his family at Christmas time, every year...
“God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son...” (Jn. 3/16) I see that, or just the citation on T-shirts worn by kids everywhere.
It’s another reason I enjoy living in the Bible belt as a Catholic. It makes me remember Scripture citations and their accompanying texts. Our Protestant friends have something there that we can learn from.
The pope is encouraging us to read and become familiar with the Bible. The Bible has always been the classic Catholic prayer book down the ages. That’s another column.
“God so loved the world.” You have to be God to do that. Think of what would happen if we loved everybody in Mississippi? I mean everybody. We talk with them. We share with them. We are talking about a little over 2.5 million people if that.
Think about it. In some places everybody is related to everybody else. I mean black and white, anyway you want to parse it.
I find it a joy in small towns where I see this happening. “Sorry Father, half the church is at Mary Sue’s wedding.” The church people are all kinfolk and stay connected.
Then I discover it extends across denominational lines into the town and countryside.
I know I am overly idealistic, but I can dream of just one geographic location where everybody loved everybody else. Differences were celebrated not feared. Languages were learned, even fractured in the attempt, and people discovered wonderful things about each other.
Guess what? This doesn’t cost a dime. Nobody has any money anyway. But love doesn’t cost anything. The more you give it away, the more you get.
This is what Christmas giving is really about. You mothers and grandmothers know this. Remember the homemade Christmas cards your kids brought home from school? These say a lot more than anything out of Macy’s.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem, lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Election begins new day, new beginning
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
November 14, 2008
I have been going over countless emails, reading publications on line from all over the world, and am getting back to whatever normal is, after living through another historic, defining moment.
The events of the recent election and Barak Obama becoming the 44th president of the United States, bring to mind other events I have lived through. All of them tell me, in spite of ourselves, we are a blessed people. Another thing all of these events I have lived through tell me is just how much the entire world looks to America for hope.
I have traveled to other countries, and everybody I met speaks freely about cities and towns in our country as if they have been there. Remote villagers can talk about Indiana or California, Wisconsin or New York, in ways that make me wonder does everybody out there have relatives in the USA?
People overseas have a familiarity with our country, our people, our customs in ways many of us here do not. Many would be hard pressed to find their country on a map, and most of them would obligingly point it out with a smile.
Everywhere I traveled people made a clear distinction about us as a people and the policies of our government. In many a conversation I discovered common ideas and an open mind can not only bring people together, but give us a sense we belong to a community bigger than our nationality, race or ethnicity.
This election was something different. People around the world sensed it coming. I remember Obama’s speech in Berlin. A hundred thousand people looked like a crowd in Yankee Stadium. Not one of them could vote, but who cares. He gave a message that resonated with the world.
People crave hope. People are sick and tired of fear. I felt it personally, Barak Obama, from my hometown, my old neighborhood, an African American I am proud to call “Mr. President” because he makes me proud to be an American. His eloquence reflects an American universality regardless of your skin color, your ethnicity, your education, whatever. We need to feel that these days.
I logged on to newspapers around the world, especially Africa and South America. The celebrations and the accounts were inspiring and funny. All night prayer vigils complete with dancing and feasting. Babies around the world are being named “Barak” or “Michelle.”
Schools in remote regions are dedicated to “Obama.” People kept saying, “The American president looks like us!” and beamed with pride. In Portuguese, in Spanish, in French, in Luo and Kikuyu, in Yoruba and Ibo, in English, in Icelandic, in Creole, in German, Arabic and Turkish, in Polish and Russian, however they said it, they rejoiced hope has come back. This new century can begin to blossom.
The world looks at us in ways we are not aware of. We have a responsibility to live up to our ideals. We as a people are made up of every nation in the world. We need to give example.
We need to encourage and affirm. This century is the century of the world. No leader does this. Leaders only encourage all of us to do it. Each of us makes all of us what we are to become.
All this reminds me of Paul to the Galatians. You know the famous quote, “Neither Jew nor Greek, neither male nor female, neither slave nor free, but all one in Christ Jesus.”
It is the experience of being one, of unity, the world hungers for, our country hungers for. We need to get there, at least closer than we have been. We owe it to our children and grandchildren. They deserve better than what we have done so far.
I am tired of nightly news saying we are on the brink of something awful. We are aware of the power out there to destroy the world. We look for solutions, for resolutions.
We see the light on the mountaintop, and have that optimism that fills the letters of Paul. A new day is dawning. Put on the armor of justice, the hope and compassion of Jesus. It is possible. Yes we can!
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem, lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Paul’s essay describes Catholic Charities’ workers
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
October 10, 2008
At the weekday Mass, recently, we read the great 13th chapter of the First Letter to the Corinthians. In this “Year of Paul,” my experience has been this passage is so well known, even by those whose closest experience of a church is at a funeral home. It is one of the favorite texts for weddings.
Why is this so? This reaches out and touches core humanity. It is one of those basic prophetic tests that transcend religion. It speaks to unity, to the oneness between the creature and God. It speaks about the one thing that unites humanity, whether the family unit or the entire community. Without love there is chaos.
The evening before an era ended and a torch was passed. We honored Linda Raff for 29 years with Catholic Charities, 14 of which she guided it to a new level of compassion in an ever more polarized world.
We heard inspiring tributes from Mary Sims-Johnson, director of Our House Shelter, from Bishop Joseph Latino and from Msgr. Elvin Sunds, her predecessor. He brought her on board and shared an inspiring history of gospel service to all the people of Mississippi.
As walls were broken down, Catholic Charities spread love and incredible skill in rebuilding broken people and fractured families.
During most of that time, I was working at Catholic Charities in Chicago. A different scene, but the same broken people and families. A different slogan, “Compassion in Action” but the same work.
Paul’s essay on love describes anybody who works for Catholic Charities anywhere. Among the staff there is love. It is so apparent that even the drug addicts and homeless people feel it. If nothing else they feel they are somebody, not refuse or a problem. They see the staff respect and support one another, encourage one another.
The first time I met Linda was in the early ’90s. It would be a few more years before I would call Mississippi home. We were chatting in her office, then on President Street. She was fascinated and curious to hear about my experiences in Chicago.
Looking back now the two places are so vastly different, yet curiously similar. Poverty is poverty, and broken families are broken families. Whether on concrete or in a field, the task of Charities is putting people back together.
That, and maybe our similar background in social work, only increased my desire to eventually come to Mississippi to help my community and use my talents to make a difference among poor people.
Linda is so alive and excited about what she does, even moving on, her concern for people will find new ways to bring hope to many others. Under her direction, our Catholic Charities expanded and reached out to new populations of people in need.
It became multi-lingual and legally savvy, in reaching out to immigrants, with or without papers, to help them adjust and make a home in Mississippi. When international chaos reached new proportions, under Linda’s guidance, Charities opened its arms to unaccompanied refugee minors.
As a social worker, I could see these challenges are huge on so many levels. Yet she was able to bring in a thoroughly multicultural staff, and sensitive people, to reach out to the community and recruit caring, excited foster families who not only made a home for these young people, but became excited about their cultures and gifts they bring.
They may come with the clothes on their back, but when they emancipate out of the program, they leave with a sense that they contributed to our own cultural heritage, right here in Mississippi.
I only mentioned two programs that flourished under Linda’s guidance. Remembering that conversation in her office long ago, I am so impressed with her, and with the breath and the scope of what we do here. Our Catholic Charities reaching into 65 counties, among so many different populations and local regions, is the premier social service agency in our state. Linda made it happen. She did it with an army of volunteers, board members, staff, concerned people of every religious persuasion.
Catholic Charities, here and across the country, is a major force in ecumenism and breaking barriers of all manner of discord. Thank you Linda! You will be missed.
Greg Patin (say Chopin then Patin) brings a big heart, a warm smile and immense talent. Linda passed the torch to capable hands. We thank her for all she did, and our support and prayers are with Greg as he leads our Catholic Charities, in its 65 – county area, to meet new challenges, to attract more volunteers and keep the message of Jesus alive and well to all people everywhere who need help.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Wind blew, rains came, they were ready
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
September 12, 2008
Perspective can mean everything. Where you are can determine a lot. On a recent phone call, with someone up in Wisconsin, they commented this was the driest August they had in years. “The ground in my yard is splitting it is so dry.”
