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Remembering the One who rose—and those who have fallen

05 Jun 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The gospel for the Solemnity of the Ascension tells us that as he prepares to leave his disciples, Jesus assures them he will be with them “always, until the end of the age.” Taking part in Memorial Day services Monday, President Barack Obama assured loved ones of those lost in war that the nation is with them always in their grief and loss. He also announced his choice for the next leader of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Army General Martin Dempsey. "We remember that the blessings we enjoy as Americans came at a dear cost; that our very presence here today, as free people in a free society, bears testimony to their enduring legacy," said Obama at an Arlington, Virginia Memorial Day service. The president visited a section of the cemetery set aside for those soldiers who have died since September 11, 2001 and visited the Tomb of the Unknowns where he presented a wreath of red and white flowers. "This day is about you and the fallen heroes you loved. It is their courage, their unselfishness, their devotion to duty that has sustained this country through all its trials and will sustain us through all our trials to come," Obama said to families who had lost a loved one to war. Obama said the U.S. would keep searching for missing soldiers and those held as prisoners of war, as well as serving them "as well as they serve us--from the moment they enter the military, to the moment they leave it, to the moment they are laid to rest." Citing members of a family who mailed him a story of their son, Obama quoted a verse from the biblical Book of Isaiah where the prophet says he has been called to deliver stern words to his people: "When I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here I am. Send me!' "That's what we memorialize today. That spirit that says, send me, no matter the mission. Send me, no matter the risk. Send me, no matter how great the sacrifice I am called to make," Obama said. Prior to the Arlington ceremony, Obama nominated Gen. Dempsey, who commanded troops in the Iraq war, as the top U.S. military officer. If confirmed by the Senate, Dempsey would replace Admiral Mike Mullen as chairman of the Joint Chiefs when Mullen steps down October 1. Sources: Articles by Eric Johnson for Reuters, National Public Radio,Agence France Presse, and the International Business Times

barack obama martin dempsey joint chiefs of staff memorial day

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World Trade Center cross makes atheists cross

07 Aug 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

This Sunday’s first reading is replete with images that at one time or another have been used to represent the sacred: Horeb, “the mountain of God,” as well as a powerful wind, an earthquake, a fire—and, finally, the “tiny whispering sound” of God passing by Elijah. As the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks approaches, controversy is brewing over the inclusion of religious symbols in the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, especially one dubbed “the World Trade Center cross.” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg stepped into the controversy last Friday, defending the display of religious symbols, including the World Trade Center cross at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. In his weekly radio address Bloomberg responded to a lawsuit filed by a group of atheists seeking to remove the WTC cross display from the memorial. "A lot of people looked to religion for strength after the attack," said Bloomberg, who is named as one of the defendants in the suit filed by American Atheists. He also noted that other religious symbols, not only the WTC cross, would be on display at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. They include a Star of David cut from a piece of steel from the WTC rubble, a Bible fused with a piece of steel found during the recovery effort, and a Jewish prayer shawl. The iconic WTC cross, made up of two intersecting steel beams found intact amid the rubble of the attacks, was moved from the side of St. Peter's Church in Lower Manhattan, where it had been housed while the memorial was being prepared, and was installed at the memorial on July 23. President Barack Obama, former President George W. Bush, and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani will be joining Bloomberg this coming September 11 at a ceremony to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the attacks. Sources: Articles by Katherine T. Phan for Christian Post and CNN

michael bloomberg 911 crosses 911 memorial and museum world trade center cross american atheists symbols

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Memorial to King reminds nation of his dream

28 Aug 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

This Sunday’s readings call attention to the fact that discipleship and the prophetic life can involve great hardship. "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me,” Jesus says, adding that “whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Tourists and Washington, D.C. residents got their first up-close look Monday at the new memorial to the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. The memorial will be dedicated Sunday, the 48th anniversary of the March on Washington and King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech. President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak. The monument sits on the National Mall near the Tidal Basin, between the Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson memorials. It includes a 30-foot-tall sculpture of King and a 450-foot-long granite wall inscribed with 14 quotations from the civil rights leader. The sculptor, Lei Yixin, said he wanted the memorial to be a visual representation of the ideals King spoke of in his noted speech. The statue depicts King emerging from a stone. The concept for the scuplture was taken from a line in the "I Have a Dream" speech: "Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope." U.S. Rep. John Lewis, Ambassador Andrew Young, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and the Rev. Joseph Lowery, all of whom were aids to King 40 years ago, will be present for Sunday’s unveiling, along with many other longtime supporters of the civil rights movement. "Dr. King was an emancipator, he was a liberator,” said Lewis. “He liberated not just a people, but a nation. His message is still liberating people." Sources: Articles by Errin Hanes and Ben Nuckols for the Associated Press

martin luther king jr washington dc memorials lei yixin

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Faith communities open doors to Occupiers

