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Plant geneticist brought bread to the world

20 Sep 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

We join the psalmist's refrain this Sunday in declaring that "the Lord upholds my life." Those who feared world famine in the 1960s are praising scientist and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Norman Borlaug, who died Saturday at the age of 95. Borlaug is known as the father of the "green revolution" that led to a doubling of world food production between 1960 and 1990. Experts credit the green revolution with averting global famine during the second half of the 20th-century and saving perhaps 1 billion lives. "More than any other single person of this age, he has helped provide bread for a hungry world," the Nobel committee said in honoring him in 1970. "Norman E. Borlaug saved more lives than any man in human history," said Josette Sheeran, executive director of the U.N. World Food Program. "His heart was as big as his brilliant mind, but it was his passion and compassion that moved the world." Borlaug began his green revolution in Mexico, where he dramatically increased wheat production after World War II. Over the next several decades he started programs in six countries in Latin America, eight in the Middle East, and two in Asia. In 1986 Borlaug established the World Food Prize, a $250,000 award given each year to a person whose work improves the world's food supply. His work, however, was not without detractors. He was criticized in recent decades for promoting practices that use fertilizer and pesticides and focusing on a few high-yield crops that benefit large landowners. Borlaug responded that increased crop production was only a vehicle for his real interest, which was to improve people's lives. In his address accepting the Nobel Prize in 1970, Borlaug said: "We must recognize the fact that adequate food is only the first requisite for life. For a decent and humane life we must also provide an opportunity for good education, remunerative employment, comfortable housing, good clothing, and effective and compassionate medical care." Source: Articles by Joe Holley and J. Y. Smith for the Washington Post and Matt Curry and Betsy Blaney for Associated Press

food norman borlaug nobel peace prize green revolution josette sheeran world food prize

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Cubans not all singing in harmony

27 Sep 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Jesus takes a stand for inclusiveness when he says in this Sunday's gospel reading that "whoever is not against us is for us." Emotions ran high over a huge open air "Peace Without Borders" concert held in Havana, Cuba last Sunday. Cuban exiles in Miami claimed the concert endorsed the island's communist system, but prominent dissidents jailed in Cuba said it offered an opportunity for reconciliation. Concert organizers said the concert was about peace and tolerance, not politics, telling the audience that "the important thing is to swap hate for love." Cuba hosted the biggest open-air concert since the 1959 revolution, featuring some 15 top Latin American, Spanish, and Cuban performers. An estimated 1 million people, many wearing white for peace, attended the free event in Havana's Revolution Square. Colombian singer Juanes, who organized the concert, received death threats from Miami-based critics of the Cuban regime. One Miami group protesting the concert crushed Juanes CDs using a small steamroller. "There has been a lot of blood spilled in Cuba and people executed by firing squad," said 77-year-old Hernán Gonzalez, who said he spent six years in a Cuban prison for his opposition to Fidel Castro in the 1960s. "He [Juanes] is singing over dead bodies." The location of the Havana concert was highly symbolic. The headquarters of the communist party is in Revolution Square along with a giant metal sculpture of Che Guevara's head. The square was used over the years by Fidel Castro to give five-hour speeches and is also where Pope John Paul II celebrated a historic open-air Mass in 1998. U.S. President Barack Obama said he understood Juanes to be a "terrific musician," but he was cautious about the impact of the concert. "I certainly don't think it hurts U.S.-Cuban relations," he said, but, he added, "These kinds of cultural exchanges--I wouldn't overstate the degree that it helps." Source: An article by Michael Voss for BBC News

barack obama cuba fidel castro havana peace without borders concerts revolution square juanes

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Out with the old party, in with the new old party?

01 Jul 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The psalmist this Sunday celebrates the fact that the Lord “changed my mourning into dancing.” Mexico’s long-dominant political party, scorned and chased out of office 12 years ago, is poised to celebrate a return to power this Sunday when the nation holds its once-every-six-years presidential election.Presidential front-runner Enrique Peña Nieto of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) goes into Sunday's election with a wide lead over his rivals, opinion polls suggest, putting him on track to return to power the party that ruled for much of the last century. Peña Nieto has sought to distance himself from the PRI's criticized past legacy, saying the party has changed. "There is a new PRI. It's the others who have not changed,” he said Wednesday.The PRI ruled Mexico between 1929 and 2000, when it was ousted by the National Action Party (PAN) in a presidential election that brought Vicente Fox to power. PAN's victory was hailed as a triumph of democracy, but its failure to reform corrupt institutions and contain drug violence has opened the door to a return by the PRI.Outgoing PAN president Felipe Calderon has struggled, unable to push through many of his planned reforms because of opposition from the PRI and other parties in the Mexican Congress where PAN has never had a majority. Calderon sent in the armed forces to bring the drug gangs to heel soon after taking office in December 2006, but despite capturing or killing many top bosses, the bloodshed has escalated. Sources: Articles by David Alire Garcia for Reuters and Jo Tuckman for The Guardian

corruption pan pri national action party institutional revolutionary party drug violence felipe calderon elections mexico enrique peña nieto