For us, the last week or so was soggy beyond words. They keep saying that “Gustav was no Katrina” as if that is some sort of consolation. Tell that to someone who after three years after Katrina finally refurbished his house, then Gustav ripped off the roof and flooded it.
Our world includes hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and a lot of other things. Our friends and relatives on the coast and in Louisiana are tough, courageous and resourceful people. They made the coast the beautiful place that it is. It is a tourist magnet for people out of state. They deserve our support and gratitude. They deserve a lot more than they get when hurricanes drop off page one.
Much has been written about, and there are active groups still working toward relief from Katrina. The series, “Katrina Recovery,” runs on and on in the Clarion Ledger. Then there are the insurance company stories. Will it ever end?
Catastrophes, to the unscrupulous, are opportunities to make money. Today something popped up, “Gas $3.99 in Baton Rouge.” Then, the insurance lobby is squeezing as much as they can get. Ask anybody you know who lived through Katrina, Rita and now Gustav. They will tell you.
As church, we have a different set of values. We reach out, no questions asked, and help those in need. The Gospel is crystal clear about how we will be judged. The Acts of the Apostles gives us a view of how our ancestors in the faith lived. They were folks like us.
For all we preach about “community” as church, it seems rugged individualism is the only thing praised out there. Well, we know that isn’t right. First of all, people are recovering with a lot of help from those who reach out.
Almost within hours of Gustav, a group from Kalamazoo, Mich., drove a thousand miles with supplies and were on the scene helping people. That is community. Never mind that Michigan folks can carry on about 15 foot blizzards and being socked in for months. They were right there learning about hurricanes from those who know.
As stories are shared people come together. They give, they share, and something resembling the lifestyle in the Acts of the Apostles happens.
We can share stories about the groups from up North that stayed at the priory, often the same group time after time. They would head for the coast, places like Chalmette, Bay St. Louis or Waveland. Others would go to New Orleans. They would do hard work helping people have a life again.
They would come back through, and tell stories about new friends and a beautiful, but battered, part of the country. That was Katrina. Now it is Gustav. People are already responding.
Hannah, Ike and Josephine are on the way. These are not the grandkids coming to visit. We know what to expect. We will be ready. These monsters are making people discover one another.
It is not just rugged individualism, which often is rugged selfishness, uncaring for others, especially the vulnerable, that gets rewarded. No, it is people coming together that make things happen.
The attitude, “Me against the world,” often the stuff of the Westerns some of us were raised on, is false. It ignores or, worse, blames the needy. It is not Christian, although there are churches that preach the “Gospel of Prosperity” and gullible people buy it.
Natural disasters, and there will be many, should be opportunities for us to demonstrate our high ideals and the true Christian values we live by. Our support and prayers go out to the internally displaced people by Gustav. We wish them a speedy return and a quick recovery. As church, we are there for them.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Food connects us to each other, to God
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
August 8 , 2008
Summer time. Everybody takes vacations. Some of our churches, you know, the ones with three families and their relatives, lose half their congregation on a given Sunday when a family goes north to a family reunion. Even the priests take off trying to find a cooler spot as Mississippi rises to summer boil.
Well, your humble correspondent did just that. Two weeks, 800 miles away gives a fresh look at the familiar through the lens of the different. Reading different newspapers, eating different food, more creative traffic jams that seem to last days not hours are all part of summer migrations.
When I’m away I think of people I know here more clearly. Anything I run into that reminds me of some of them I take note of. I remember Lebanese families in Jackson while eating in a Mediterranean restaurant with flat bread and this tender lamb in a yogurt stew with onions and spices only the Middle East can conjure up.
The music in the background and the people around me reflect a Middle East without war, about a way of life they had to flee. Now they adjust in this Midwestern city with its harsh winters, alien to the cedars of Lebanon.
Food connects me to people all over the world. Food presents people in a way they want to be presented, that reflects happier times not the horrors on the nightly news.
Reading the paper one morning I was struck by an article by a former progressive alderman titled, “U.S. should restore aid to Sierra Leone.” Knowing several families from Sierra Leone in Mississippi, I was drawn to it.
A story is more than a story when you can add flesh and bones, personality and a sense of humor about the people written about. The article brought back the terrible civil war over diamonds. Other countries were involved. It was complicated as all these things are, but in the end rather absurd. Diamonds are dead. People are living – 10,000 amputees struggling to make it, and a huge population of widows and orphans.
The country has come a long way since that bloody war. A Truth and Reconciliation Commission, not unlike that of South Africa of which Archbishop Desmond Tutu was a member, ended its work with sound recommendations that sent the country in a new direction of rebirth and hope.
The article makes a case that while the country has a history of public corruption, it is no worse than Chicago. Since the war, it has had two elections which were the most free, peaceful and fair in all of Africa. The piece goes on to urge the U.S. to restore aid and become more involved in the development of Sierra Leone.
There is another reason I agreed with the article. Two days before in a book store I saw a thick paperback history of the African slave trade going back to around 1350. Sierra Leone was at ground zero. Over 600 years of suffering on both sides of the ocean reached into every country of Europe, and the United States, ending with the columnist describing a soccer game at beautiful Lumley Beach. Every player was missing one limb. The agility, tenacity, courage and spirit moved him deeply.
What hooked me were the people I know from Sierra Leone, highly professional, making great contributions here in Mississippi. What they left, and the new lives they made may not be as dramatic as that soccer game on Lumley Beach, but they also describe the power of hope, with a faith fixed on a vision, and the love and support to attain it.
Many of you reading this may have little knowledge of a small country some would be challenged to find on a map, but all of us can resonate to the indomitable human spirit that says, “Yes I can!”
I know some who read this paper are incarcerated, but yes you can build a life that makes sense and has meaning. Others of you may be home bound or in nursing homes. But, yes you can be inspired and discover meaning in your life.
It is not the cards life deals out to us, but it is how we play them. We don’t do it alone. Our faith is all about dying and rising. Yes we can!
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Raymond.)
Yes, prayer works
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
July 25 , 2008
By Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem
“Are you going to the big fundraiser? “Nope, I’m going to fill up my truck.” So was the caption in a cartoon in the Clarion-Ledger recently. Gas is now over $4 a gallon, and rising, right here in Mississippi.
There was a prayer service (Methodists, Catholics, Episcopalians) on the capitol steps for just immigration reform in our state and country. A new draconian law went into effect July 1, that makes it a felony to work without documents, the first of its kind in the country. Besides filling up our prisons with people who do honest work, the impact on families and children will be catastrophic.
Lions feeding off livestock put themselves at the point of being wiped out. This is going on in Kenya. Yes, it does matter that wild animals are being threatened.
It does matter that the rain forest in South America is at risk because furniture companies in the USA want prize wood. The rain forests generate major amounts of oxygen. Considering what greenhouse gasses are doing to the atmosphere this is critical. Yes, folks, global warming is here.
Housing crisis, massive foreclosures. In one place the mayor ordered the police to stop evicting so many people. Their stuff on the street was being stolen right out from under them, chaos was everywhere.
Jobs. Supply plants for Nissan laying off workers: Johnson Control laid off 142 from its Madison plant, and metal parts assembly plant, PK USA Inc, cut 45 workers in its Canton facility Friday, June 27. More is expected. (C-L July 1, 2008)
Price of gasoline at the pump. Increasing layoffs. Immigrants, living in fear, working low wage jobs to keep their families at home from starving.
The environment. The economy. Immigrant labor. Is this the 21st century introduction to 1929, the Great Depression number 2?
There are eerie similarities. That all American man of letters, Mark Twain, wrote a book about the high and mighty, rich and famous, called it the “Gilded Age of the 1890s.” Then came the crash of `29. Mark Twain coined a new label in the American lexicon: gilded age. This stuck. In fact the last several years, on the outside say, 1981 to the present, life has not been better for the elite and wealthy. Somebody wrote a new book, “The New Gilded Age” noting the similarities then and now.
For all that, the gap between the poor and middle class has never been wider since 1960, with the middle class continuing to crumble. The wealth is not spreading. The rich are getting richer. The wealthy still are small in numbers and are extraordinarily powerful.
