Wisdom Wednesday | April 7th

April 7AUSCP NewsRoundup

Happy Easter!

Father Richard Rohr leads off this week with an exploration of Resurrection — our resurrection: “Once we were stardust and what we will be is the good surprise.”

Bob Wenz asks the probing question: “He Rose . . . So What? And another AUSCP member, John Heagle offers two video opportunities on “Practicing Resurrection through Nonviolence.” Don’t miss the interview with a granddaughter of Dorothy Day as she reflects on a poignant memory of Easter.

Other topics this week include banning nuclear weapons, the decline of church membership, and the gender issues that won’t go away.

Easter Reflections

We’ve compiled a few pieces for you to reflect and learn this Easter season.

First, Richard Rohr wrapped up his Lenten series with this exploration of the mystery of the Resurrection.

Next, AUSCP member Bob Wenz reflects on Easter: “He Rose… so What?”

Another AUSCP member, John Heagle, suggests Practicing Resurrection through Nonviolence. He offers “two gifted opportunities to ‘live into’ the power of Easter life through the practice of nonviolence.”

  • The first is a program, Living Nonviolently in a Violent World, featuring AUSCP member Fr. Al Kirk and Therese Gustaitis.  Register for the three sessions April 12, April 19 and April 26.
  • The second is a celebration of The Kings Bay Plowshares 7 and the affirmation they are receiving in the Inaugural Berrigan-McAlister Award.  It includes a first film screening of the Berrigans: Devout and Dangerous.  Get details and registration information for events May 4th and 5th.

Lastly, Kate Hennessy is the youngest grandchild of Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement. In an interview in the British weekly, The Tablet, she recalls Easter 13 years ago, when her mother Tamar lay dying, and the question her grandmother would ask whenever faced with seemingly intractable problems: ‘What can we do in the here and now?

Church News and Opinions

First, gender issues. They are not going away. After Vatican decree, over 100 theologians pledge to support same-sex couples. Madeleine Davison reports in NCR that the pledge with 3,000 signatures was launched by New Ways Ministry.

Meanwhile, dozens of LGBTQ students at Christian colleges are suing the U.S. Education Dept., hoping to pressure Equality Act negotiations. The suit says the religious exemption the schools are given that allow them to have discriminatory policies is unconstitutional because they receive government funding.

A Gallup Poll finds that church membership in the United States has declined to less than half the population. The decline is not just about “C and E” people. Religion News Service reports on the majority of Americans who are not even in church on Christmas and Easter.

In another quantitative study, the Pew Research Center finds that Catholics are divided along party lines on whether President Biden should be allowed to receive Communion. Here is more on that finding.

Finally, from Rome, La Civilta Cattolica takes on the globally significant topic of prohibiting nuclear weapons. Here’s the rub: A United Nations treaty has been ratified by 50 nations, but none of the states that now have nuclear weapons have signed on.

AUSCP Picks for the Week

CATCH IT TODAY –  (or hope for an available recording!) In the spirit of encounter and of Laudato Si’, the Catholic Climate Covenant invites you to this webinar, April 7, at 2 p.m. EDT, featuring Deborah Echo-Hawk, Ronnie O’Brien, and Nikki Cooley and the dedication they share to the well-being of Native American tribal nations and peoples, and the lands, territories and cultures they hold sacred. Registration is required.

WATCH – From our assembly archives, our featured video this week is of 2016 Massimo Faggioli, a theologian and historian who continues to rise in prominence, on “Pope Francis and the Unfolding of Vatican II in Today’s Church.”

And as a reminder, you can watch keynote presentations from all of our past assemblies on our Past Assembly Videos page.

We hope you have enjoyed this roundup of recent news about faith, politics, and culture. We will return next week with another edition of Wisdom Wednesday. 

Until next week, please follow us on social media with the buttons below to make sure you don’t miss the latest news from the AUSCP!

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