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Pope Francis surprises techies with tender message

30 Apr 2017 - Preaching the News for the Third Sunday of Easter, Cycle A

In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus surprises the disciples by accompanying them on the road to Emmaus and revealing himself to them as they broke bread. Attendees of a TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conference in Vancouver were treated to a surprise revelation of their own Tuesday when Pope Francis appeared on the screen before them to give a TED Talk calling for a “revolution of tenderness” and warning those in power to act responsibly or “your power will ruin you.” Francis, seated at a desk and speaking in Italian for almost 18 minutes, looked directly at the camera, gesturing frequently in a folksy, TED-style manner. In his remarks, the pope addressed the connection between the rich and powerful and the less fortunate, with a pointed appeal to those with wealth and influence. “Please, allow me to say it loud and clear: The more powerful you are, the more your actions will have an impact on people, the more responsible you are to act humbly,” he said. “If you don’t, your power will ruin you, and you will ruin the other.” His message was titled, “Why the only future worth building includes everyone.” Francis began by recounting his own humble upbringing as an Italian immigrant in Argentina. “There is a saying in Argentina: Power is like drinking gin on an empty stomach. You feel dizzy, you get drunk, you lose your balance, and you will end up hurting yourself and those around you. Through humility and concrete love, on the other hand, power—the highest, the strongest one—becomes a service, a force for good.” The pope’s message moved to the conference's core subject matter (technology and innovation), and seemed to be directed at the audience in the room and online: the founders of some of the world's biggest tech companies, as well as politicians, artists, entertainers, venture capitalists, and leaders of major cultural institutions and foundations. “How wonderful would it be if the growth of scientific and technological innovation would come along with more equality and social inclusion,” Francis said. “How wonderful would it be, while we discover faraway planets, to rediscover the needs of the brothers and sisters orbiting around us. How wonderful would it be if solidarity—this beautiful and, at times, inconvenient word—were not simply reduced to social work and became, instead, the default attitude in political, economic and scientific choices, as well as in the relationships among individuals, peoples, and countries.” TED began in 1984 and now covers almost all topics from science to business to global issues. Bruno Giussani, TED's international curator, wrote in a blog that it took more than a year to coordinate the first pontifical contribution. “It took many discussions to make the talk happen—and several trips to Rome over more than a year,” Giussani wrote. “When I first approached the Vatican, it's fair to say that not many there knew of TED. So there was a lot of explaining to do.” When Francis called for a “revolution of tenderness,” he explained: “Tenderness means to use our hands and our heart to comfort the other, to take care of those in need.” He pointed out that tenderness is not a sign of weakness, but rather of solidarity. On the problems of global consumerism, the pope told the audience: “Only by educating people to a true solidarity will we be able to overcome the culture of waste,” adding that the issue was not just about food and goods but also “people who are cast aside by our techno-economic systems which, without even realizing it, are now putting products at their core instead of people.” He concluded his talk: “We all need each other. And so, please, think of me as well with tenderness, so that I can fulfill the task I have been given for the good of others, of each and every one, of all of you, of all of us.” Lessons drawn from the readings Peter calls on members of the early church to “conduct yourselves with reverence” as they went about the work of building up the People of God. Pope Francis calls upon leaders in technology and all of us to conduct ourselves in such a way as to be models of a "true solidarity.” He used the parable of the Good Samaritan to drive home his point, calling it the "story of today's humanity. People's paths are riddled with suffering, as everything is centered around money and things, instead of people,” he said. “And often there is this habit, by people who call themselves ‘respectable,’ of not taking care of the others, thus leaving behind thousands of human beings, or entire populations, on the side of the road.” Final thought in light of the news Bishop Paul Tighe, adjunct secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture, is the principal architect behind the pontiff’s online and digital presence. Commenting on the world of social media, he said, “This is real. It's happening now and it is shaping how people think, how they form their ideas, how they get their education. If we aren't present in that digital world, we are going to be absent from their experience. We were told by Christ to go out to the whole world, to bring good news to everybody.” Make every effort to have your own online presence reflect the deepest values of our tradition. Above all, as the pope suggests, try a little tenderness.