Times like these, then and now, drive people into the churches. I remember the `30s, `40s and `50s, people slowly recovering. They would fill up Our Lady of Sorrows at Jackson and Kedzie, in Chicago’s West Side. They would fill the “upper church” and the “lower church,” and out into the streets. The police would cordon it off.
The streets would be packed with people on Friday evenings for the Sorrowful Mother Novena originally compiled by Father Thomas Keane, OSM. It spread all over Chicago and all over the country. Times were hard. People were insecure. Poverty was everywhere spreading like a fungus throughout society.
The people prayed hard then. They are praying hard now.
Guatemalan workers up in Leake County are planning a huge prayer service for protection and justice. The organizer said, “We came together to pray and the (civil) war ended. We pray now for our families who depend on our work to survive. We pray that people know that we contribute to the community.”
Leaders of three faiths, their members, activists and immigrants gathered at the capitol steps to pray for justice.
Does prayer work? Is it like some cynics say, the last throes before defeat? Here in Mississippi when segregation ruled, they came together and prayed. Members of every religion came together and prayed, and those Jericho walls came crashing down, and a new day was born.
Yes, prayer works. No matter what happens in the months ahead. People will pray for just immigration reform. All the legalism in the world will fade away. Another law will bring down these barriers: “You shall treat the alien who resides with you no differently than the native born among you ... you were once aliens in the land of Egypt. I, the Lord, am your God.” (Lev 19:33)
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Raymond.)
Immigrants journey with persistent hope
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
June 13, 2008
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O Praem
The great plains are being ravaged by tornadoes from Kansas to Oklahoma. Nightly news sees homes and neighborhoods turned to matchsticks. We know a lot about tornadoes, as close as northeast Jackson, still putting itself back together, a month after five twisters hit our state. Violence quick and dirty, recovery long and painful.
Then there are the faces of small children, wide-eyed and uncomprehending being comforted in their mothers’ arms in front of a pile of rubble that was their home, in a ravaged town that was their world, the sounds of armored personnel carriers and the tramp of soldiers’ feet fading in the distance. Violence quick and dirty, recovery long and painful.
The slightly bent man with long grey hair tied in a pony tail, is walking west on Capitol Street, very early in the morning. Tan corduroy jacket over faded jeans, definitely the ’70s look, but he is not making a fashion statement, except maybe to advertise “good stuff” he got from the Salvation Army.
His eyes tell you he is somewhere else. He pushes open the chapel door, the community of five priests and four people from the community greet him. He feels a little out of place, but is attentive to the readings, and is riveted to the ritual. He makes the “throne” with his hands and takes the Body broken for him, and drinks the cup of Blood shed for him, and an expression of peace is seen on his face.
He remembers a lot of broken bodies, and rivers of blood from a far off place, no longer in the news. Later on he is seen walking up Robinson toward Dixon Road to the Metro Center, his corduroy jacket and jeans and gray pony tale tell of another time of change, long forgotten. Recovery is long and painful.
The church is full of people with bright dresses from Central America. They sang and prayed fervently, tiny children crawling on the floor. These are the ones Jesus reached out to, and said the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Mothers’ arms snatch them up as their curiosity has them crawling toward the altar.
The band finishes playing, and the community listens how to cope with a new law that makes their hard work for low pay a criminal offense. A week later all kinds of advice is running through the underground networks. They know the church is in solidarity with them, and will be with them.
Words create an invisible prison, concealed by smiles and accommodating hard work, as the workers make the resort sparkle and guests happy. Those outside see nothing but serenity.
With hardly a mention in the media, real prisons run by companies, not the state, emerge just to contain the terrorists trimming chickens and harvesting fruit in the fields. The workers’ low wages help reap huge profits, with nary a peep from them.
Those locked up, having dared to commit felonies for working diligently for these low wages, reap big bucks for those who build and run the prisons. Those outside see nothing but serenity.
On May 22 in a Catholic church in lower Manhattan, they offered a “Mass for the Invisible.” The occasion was to commemorate the death of Boubacar Bah, a 52-year-old tailor from Guinea who overstayed his tourist visa and died in an immigration detention facility run by, you guessed it, CCA (Corrections Corporation of America), a private prison company that runs things on the cheap, and some facilities have little oversight or accountability.
Father Brian Jordan offered this Mass at St. Andrew Church, situated among the courthouses of Manhattan. He said in his homily. “If you are not a citizen, then you are a nonperson. You have no rights.”
He stressed Catholic theology that proclaims the dignity of all life. “Every person counts. No person is illegal. They may do illegal things.” He said, “60 years ago we had a momentous event, the UN Declaration of Human Rights. One has a right to health and to be protected, even in prison.”
Immigration detention is a system with little resemblance to what ordinary Americans think it is. There is hope. The church stands with the immigrants. We can count on that, can’t we?
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Good law must reflect morality
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
May 9, 2008
Two weeks ago, Sister Jean Juliano, DC, told the horrible situation of Indian workers being exploited by the Signal Corporation on the coast. She dramatically outlined the H2 guest worker visa program and quoted Charlie Rangel (D-MI) saying this is the closest thing he has ever seen to slavery. She pointed out this situation exists throughout the country.
When Pope Benedict XVI visited our country he spoke about human rights and immigrants. On the plane to the United States he spoke of protecting immigrant families, not dividing them. He raised the issue the next day with President Bush (New York Times April 20, 2008). Both John Paul II and Benedict XVI speak out for human rights for all people as coming from God.
John Paul II said “(Human rights) are conferred not by governments or institutions, but by the Creator alone, in whose image human beings have been made.” (Gn 1:26) He further says human rights are not only individual rights, but the whole concept includes the family “as the fundamental unit of society” (Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 16). (Address on the 50th Anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights)
The papal documents, the international conventions and declarations, state the point clearly. Human rights transcend all man made laws, anywhere throughout the world. Scholars and activists all over the globe have written on this and have developed a new model for social change. Oppressed people throughout the world are aware of this approach and have been using it to strive for justice and fairness in each particular situation.
The recent U.S. Human Rights Network Conference in Chicago brought together over 300 organizations working for human rights in a variety of contexts, both national and international. Among these were the leading immigrant rights organizations in our country. All of them are developing ways to address injustice through the lens of human rights.
During the pope’s visit several American bishops condemned the raids at five chicken plants, in five states, belonging to Pilgrim’s Pride arresting 300 people accused of being “illegal immigrants.” Cardinal Mahoney, said, “I was stunned. I just feel these raids are totally negative.”
Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City, chairman of the Committee on Migration of the U.S. bishops said, (These raids) did strike me as inappropriate. The pope comes as a man of peace, a man of good will, the leader of a major religion. Many of the persons arrested were Catholic.”
We should be clear. Our bishops have gone on record advocating giving legal status to undocumented immigrants. They are on the forefront of advocacy for immigrant rights.
The papal statements have energized our bishops and Catholic organizations to continue to press for fair, just and comprehensive immigration reform. This column has reported recent statements our bishops made urging just immigration reform.
Those of us working in social justice can narrate painful cases of abuse to families and individuals they work with. They occur in our parishes and communities. But for many who read the public press these have little influence. What did they used to call us? “bleeding hearts” as if compassion was some sort of defect. Yet our religion is based on it. Just read Mt 25: 31-45.
I urge our readers to familiarize themselves with what our bishops teach on immigration. I especially urge them to see what our Southern bishops have written on this. These are what should guide our thinking.
In the light of the recently passed law here in Mississippi that will make work by undocumented immigrants a felony, up to five years in prison, before being turned over to immigration authorities, our work is cut out for us.
The damage this can do to families is horrible and un-American. Law is not equivalent to morality. Good law must reflect morality. Bad law must be revoked. We dealt with that in the last century, are we condemned to deal with it in this century? We know what is right.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Raymond.)
Jesus told us to work for understanding
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
April 11 , 2008
“It was in Antioch (in Syria) that the disciples were first called Christian” (Acts of the Apostle 11:26)
Spring is bursting all over. Suddenly all the new leaves are on the trees. Midway Road, once visible from the priory road, is concealed by new growth. Strange sounds of creatures that call these woods their home are heard all the time.
We live in this environment, mindful that we live with countless other creatures, all of us praising one Creator. Walking around the lake you must look down, because you just may step on somebody’s home which could have unwelcome consequences.
