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Time to stand and deliver

31 Jan 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Reeling from a string of political reversals, Democrats needed words of encouragement such as those in the first reading this Sunday where Jeremiah hears the Lord tell him: “Be not crushed.” Hoping to regain momentum, it was time for President Barack Obama to “stand up and tell” the nation Wednesday his opinion on the state of the union. In his speech he promised to help people struggling to pay bills and care for their families and also proposed a partial freeze on federal spending. Defending his approach to the economic crisis, the president said his administration acted “immediately and aggressively” to stave off a second depression but noted the devastation remains. His speech focused on getting the economy moving again. Obama reiterated that he wants to salvage an overhaul of health care, called for more money for schools, and acknowledged there had been some setbacks in his first year in office. Conscious of concern over deficits, he also called for a freeze on unfunded spending bills and promised to use his veto to enforce it if necessary. The president follows his speech with a quick trip to Florida Thursday to detail $8 billion in awards for high-speed rail. The stimulus funds would go toward grants for 13 major rail corridors. The announcement is seen as an effort by the White House to show that the president has a plan to get Americans back to work. Deficit reduction has also emerged as a major concern this week, as the Congressional Budget Office released a report Tuesday projecting that the deficit for this fiscal year will likely be $1.3 trillion. That is a slight improvement over last year’s shortfall, but the long-term budget outlook, according to the report, is for persistently high deficits that will drive the debt ever upward to the point that it could nearly equal the value of the nation’s entire economic output by 2020. Source: Articles by Richard Wolf for USA Today, Jackie Calmes for the New York Times, FoxNews.com, and Julie Pace for Associated Press

barack obama health care reform economic recovery state of the union spending freeze high-speed rail deficit federal deficit congressional budget office
Pope Francis keeps it simple

04 Aug 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Echoing Jesus' words in the gospel, Pope Francis on his way back from World Youth Day made headlines around the world with his simple question, “Who am I to judge?" regarding gay priests; equally notable, however, were comments he made earlier last Sunday in an address to the bishops of Brazil, the world’s largest episcopate. One of the pope’s key messages was similar to that of Jesus to his disciples: One’s life—including the life of the church—does not consist of possessions.“The results of our pastoral work do not depend on a wealth of resources,” said Francis, “but on the creativity of love. To be sure, perseverance, effort, hard work, planning, and organization all have their place, but first and foremost we need to realize that the church’s power does not reside in herself; it is hidden in the deep waters of God, into which she is called to cast her nets."The church, Francis said, “cannot leave simplicity behind; otherwise she forgets how to speak the language of mystery. Not only does she herself remain outside the door of the mystery, but she proves incapable of approaching those who look to the church for something which they themselves cannot provide, namely, God himself. At times we lose people because they don’t understand what we are saying, because we have forgotten the language of simplicity and import an intellectualism foreign to our people. Without the grammar of simplicity, the church loses the very conditions which make it possible 'to fish' for God in the deep waters of his mystery. . . ."People today are attracted by things that are faster and faster: rapid internet connections, speedy cars and planes, instant relationships. But at the same time we see a desperate need for calmness, I would even say slowness. Is the church still able to move slowly: to take the time to listen, to have the patience to mend and reassemble?”Homily hint: What do you make of Pope Francis' emphasis on the church’s role as something which is not quick to judge as it takes time to listen to the concerns of its children. We would all do well to slow down, remain calm, and seek the simplicity and creativity of love. Source: Vatican Radio

church Possessions Pope Francis simplicity speed
Quick take on religion

10 Nov 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Differing faith traditions have caused conflict which has even led to torture and death, as this Sunday’s first reading reminds us. For a better way of trying understand each other, some are borrowing a page from the popular speed-dating format of meeting a lot of people for a few minutes at a time. "Speedfaithing"—explaining your faith to the curious in 10 minutes—or speed-dating for religion, as it is described, is gaining interest among curious students on college campuses.Dozens of students at the University of California Irvine raced from room to room one recent evening to listen to religious students (and two atheists) break down the core tenets of their belief system while on the clock; "Is it required to wear wraps on your head?" "What exactly do you do on a mission?" "Do you go to an atheist church?"Before students began faith-shopping, organizers offered a little advice: Don't see it as an opportunity for debate. Just listen. And keep it short. "You obviously can't learn everything about a religion in 10 minutes and that's not the point," said Karina Hamilton, director of the Dalai Lama Scholars Program at UC Irvine.Speedfaithing was developed by Interfaith Youth Core, a Chicago-based nonprofit that promotes religious tolerance, as a way to help young people interact with members of diverse faiths. Since it began in 2005, similar events have been held at colleges across the country."In Orange County we have tremendous diversity," said Raid Faraj, diversity educator for the school's Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity. "We have members of almost every major religious faith you can think of. . . . This is an opportunity to create a safe environment for people to come together and ask questions."Homily hint: Perhaps it is inevitable in the age of the instant message and short attention spans that reducing millennia of faith tradition to 10 minutes would become popular. On the other hand Jesus reminds us that our God is God of the living, and as long as people are gathered together the seed of faith can be planted in a moment or a word. Source: An article by Paloma Esquivel for the Los Angeles Times

religion college students interfaith youth core uc irvine speedfaithing