Pope Francis ted talks revolution of tenderness power social media

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Exploring the word

20 May 2018 - Solemnity of Pentecost, Cycle B

When was the last time you got really excited about something? Children find such a question easier to answer. They get excited about snow falling. Or an unexpected day off from school. Kids get excited about a test being canceled, a favorite show starting on TV, a grandparent showing up on the doorstep, finding a brightly colored leaf on the sidewalk. Kids are thrilled when the first day of summer finally arrives, when they get to put on their bathing suits, when the bike comes out of the garage and gets dusted off for a new season. But what thrills an adult like that? Does a bright, sunny day fill us with pleasure? Does a Saturday morning excite us with its possibilities? Do our hearts dance at the sight of someone, anyone? Is there something we yearn to do so much that, when it comes time to do it, we are beside ourselves with joy? For too many of us, those are hard questions to answer, because the answers may be flat and disappointing. Lots of us might reply that we don’t have time to experience those sensations because there are always obligations blocking our view of possibility and hope. Our relationships may be too complicated, tricky, risky, to feel simple pleasure at the sight of those we love. Sure, there may be things we really, really want, like a pile of money or a vacation to Cancun. But getting from here to there would be so problematic that, quite likely, we wouldn’t enjoy it even if it materialized for us tomorrow. Excitement in church? Of all the places we might look for the vaguest hint of excitement, however, church is probably close to last on too many lists. Admit it. Think of this string of associations: holidays, birthdays, vacations, a raise in pay, a better job, church. Which of these things is least likely to inspire excitement? I hope, for your sake, that your parish is one of the most engaging and vital communities you’re involved with, that it’s a real source of celebration and life, and you don’t know what I’m talking about. But in the event that it might not be (even if you’re the pastor!) then let’s broaden the meaning of church for a minute. Consider the body of believers over 20 centuries who have been living and dying for a cluster of ideas. Imagine the experience of the little group who first followed Jesus around for three years, heard him teach, witnessed his miracles, watched him die, stood at the empty tomb, saw him and ate with him again, and viewed his departure. Do you suppose they were excited? They ran back to a room where they prayed until the Spirit of God filled their house and their minds and hearts until they couldn’t contain the experience. So they spilled into the streets and spoke of it to everyone, in every language, with every ounce of their zeal. They were so wildly excited that people thought they were drunk at 9 in the morning, coming in from an all-nighter someplace, veterans of a pretty long party. That kind of exuberance didn’t usually come from the synagogue! The beat goes on But the energy of this thrilling time didn’t end on Pentecost. Paul talks about the driving force of that whole first generation of believers who claimed Jesus as Lord. Their experience was so powerful, it transcended everything else about their lives. It didn’t matter anymore if they were Jews or Gentiles (and this used to be the most significant matter of all). Whether they were slaves or free (how could this not matter?), men or women (do you think this matters?)—no matter who they were or what they did, horrible sinner or near-saint, this good news, this gospel put them in the same relationship to God. This was unthinkable then, and to many it’s unthinkable now. For the lowest, poorest, and rottenest folk, this was the best news they’d ever heard. For those who had been doing quite well and were pleased with their spiritual progress so far, this news was somewhat more jarring, even disappointing. One group naturally got excited about the possibilities that were opening up to them. The other group got equally excited about finding a way to shut this apostolic road show down. What if people started believing this wholesale and tried to live as if it were true? Happily, for those who saw themselves as socially and spiritually well-placed, the revolution they had feared never really came. Society didn’t surrender its ways, its divisions, and its distinctions to the church. If anything, after a few generations of intense fervor, Christian religion found a convenient marriage with the state, shook hands, and gradually the excitement of the message ebbed into obligation, responsibility, and business as usual. Related scripture links God’s breath creates the world: Gen. 1:2, 2:7 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me: Isa. 61:1-3; Luke 4:18-19 I will place a new spirit within them: Ezek. 11:19-20 The Valley of Dry Bones: Ezek. 37:1-14 Put a new spirit within me: Psalm 51:12-14 Catechism links Truth: CCC 2465-2503 Holy Spirit: CCC 691-693; 731-741; 767-768; 797-801; 1830-1832

Authors Alice Camille

excitement revolution

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