The earth is beautiful in the spring, like a new day, not yet messed up by anyone. As true as this is, it is not so. All over our little blue and white planet, blood flows like water, and the wailing of torn up families drowns out calls of joy from animals anywhere. Spring always brings promise, and enkindles hope, often short lived.
Easter has come, with promise of eternal victory over evil. The recent issue of America reports thousands of Iraqi Christians, whose faith and ritual goes back to the Apostles, being driven from their lands by fanatics who violate their own religion to do so.
Mohammed preached tolerance toward Christians and Jews, as “People of the Book.” His own cousin was a Christian. So what is going on with religion being turned on its head?
The report stated, “Christians had been fleeing Iraq for years before the U.S. invasion in 2003. The Ancient Assyrian Church of the East saw four-fifths of its members emigrate before 2000.” Saddam persecuted them for their use of Syriac, their language, instead of Arabic, his language.
“Now other Christians are fleeing under combined pressures of radical Islam and the chaos of war.” Their Catholic cousins, the Chaldeans, saw their archbishop of Mosul, Faraj Rahho, kidnapped and murdered. The pressure on Iraqi Christians continues. The loss of these, and other Eastern Christians “diminishes the world Christian community, including the Christian West.” (America, March 24, 2008)
Our technology is beyond the average person’s understanding. There is no longer a fear that the “bomb” will blow us to smithereens. The fear is corporations will no longer profit if they do not have unlimited access to oil. The Middle East is being trashed for greed. The average person is left out in the discussion.
Death-Resurrection. It always comes down to that. Jesus said, “Unless the grain of wheat dies . . . .” But death is such a messy business, especially if it is done violently in the name of fanatical religion.
Nobody is clean in this. Fanaticism, which is fundamentalism on steroids, runs through Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Think about it. Adherents of these three religions together have so much power and wealth, they can blast the planet into a wasteland.
Yet the wisdom of these three religions expounds a unity and inclusiveness among all humanity as children, even images, of God. Clearly we have a challenge in the new millennium. Either we rise to it, or we all suffer, without exception.
This is the 21st century. God has not given up on us. There are brilliant voices of reason and sanity among all three religions calling for calm and dialogue. Throughout the world there are movements and groups promoting inclusiveness and unity as the only solution to continued survival on this planet.
We don’t need another Messiah, we got one and we better begin to understand what he taught. Jesus told us he would be present in all of us, and together we must work for inclusion not division, for integration, not segregation, for understanding not confusion.
Here in Mississippi, the Institute for Interfaith Dialogue continues to bring believers of all religions together in order to appreciate one another, and move us closer toward unity and inclusion that so many died for.
Forty years ago last Friday (April 4) Martin Luther King was assassinated, a martyr for human rights. Bobby Kennedy was assassinated, a martyr for justice. Thomas Merton died in a tragic accident, a monk living his life for greater understanding and religious dialogue all over the world.
I pray that they have not died in vain.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Raymond.)
Unity possible, necessary to survival
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
March 14, 2008
There is no denying the world we live in is a fractured, divided, polarized place. Anyone could fill a page with examples. Every now and then something comes my way that startles me with an open expression of unity in diversity.
I’m at the age when I am hesitant to use slogan phrases. Often they bring up a different context than what the current writer is trying to say. However, with the pressure of television forcing presidential candidates to articulate complex policy programs, not only reducing them to sound bites, but after 3,000 speeches, to mantras. This only adds to dumb down the populace, and the brighter ones search for answers. There is something for another column.
So, I use this slogan “unity in diversity,” wherever it came from, to express something essential about our religion. Over the last few years “Catholic” has been added to many things our church publishes, promotes or otherwise wants us to pay attention to.
However, I have been in groups where this word is very narrowly defined, to the point vast numbers of people and ideas are excluded. Being a lover of words, I thought I would tinker with this, and did some research.
Well, over a millennium and a half ago, the hot button issue in the church was the nature of Jesus Christ. There was a group known as Arians who believed Jesus was not fully divine as the Father. They had major councils to settle such things as these.
It was at one of these councils that an Egyptian (Coptic) bishop, a major theologian, used the word catholic meaning universal, common, what is held by all. He won the big theological argument, and we say the creed that bears his name, the Athanasian Creed.
Thus catholic applied to all Christians who held these universal beliefs. For the next millennium catholic referred to our universality. I should add catholic is an adjective and Christian is a noun, first used in Antioch as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles.
It didn’t become widely uses as a noun with a capital “C” until the 16th century. For centuries Christian and Catholic were, for the most part, one and the same. It was also international.
The power of our catholicity, in fact, creates a big tent. It reaches worldwide, including representatives from every nation and culture on the planet. Many of us experience this when we leave our country and encounter fellow Catholic Christians from other places with customs all their own.
We don’t have to travel to do that. Our country has, in one way or another, become the home of just about every other nationality on the planet. Cultures and languages proliferate and are preserved.
I see this going on right here. Our Catholic Church here in Mississippi reflects the country. We celebrate Encuentro with the Hispanic population, and just last week the Black Catholic Congress had its annual day of reflection. In both we see an outpouring of the Holy Spirit among everyone who attends one of these events.
The cultural differences, the styles of worship, the exuberance and joy, only make our unity stronger. When people truly share their faith, it is not with words or arguments, it is from the heart. It is a sharing of the Holy Spirit that makes us one, holy, catholic and apostolic.
I can resonate when I see the faith I was raised in expressed in harmony and rhythm, in clapping and swaying that makes you feel the presence of God all around you. At the same time, not missing a beat in the ancient rituals, the breaking of the bread, the sharing of the cup, we recognize the presence of Jesus and one another as his disciples, the same way the two recognized him on the road to Emmaus.
In Clarksdale, the heart of the blues, I felt the Spirit pull us together, for a time, healing the wounds of the centuries. There is something so catholic about this. Our different styles only reinforce our common faith. It is Catholic with a capital “C.”
Our common faith is a witness to our fractured, polarized country, likely to be more polarized, that unity is not only possible, but is a necessity for our little blue and white planet and its inhabitants to survive.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Raymond.)
‘Who really benefits from immigrant labor?’
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
February 8, 2008
As Catholics we must know and appreciate our church’s teaching on social justice. This forms our Catholic conscience regarding the immigration debate.
The U.S. bishops’ have issued statements: “Voices and Choices” The Bishops of the South, 2000; and “Strangers No Longer,” the U.S. and Mexican Bishops, 2003.
In 2007 Catholic responses to the immigration issue in Congress included the “Statement Regarding the Failure of the Senate’s Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill,” Cardinal Roger Mahoney, Los Angeles; “Statement of the Executive Directors of the Conference of the Major Superiors of Men, and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious on the Failure of Congress to pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform,” and the “Letter from the Catholic Bishops of North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina to members of Congress in Three States.”
All of these unambiguously defend immigrant rights. They defend the right to migrate. They defend worker rights and the right to dialogue and advocate for humane and just working conditions. They defend these people as possessing human rights, and the fact they must be treated with respect.
They condemn, in all its forms, racist and inhumane treatment of immigrants. This is the church’s teaching. You will rarely see this in the media.
I don’t often take up this issue. I defer to Sister Jean Juliano, DC, who has been teaching us the church’s position, and our position in the struggle for immigrant justice in Mississippi. Many of us in the coalitions and advocacy groups we work with will do our best to prevent old-time racism from crafting policies in the guise of immigration reform.
The current session of the Mississippi Legislature is dealing with its version of “immigration reform.” The rhetoric will become so hot reason will jump out the window. Before we go through this, let us look at just what is driving this migration of labor.
Supply and demand expresses much of it. The demand for cheap labor by U.S. corporations, the lack of jobs in Mexico, Guatemala, the Caribbean, or elsewhere south of the border. The age-old urge to migrate to fend off starvation.
Desperate people willing and able to work at any job they can get to feed their families is the simplest way to frame the issue. Then increase the need at both ends, and we have a mass migration.
It has happened before in our country. European migration that diversified America, had to fight the same kind of hatred Latin American migrants face. People who lived through that say it was survival of the fittest.
What is different? NAFTA and CAFTA for starters. Both of these treaties opened up Latin America to U.S. products. Cheap American corn drives native growers out of business. As this is being written the price of tortillas in Mexico has tripled.
