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Sentences in need of rediagramming

17 Nov 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

A life-sentence for stealing a $159 jacket? It sounds like something out of Les Miserables but in fact it is one of the 3,281 cases of U.S. prisoners given life-terms for nonviolent crimes, according to a recently released report. Jesus warned that “you will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death.” But still injustice always comes as a shock.In the report “A Living Death” issued recently by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), investigators chronicled the lives of thousands of families ruined by sentencing people to die behind bars for nonviolent offences with no chance of parole. Some, like the jacket thief, said an article in the Guardian, were given the most extreme punishment short of execution for shoplifting; one was condemned to die in prison for siphoning gasoline from a truck; another for stealing tools from a tool shed; yet another for trying to cash a stolen check.The ACLU report stated that today the United States is virtually alone in its willingness to sentence nonviolent offenders to die behind bars. Life without parole for nonviolent sentences has been ruled a violation of human rights by the European Court of Human Rights. The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world with 2.3 million people now in custody, with the war on drugs acting as the overriding push-factor. Of the prisoners serving life without parole for nonviolent offences nationwide, the ACLU estimates that almost 80 percent were for drug-related crimes.Homily hint: Justice and perseverance, the main themes of today’s gospel, have also been the topics of recent statements by Pope Francis, who said the reform of the world’s justice systems “is no utopia. It can happen." It is up to us to see that justice is done here and now. That is the day-to-day work of Christians. Source: An article by Ed Pilkington for The Guardian

Justice american civil liberties union sentencing life sentences a living death aclu perseverence social justice prison reform

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Homily stories

14 Nov 2010 - Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

Jesus' words "by your perseverance you will secure your lives" call to mind the experiences of birds as they make a seasonal migration. Multiple times a year various species of birds travel thousands of miles in response to changes in food availability, habitat, or climate. Despite the threat of predators and exhaustion, every bird is biologically cued to make the migration with its species. During these migrations, many species work together as a team. Large birds, for instance, will often travel in a V-formation to help individuals save 12 to 20 percent of the energy they would need to fly alone. In some species birds will accompany an individual bird to the ground if it is falling to its death during the migration. The reading today seems to be not so much about surviving as an individual or a community but more about working together toward the common good. Just as every species of bird reacts to its environment to determine when it is time for migration, we as humans react to problems in our world and attempt to solve them. Jesus warns us that although these issues will always arise, it is up to us to use his teachings to work through them and make the world a better place.

Authors Nate Pierce

perseverence common good migration

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Word of the Week

17 November 2024

Presider’s Chair

\'pri-sīd-ərs 'cher\

Also known as the presidential chair, the seat in a parish church from which the celebrant leads the assembly during Mass. Its meaning derives from the chair, or cathedra in Latin, from which the diocesan bishop presides (from Latin meaning “to protect” or literally “to sit before”). The chair is a liturgical symbol of authority and pastoral leadership.

Pronunciation Read more

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