04 Dec 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“The Occupy Movement is a current expression of humanity's long struggle for equality and justice. Every generation awaits ‘new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells,’ to use Saint Peter's words,” comments Patrice Tuohy in “Occupy peace,” a Story Starter in this week’s issue of “Exploring the Word.” As Occupy camps nationwide deal with police crackdowns and the onset of winter temperatures, religious communities of all stripes are stepping in with offers of shelter and solidarity. Soon after police forcibly evicted the original Occupy Wall Street camp in New York’s Zuccotti Park on November 15, many of the protesters began sleeping and gathering at local congregations, including Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village. “The eviction . . . really shifts what happens here, and it really boomed the movement, because immediately there was this network in place that we’d developed of communities throughout New York that were willing to open up their doors and house the movement,” said Rev. Michael Ellick, a pastor at Judson Memorial. Ellick and his colleagues got involved early on, marching to Zuccotti Park with a golden calf fashioned to look like the iconic Wall Street bull statue. Ever since phones have been “ringing off the hook” with churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, and monasteries wanting to get involved in some way, he said. A recent poll by the Public Religion Research Institute and Religion News Service found that less than a third of Americans say the Occupy movement represents their values, but the police evictions seem to have boosted religious support for the demonstrators. According to Ellick, more than 1,400 faith leaders from around the country have signed a pledge of solidarity with Occupy protesters, many of them jumping in only after police cleared Zuccotti Park. A new interfaith coalition calling itself “Occupy Faith DC” hosted a free Thanksgiving meal at a historic Washington church for about 300 of the protesters, including a small group that had just marched in from New York City. “Churches traditionally do charity pretty well,” Ellick said, “and this is a moment where that charity gets transformed into justice work and they can start to see that there are underlying causes here that we need to address.” Sources: An article by Josef Kuhn for Religion News Serviceand a "Prepare the Word" Story Starter by Patrice J. Tuohy

Justice Charity new york city churches occupy wall street judson memorial church michael ellick

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No amnesty for Russian NGOs

31 Mar 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“A little yeast leavens all the dough,” we are reminded in the 1 Corinthians option for the second reading, which encourages us to celebrate with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.Nongovernmental (nonprofit) organizations (NGOs) that focus on human rights often operate as a sort of leaven in societies as they seek to uncover the truth in cases of alleged rights abuses. Russian authorities have been clamping down on NGOs through a series of harassing “audits” and unannounced office raids. Amnesty International is the latest target, with a surprise office search Monday by government officials.The head of Amnesty’s office in Russia, Sergei Nikitin, said that officials from the general prosecutor’s offices and the tax police arrived unannounced on Monday to conduct what they described as an “audit” and demanded a list of documents, most of which Nikitin said were already on file with the government. “They don’t have any concrete complaints. They say it’s a regular check and other cliché phrases.”Last week the authorities conducted a similar raid at the offices of Memorial, an international historical society and human rights group that has operated in Russia and other post-Soviet states for more than two decades. Pavel Chikov, a member of Russia’s presidential human rights council, said offices of dozens of nonprofit organizations had been searched across Russia in March, including at least 20 organizations on Monday.The Kremlin has taken steps in recent months seeking to crack down on nonprofit organizations, particularly those that receive financing and other support from abroad, and the Russian Parliament has adopted a battery of legislation including various new restrictions and requirements.Depending on how they are financed, certain organizations, for instance, are now required to register as “foreign agents,” and certain types of nonprofit groups working in the political realm are barred from employing foreigners in leadership positions.In the past, Russian officials have used a number of bureaucratic tactics, including complex registration schemes and even accusations of software piracy, to disrupt the activities of nonprofits they do not trust.In February President Vladimir Putin cautioned top officials in Russia’s security services, the F.S.B., to beware of nongovernmental organizations that may “meddle” in the country’s internal affairs.“All of this is a form of scaring us. It’s a way for them to show that they aren’t taking their eyes off of us,” Nikitin said. “You can call it a toughening of the government’s relationship to rights organizations, because in the past we have never faced these smear campaigns.”Homily hint: For many years the Catholic Church has worked side by side with a number of nonprofit organizations in defense of human rights around the world. The 50th anniversary of Pope John XXIII’s 1963 encyclical Pacem in Terris ("Peace on Earth") provides a good opportunity to revisit this seminal work among the church’s social justice teachings. Source: An article by Andrew Roth and David M. Herszenhorn for the New York Times

russia memorial sergei nikitin vladimir putin nongovernmental organizations ngos nonprofit organizations human rights amnesty international pavel chikov

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