The same thing is going on in Haiti. The poor are literally eating dirt cookies to kill the hunger pains because rice has become unaffordable. Why? Because food prices around the world have spiked, because of higher oil prices needed for fertilizer, irrigation and transportation.
Prices for basic ingredients such as corn and wheat are also up sharply, and the increasing global demand for biofuels is pressuring food markets as well. The problem is very acute in the Caribbean where island nations depend on imports and food prices are up 40 percent in some places. (Clarion-Ledger, Jan. 30, 2008)
Merely explaining crises like these in economic terms excuses nothing. This, going on just off the coast of the richest most consuming nation in the world is inexcusable.
A mass migration is under way, and no wall, no army, no prisons can stop it. It is driven by hunger and the need for work. It supplies an unlimited supply of the cheapest labor, akin to slavery, to the biggest American corporations who depend on the system to survive. Its chief product is inequality.
This is consciously planned to keep profits high and labor cheap.
No immigration policy will work, unless this exploitation is addressed.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Raymond.)
Light has shown in land of gloom
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
This time of year we get to hear very inspirational and powerful poetry from the Bible, especially the Book of Isaiah. When you read this I will have slogged in the snow, perhaps got stuck in airports, and seen frozen fellow travelers grateful to come in out of the cold.
Leaving beautiful Mississippi in the winter, to head into the heart of it, takes will power; but the Scripture is right on time, as gray skies and snow flurries blur the vision. I think of Isaiah 9: 1, “Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom, a light has shown.” That could not come at a better time than the winter solstice, the longest nights, the shortest days, and up North, the snow and freezing rain.
People need more than football games to cheer them up this time of year. Recently I saw the light shining in a piece about a very dedicated lady out our way near Raymond, who makes lights shine in minds dulled by isolation and self hate, lives already messed up that makes their future uncertain. A petite septuagenarian, she radiates optimism and educational expertise.
Her students are locked up, but she says the key to opening their minds is, “You have to convince them they’re not what people have been telling them they are.” They complete their GED, and all look to her like their grandma. They may not have broken the cycle from the schoolhouse to the jailhouse, but they are given hope for a second chance. “A light has shown in the land of gloom.”
More lights shining in the land of gloom are two women in Holmes County who have made it their lifework to help young people break the cycle from the schoolhouse to the jailhouse. The key is education and they are active in Holmes County to do everything possible to prevent the school system from failing youth.
They have formed a coalition, “Prevention of the Schoolhouse to the Jailhouse Coalition.” It is state-wide. It is intergenerationally led after the model of Southern Echo, another group shining light into the gloom, and bringing people hope.
This month, on Dr. Martin Luther King Day, they will come from all over the state to the capitol steps for a huge youth rally. As in the past, young people will speak out for juvenile justice and for education. These youth are focused and dedicated. They, themselves, are lights shining. I see them as future leaders.
Seeing them each year, I think of so many just like them, still wandering in the land of gloom. This rally is another side of Christmas just past. There are prayers offered, a little preaching maybe, lots of singing and cheers, but surely they reflect that God has not abandoned them, why he is right there putting fire in their bellies to work hard that education reaches everyone, and really breaks the rails and stops the train from the schoolhouse to the jailhouse.
That other verse from Isaiah 9, a verse of liberation comes to mind, “The rod of their taskmaster, you have smashed, as on the day of Midian. A child is born to us, a son given to us . . . They name him wonder-counselor.”
The key to freedom is education, no getting around that. It benefits everyone. A Federal Bureau of Prisons study found the more education completed, the lower the recidivism (landing back in jail). Also several studies have shown inmates who participate in education programs are less likely to return to prison upon their release.
Other studies have shown the longer students stay in school, especially schools which provide better quality education, crime rates are actually lowered and youth stay out of the criminal justice system.
In the gloom of winter it is good to applaud those who bring light and hope. We surely need it.
A new year, fresh light, new hope! Yes he became one of us and he is with us to the end. Have a blessed New Year!
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
A little child will lead them
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
Engaging in the struggle for justice for immigrants and a fair immigration policy, which Sister Jean Juliano, DC, writes so well about in this paper, we should not overlook the situation of children who are refugees.
Here in Jackson, Catholic Charities’ Unaccompanied Refugee Minor Program has been in this work since 1980. We are familiar in their resettling Sudanese refugee youth. From our efforts and others throughout the country came the documentary “The Lost Boys of Sudan” that raised the nation’s consciousness.
Today (Dec. 14), two Haitian youth will go through an emancipation ceremony surrounded by caring foster parents, peers and dedicated Catholic Charities staff. This is an affirming rite of passage recognizing often silent but heroic efforts to rebuild lives from chaos. They take confident first steps to begin again in a new country.
This puts a new face on the issue of immigration. I participated in several of these ceremonies, and the courage of these youth energizes me. The best of America came from immigrants fleeing oppression, and who is more vulnerable than youth coming from oppressive regimes?
Haiti has a long and proud history, and has given us creative geniuses who have enriched our own culture. The powerful writer, Edwidge Danticat, left Haiti and resettled to Brooklyn at the age of 12. She mastered three languages, producing novels depicting the struggle of Haiti today.
Her current book, “Brother I’m Dying”, tells her own father’s last illness and his difficulty with American immigration bureaucracy that hastened his death. Her stories show the warm and courageous spirit of the Haitian people steeped in Catholicism and indigenous religions that sustained them over three centuries of paying the price of successfully throwing off the yoke of slavery.
Then there are Salvadorans fleeing a repressive regime trying to find a little peace. We all remember the Jesuits and their housekeeper murdered, and the witness of Archbishop Oscar Romero.
Yet walk down the street and hear the languages and accents, and see the people from many countries, and you don’t think like this. You see them as individuals like the rest of us. However, today there is a virulent hatred of anybody who isn’t “standard (white) American.” That is the standard everyone is measured against. A false fear of “the other” is rendering the country paranoid. Just see Eugene Robinson’s piece on his attendance at the American Anthropological Society Convention. He describes Americans, members of the most powerful nation on earth, living behind walls, popping pills to prevent diseases they may never get, and looking at the world with an “us or them” mentality. Then talk radio spews out the vomit of talking heads stoking people’s fears of losing their identity in a morass of “foreign languages.”
This is the nation built on immigrants. This is the nation campaigning to save Ellis Island, where “our ancestors came speaking German, French, Swedish, Polish, Italian, etc. and built America.” Maybe so but the ad fails to mention the virulent nativist prejudice they had to endure.
In our state the target groups come from Central and South America. They are struggling against an exploitive and unjust system. They come from oppressive and poverty-stricken places. Often it is American trade policies that render their communities powerless to compete.
They migrate to find work. Migration is a right, our bishops tell us. They come and work long hours in bad conditions. They pay taxes. They live in poor communities. They fill our churches. They speak Spanish, but they are us. We don’t know that yet, or we deny it. They are us. They must make it or we all fail
Next month the state Legislature is back in session. We will hear old-time Jim Crow racist propaganda directed against these immigrants. I am going on record (again) to say none of that is American even if it is wrapped in the flag. It is the same stuff we struggled against, black, white and brown, to achieve some level of civil rights, a better quality of life for our children. Let’s not target families, like us, who struggle. Let us attack an unfair system and urge our Legislators, both local and national, to create a fair, just and honorable immigration policy based on the teachings of our church.
I look back at the two Haitian youth just graduated from our program. They could tell me a thing or two about oppression. They are smiling. Hope and promise radiates off them. Never mind. They make this old man feel upbeat. It will get better. It always does.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Witnesses show where Spirit leads
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
November 16 , 2007
The recent convocation of priests, deacons and lay/religious ecclesial ministers, which was covered so well in this publication, is worth a second look. It was held in historic Natchez, the cradle of Catholicism in our region.
It was significant in many ways. This time the presenters and panelists were all from our diocese. Also, for the first time, the religious/lay pastoral ministers (now called lay ecclesial ministers) participated and presented during the last day and a half.
Some people recommended they participate at all the convocation the next time. Forty percent of Catholic churches are run by lay ministers. Priest sacramental ministers are circuit riders.
This seems like a new development, but we were reminded this was the norm for a good part of Catholic history in Mississippi. There were many inspiring presenters who made us excited about a new possibility of evangelizing and sustaining faith communities, rather than see this as merely the fading out of priests and recruiting lay ministers as “temporary.”
Presenter after presenter quoted the documents of Vatican II and helped us see where the Spirit is leading. Yes, I prefer to see the glass half full rather than half empty.
The powerful witness from the elders who lived through the tumultuous changes that befell Mississippi and the church in the last century demonstrated that we stand on strong shoulders. Father Patrick Farrell’s remembering those days set things in a good balance reflecting the wisdom of years of experience. Every one of the presenters gave heartfelt and sincere testimony witnessing to their own faith, and encouraged the rest of us.
The Glenmarys and the Sacred Heart Fathers and Brothers have been working for years in “No Priest Land USA.” Typical for them are tiny communities that sustained themselves until a priest got there, whenever that was. They have been doing this over a century.
Father Tim Murphy, a Glenmary in Pontotoc, reassured us small is good, and lay people have always worked with them as collaborators. In fact the majority of the lay ecclesial ministers at the conference were from North Mississippi, the part with the fewest Catholics. Tim felt totally secure, and in fact excited the church is opening up ministry to lay people like this.
He and other presenters, like Sister Liz Brown over in Okolona, who has been ministering up there over 20 plus years, is very secure in her role, speaking professionally about demographics, poverty indices, outreach to non-Catholics, although the Vatican II term, “Separated Brothers and Sisters” was most often used.
Collaboration is more than between clergy and laity in ministry together, but also with other faith communities as well. Mississippi Catholic history is replete with examples of Protestants helping out Catholics and vice versa.
The religious priests, brothers and sisters present at the meeting seemed most comfortable with, and excited by the possibilities opening up. The diocesan clergy were also enthusiastic, but expressed more concern about covering places and the future of small churches and sustaining sacramental ministry.
I must mention Father Henry Shelton’s presentation on social justice as a powerful witness of what he and his colleagues are doing in Tupelo. The outreach is to everyone. We developed on the many ramifications of evangelization.
Father Elvin Sunds reminded us we are definitely at a point of transition, and have been for several years. Change is painful, he said, but it is a sign new growth is taking place. He urged us to be excited by new possibilities and to trust God who always sees us through.
Yes, there is the negative side. There is a history of religious and racial bigotry that, unfortunately, is not dead. Just a few days after this energizing conference the Ku Klux Klan marched in Tupelo. Hatred is still with us this century, yet we have the talent and the means to stamp it out. True religion dispels hatred and lies.
The witness of the caliber of those gathered in Natchez can meet these challenges. Vatican II awakened the laity like a sleeping giant. The readings from the Letter to the Romans these past weeks tell us of the power that comes from baptism. Lay people are answering the call. All of us, clergy, religious and laity are coming together in collaborative ways to make the church in Mississippi not merely survive, but thrive to be a beacon of reconciliation in the 21st century.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
‘I will send my angel to guard you’
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
October 12 , 2007
A front page story in today’s Clarion Ledger (Oct. 2) reports Tallahatchie County will formally apologize to the family of Emmett Till, and the nation, for the horrible atrocity and travesty of justice that occurred in that courtroom in Sumner, Miss., in 1955. The ceremony will take place today in Sumner, and relatives of Emmett Till will be there. State Sen. David Jordan, a civil rights icon in his own right, will preside.
It is good to see justice and closure in these long standing civil rights cases. We still need healing, lots of healing for the sins of our parents and grandparents for so many, many years of bad things.
I remember Emmett Till vividly. We would be the same age. I was in eighth grade in Chicago, watching our black and white TV reporting the events in Mississippi, which to me was a dangerous and alien land.
I remember the funeral at the church on South State Street. Jet Magazine’s famous photographs of the open casket let all the world see the results of evil up close.
Years later, grown and a priest, I remember talking to A.A. “Sammy” Raynor about it at many a funeral. It was his funeral home that handled the arrangements. By that time the funeral home was across 71st Street from St. Columbanus Church, of which he was a member and a Knight of Peter Claver. We had many a friendly chat over the years, until he was called home to God.
I bring this up, because over the years as these cases get resolved one way or another, and closure takes place, and people say, as (Senator) Jordan was quoted, “A metamorphosis has taken place (in Mississippi]),” a funny feeling creeps over me. Something isn’t quite right.
Things like racism, anti-Semitism, prejudice against one group or another, just don’t disappear. I know, you will remind me of my optimism in the big year 2000, for my hope for the new millennium. I even call my column “Millennial Reflections,” because I have an abiding hope for positive social change in our nation and the world.
Then I see it. Incident after incident. Laws and policies people died for, being chipped away, piece by piece. Then there is Jena, La. When this first popped up, I was the little eighth grader who wondered, “Where was Mississippi?” trying to figure out, “Where is Jena, La.?” As this outrage continues to unfold, my unrelenting optimism kept denying, “How can this be, 40 years later?” There it was, in all its ugliness.
I was blessed to be around people as shocked and concerned as I was. Everyone quietly knew what had to be done. There are so many good people here in Mississippi. Groups quietly organized. Before dawn (what did Thomas Merton say? “It is darkest before the dawn.”) a bus from Tougaloo College, another hallowed spot that sustained the movement, and Jackson State University moved on to I-20 toward Monroe, then Jena. I, too, with a United Auto Workers (UAW) organizer headed to where we had to be.
I will talk like a religious, for the Holy Spirit was in that place. Over 60,000 people (believe nothing less…) were moving like one organism. Everyone was family. I spoke to people from Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Ohio, New York, New Mexico, Arizona. I mean the nation was in Jena that day. Yes we rallied for justice. We prayed for justice. We knew it will turn out all right.
I mean the big picture. This new, 21st century has begun its own struggle for human rights. Jena was the first major civil, but now it has become human, rights action this century.
We look at pictures of our heroes in the last century. We experience the “metamorphosis” as Jordan calls it. I study their expressions. They had to struggle with the only enemy that can defeat those who struggle for change. That enemy is fear. What conquered fear for them, is what conquered fear for us, faith in God. The rock faith of the “Three Young Men” in the fiery furnace, who were protected by the angel (Daniel 3:16-27), protected us.
In the midst of this outrage, becoming more intense as details unfold, we had an inner serenity that comes to those who are doing what is right. We were family that day. As St. Augustine says, we “were of one mind and one heart in God.” We were of one mind and one heart doing the work of God.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Separated brothers might have common mother
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
September 14 , 2007
A few weeks ago many of us had the chance to see Christanne Amanpour’s three nights of videos on “God’s Warriors,” the militant and fundamentalist wings of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It was powerful and informative.
She herself is in the mix with a Muslim father, a Catholic mother and a Jewish husband (married in a Catholic ceremony, by the way). She is quite open about her multicultural and multi-religious upbringing, and felt it helps give her a good balance in this crazy world we live in.
None of what she presented represented the mainstream Jews, Christians and Muslims. In Turkey there is a knee jerk rejection of extremism as anathema (to use a Catholic term).
Historians and scholars can trot out tons of evidence of how Jews, Christians and Muslims actually lived in harmony for centuries. This writer can attest to Catholic Christian Arabs and their Muslim neighbors sharing in each others’ feast days, in a natural ordinary way.
To bring this up now, somebody would immediately find fault with it, or dismiss it as propaganda. Yet Melkite (Catholic) Christians still call God Allah in their prayers. There is a lot more to this than meets the eye.
Msgr. Joe Champlin, famous for his “Together in Christ” marriage prep for Catholics of my generation, is involved in the Catholic Muslim dialogue. He lists 10 things we share in common. Of course among these are some things we don’t agree on, but that’s what makes interreligious dialogue, accepting the differences, and building relationships of love and trust.
(1) Catholics and Muslims believe in one God, that is we both believe in the same God. Much of what the Quran says about God echoes the Bible.
(2) Catholics and Muslims believe in divine assistance.
(3) Catholics and Muslims practice daily prayer. Muslims pray five times a day. We who pray the Liturgy of the Hours pray anywhere from two to seven times a day, those of us who don’t often say grace before meals, attend morning Mass.
(4) Catholics and Muslims practice weekly worship. Muslims worship on Friday. (Jews worship on Saturday and Christians on Sunday.)
(5) Catholics and Muslims practice fasting for spiritual discipline. Ramadan is their month long fast from everything from sunup to sundown. Before dawn they take breakfast, and after sundown they eat dinner with friends and neighbors, often including their Christian neighbors. They call it Iftar. This goes on the whole month. The practice of fasting is alive and well in both religions.
(6) Almsgiving. This is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, and is common to Catholics and Muslims to give alms and do outreach and care for the poor and vulnerable.
(7) Catholics and Muslims have holy places and shrines. I have been to several such as the Dome of the Rock, where Muhammad ascended to heaven, much like St. Paul was carried to the “third heaven,” to affirm his mission, and then brought back; the Cave of Abraham in Urfa, where I found Catholics and Muslims revering our common patriarch; Mary’s House in Ephesus, where Catholics and Muslims were in force honoring the Virgin Mary. Rosaries and prayer beads were in abundance there.
(8) People of the Book. Throughout the Quran, the people of the book, Christians and Jews, who have divinely revealed Scriptures are mentioned, and must be respected and honored.
(9) Abraham. He is our common ancestor.
(10) Jesus and Mary. Muslims have a deep reverence for Jesus (Issa) and the Virgin Mary (Maryam). They believe, as we do, that Mary was a virgin and gave birth to Jesus by the power of God. They name their children Issa and Maryam.
Mary’s house at Ephesus brings Catholics and Muslims together as one. When I was there I had a new appreciation of Mary bringing Catholics and Muslims together in dialogue to achieve a real unity in diversity. Muslims do not see Jesus as a Messiah, nor have any understanding of the Trinity.
However, they see Jesus as the greatest of God’s prophets or messengers, and Jesus will come to judge the world. They believe Muhammad didn’t invent anything, but picked up where Jesus left off.
Yes, there are major differences between Catholics and Muslims. However, of all the different “brands” of Christians, Catholics and Muslims have most in common.
Even what separates us the most (the Trinity and nature of Jesus) is also a bonding force in that both of us revere Jesus, and his mother. The 19th Sura (chapter) of the Quran is all about Mary. We must learn about each other, for knowledge dispels fear, and love forges unity.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Some differences matter, others don’t
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem.
August 17, 2007
Unity. What does it take to bring people together?
“Unity in diversity” is a motto of God knows how many groups, but how do we get there? We lived through a time where we thought we got there, but, alas, it was premature.
I would venture to say that much failure was not paying attention to differences that matter. Now some differences do not matter, but those that do, are usually weighted down with some social, religious, political, or other elements that make them symbols of identity.
With technology — the Internet, satellite telephones, high speed travel — the world becomes very small. Much of what makes us who we are has not changed, and cannot be changed, despite instant communication.
Add to that, this century is beginning with a resurgence of divisiveness, raising up the walls, isolating people, creating fear and suspicion fed by ignorance. We seem to have taken a 180-degree turn from the direction of things we took for granted a mere 30 years ago.
Now, more than then, we need to discover unity, merely for the sake of survival on this small blue and white planet floating in the void. Technology alone demands this. Misunderstanding can have catastrophic consequences.
This could be a great introduction to a speech blasting certain political directions and events of recent years, but that’s too easy. When we reflect on unity, we are not just talking about dialogue and compromise and getting along. When we talk about unity, we think about what makes us one species, human. What is there that we all have in common? I find this interesting from a religious perspective.
Vatican II opened a big door to religious dialogue and acceptance. It spawned an ecumenical movement for the next 40 years. Despite the contrary, it is still going on. It may stumble here and there, but it still is ongoing.
For example, despite what the media said about the pope getting Muslims mad at him for quoting a 14th century Byzantine emperor, the Muslims in Turkey still spoke with pride when he went to the Blue Mosque in Istanbul and prayed with the Muslim leaders for unity and what we share in common (which is more than most people think).
When John XXIII was beatified the Turks called him “Turkey’s first pope” in recognition of all the good he did in Turkey when he was the Vatican’s representative. Now that is a gesture!
Unity is more than symbols and gestures, as powerful as they are, and despite the genuine good they do. Unity is always a goal, but never fully achieved. This new millennium and this century need to review the basics that we learned during the turbulent “century of change” that we just completed.
Perhaps that is the problem — the millennium. People go crazy when a millennium is crossed. The last time it happened all kinds of strange things happened. They are happening again. It’s like “Man the lifeboats, every person for themselves, the world is going to end!”
We forget the world has ended, many times. A mindset of fear of attack raises barriers, and makes the mass of people weak, like sheep, easily manipulated. How many times have I heard in the last few weeks in U.S. airports, “The threat level is orange.”
The crowds just kept on moving, heading for their plane or the nearest Borders or Barnes and Noble. Yet those messages subliminally contribute to an underlying uneasiness. We have new things to contend with now.
Yet despite what leaders warn, people really want to come together. There are interfaith movements throughout the country bridging the religious divide, and bringing people together. No, it’s not some conversion technique. It is not stirring up some unrecognizable religious gumbo.
It is people appreciating their own and others religious traditions, to see what they hold dear reflected in the other. This gives hope. Perhaps humanity does have a future, and good things will yet come to be.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem. lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)
Black Catholics celebrate with joyful noise, holy silence
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem
July 20, 2007
Soon there will be a feature story and pictures of Congress X in Buffalo New York of the gathering of the National Black Catholic Congress.
Begun in the late 1800s as a result of the work of Daniel Rudd, and reborn with a contemporary face by Sister Thea Bowman in the 1980s, the National Black Catholic Congress has been a unifying and spiritual force for black Catholics, and those close to them, all over the country. Even those who have never heard of it are benefiting from the many positions and directives this organization has taken.
I would like to share my reflections in order to illustrate something of the Catholicity in the church we call Catholic.
Over 2300 people attended this event in the Buffalo Convention Center. The area is rich in African American history being the terminal of the Underground Railroad. The spirit of Harriett Tubman permeates the place. (Of course something could be said for Niagara Falls I suppose.)
This event has become truly international. Several African countries were represented as well as Latin American and Caribbean nations as well. The diversity illustrated the world from the vantage point of people of color. We were all one, giant, humongous extended family. People were reconnecting with friends from all over the country. Personally, I met an old friend I hadn’t seen in 40 years!
When we sang and praised the Lord it was one voice and one spirit. However this year the gospel sound occasionally gave way to progressive jazz. Dr. Kevin Johnson is an absolute precious resource.
As author, composer and professor of music at Spellman College in Atlanta, he has taken black Catholic music a step beyond Father Clarence Rivers, Grayson Brown, Sister Bowman, true pioneers in moving our liturgy to reflect the gifts and culture of African Americans.
Dr. Johnson shared with us a paper he is publishing that describes a perfect fit between the free, spirit filled style of African American music with the flow and structure of the Roman liturgy.
For instance, he has several recordings of psalm responses and Masses in different styles illustrating the rich variety of black church music that fit with the responses between the scripture readings. He has also recorded a jazz Mass that reflects the solemnity and reverence as well as the joyfulness expressed in our liturgy.
Those who think of black church music as shouting and praising with a strong beat were treated to styles no less spirit filled but complemented the holy times and silent times when we are in communion with God in the Eucharist.
From joyful noise to holy silence his music expressed the full range and gifts of African American liturgical music that made our liturgies truly Catholic and black, and you can take away the “and.”
The Mass choir under his direction blended well with the ritual and solemnity of the nation’s black bishops, deacons and priests during the Liturgies. Dr. Johnson was raised in the Catholic Church and loves it. For him being black and Catholic is as natural as pants going with a shirt.
Another highlight for me was the introduction to centering prayer by Abbot Emeritus Thomas Keating, OCSO, of Snowmass Abbey in Colorado. Many know him in Jackson when he presented this workshop here some years back. His presence made us all feel how rich our Catholic spirituality is.
The session I attended was packed. There he was in his black and white Trappist habit perfectly at home articulating clear and convincingly, how anyone can experience God and Jesus within them.
In another session he used the documents of Vatican II to illustrate the four ways Jesus is present in the Eucharist. He pointed out, among other things, that holy Communion is the closest union with God we can get and as Paul says, makes us the Body of Christ. He spoke, as Scripture says, “As one who has authority, not as the scribes.” His presence alone lifted all of us.
I can also share with you the powerful workshops on prison ministry, Catholic relief services in Africa, and immigration reform. All were well attended. Instead I share some of the spiritual force that keeps people “coming back to congress” every five years.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem, lives at St. Moses the Black.)
West meets East (Part two)
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem
June 22, 2007
Here is part two from my trip to Turkey with 21 others as travelers and pilgrims attempting to rediscover our religious past in order to continue dialogue between all religions.
Sponsored by the Institute of Interfaith Dialogue based in Texas and Mississippi, we were hosted by Turkish Muslims sincerely seeking interfaith dialogue between Christians and Jews.
In future columns I will get specific about what this means, and make you aware of the ongoing Catholic-Muslim dialogue.
Turkey is an ideal place to begin this journey. What is now Turkey saw the development of Christianity and Islam to become towering expressions of their culture and theology. In this same place are colossal ruins of colossal failure in religious dialogue leading to the historic catastrophe we still live with.
In this same place we can encounter the presence of Abraham, our ancestor in the faith, a beautiful devotion to the Virgin Mary and deep reverence for Jesus, “who will come and judge the world and reconcile it with God.”
In this place we see reverence for the covenant between God and humanity, and its deliverance through Moses. Abraham (Ibrahim), Moses (Mousa), Jesus (Issa), and Mary (Maryam), the very pillars of our faith, have a deep devotion and reverence by Muslims.
The power of faith runs all over the Anatolian plains and into the caves at Cappadocia. Those great fathers Gregory, Basil, and Gregory are all over. Kayseri (Ceasarea) was the see of one Gregory, Nesfehir (Nyssa) the see of another Gregory, and Basil, compiler of the liturgy that bears his name, still have powerful memorials in Cappadocia.
The place looks like New Mexico with rock formations like beehives, and natural and man-made caves bringing back the monks of old who walked and talked in perfect submission to God long before Islam, the religion of submission to God, appeared on the scene.
The chapels inside with frescoes, Greek icons of Mary (Theotokos), Jesus (Pantocrator), and John the Baptist, always appear above the stone altar. They are so fresh. Newer ones are 12th century.
Christians and others hid here for protection. Things like the Mongol Invasions, which triggered to a large extent the Turkish-Muslim westward expansion, draw a blank with most of us. To all of us much of this was new. Our “Western Civilization” courses never went east of the Elbe. The Ottoman Empire was the blob on the map giving the name of the mapmaker.
Being the only Catholic in the group, which really blended well, it was interesting to see how my Protestant friends connected with our common Christian past. Another big lacuna in education. “Beautiful art!” was the general response, while I touched an ancient icon and crossed myself.
First impressions. We crossed into a parallel universe. When we entered Aya Sofia, the greatest church in Christendom, built by Emperor Justinian, “Holy Wisdom,” it stood out as a relic of the tragic history of Christian failure to dialogue.
Much of it is still the way the crusaders left it after they stripped it of anything they could move. When Mhemet II conquered Constantinople, this was his crown jewel. He was aghast at its condition. He had buttresses built to keep it standing. Despite its conversion to a mosque and reconversion to a museum, the Ottomans get the credit for it not turning into a pile of brick and stone.
Later I spoke with the Imam at the Blue Mosque across the square from Aya Sofia. He showed where he and Pope Benedict XVI prayed. He also was moved that the pope prayed as the Muslims do. As a further move to dialogue, the Holy Father presented the ecumenical patriarch with an icon from Hagia Sophia stolen by the crusaders almost 900 years ago. He lives in the Phanar, the last link to Christian Constantinople.
Today we need dialogue more than ever. Fear is bred by ignorance. Most Americans know nothing about Islam, I mean nothing. Fanatics running around in old fashioned clothes hurling bombs are a disgrace to Islam. Yet we see that nightly and get a distorted view of the religion. I will have more to say on that.
Yes Turkey is the place to begin dialogue between Christians and Muslims. Our failures are out in the open, and the need for honest and prayerful dialogue is screaming at us.
To see God working among Christians and Muslims to create this dialogue is so powerful for us. There will be a part three, maybe more. Despite what we hear, there is so much hope. God is so good.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem, lives at St. Moses the Black.)
Children of Abraham need to make peace, talk
By Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem
May 11, 2007
The Internet is truly an amazing thing. I am not of the wired generation who have “Blackberry” devices that are like a second electronic mind. I was in an airport with a friend of mine who edited a report, updated the appointment calendar, made phone calls, all to people both in and out of the country.
The Internet has us all so connected that everything becomes local. Sometimes virtual reality and the real thing become blurred. Then there is the speed of jet travel. People can be transported both electronically and physically so efficiently and safely, that only a few short years ago these were undreamed of.
By way of contrast, a few years ago a two-volume translation into English appeared of letters from the pioneer Norbertines in the 1800s recounting their missionary efforts in northeastern Wisconsin. The struggle to go just a few miles by horse and wagon in a December blizzard make one cold just to read it.
Similar records exist here describing transportation and communication across Mississippi. Bishop John Chance’s diaries describe his travels through Warren, Claiborne and Adams counties. These accounts describe what takes 45 minutes today as half-a-day journey or more. Back then the separation made each place unique, and the effort to get there only underlined the differences.
Today the planet is becoming a village, but differences of historic dimensions remain, and unless they are respected and understood no means of travel or communication will make them any more understood.
It is not the convenience, ease or safety in travel and communication, it is understanding the people and places we reach out to that is important. The survival of humanity depends on this. Despite our technology we are doing a very bad job at this.
I am not going to bore you with yet another account of manufactured fear, the “war on terror” or anything you haven’t already heard about whether from me or anybody else. The simple fact is, yes we have made the world smaller, and there are people different than we are, and that alone is reason enough to get to know them and learn from them.
The truth is, all human history is interconnected. The more we know about one another, the better we all are.
This is really a two part column. When you read this, I’ll be preparing to leave for Turkey with a group of Jacksonians sponsored by the Institute for Interfaith Dialogue (IID). Remember them? Some of you outside of the metro area may not know what I am talking about. A few years ago they came to Jackson’s Thalia Mara Hall with the “Whirling Dervishes” of Rumi.
They belong to the Sufi Order of Islam noted for its mysticism. Rumi was a 13th century poet and mystic whose poetry has an uncanny similarity to St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Blessed Herman Joseph of Steinfeld, Hildegard of Bingen, and a few centuries later, St. John of the Cross. All of them wrote of their experiences of union with God. All mystics seem to reach up and beyond religious limitations, but that’s another piece.
Rumi’s poetry has been very popular in this country and our trip marks his 800th birthday. Over the years we have been adapting some things from the Sufis perhaps without knowing they are Muslim, such as the enneagram, a very popular device at retreats for self reflection.
The IID has sponsored an annual interfaith dinner in Jackson, and has brought together Catholic, Baptist, Episcopal, Methodist, Hindu, Jewish, Unitarian Universalist, and each year, a new religious representative to celebrate the efforts of all religions in their journey to God.
This interfaith trip to Turkey will bring us to the Christian and Muslim shrines that have been central in their formation. Places like Ephesus, Nicea, Cappadocia, call to mind Paul and Barnabas, whom we have been reading about, and Gregory and Basil, the great councils of the early church. Istanbul (Constantinople) also calls to mind the Ottoman emperors like Sultan Ahmet I, who built the Blue Mosque in 1609 across the plaza from Hagia Sophia, built by the Roman Emperor Justinian between 532-537 AD, the major cathedral of the Byzantine Church. It was the most beautiful church in Christendom for centuries.
So much of this faded from Catholic radar after the Schism of 1054 and the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans, May 29, 1453. Yet our histories have been forever intertwined. The latest chapter is Turkey’s bid to join the European Union.
With all the terrible things going on in the Middle East, it is imperative that the Children of Abraham make peace and talk to each other. The Roman Canon speaks of Abraham, “our father in faith” and every evening in vespers we recall “the promises made to our ancestors, to Abraham’s heirs forever.” Stay tuned.
(Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem, lives at St. Moses the Black Priory, Jackson.) |
