Welcome to Wisdom Wednesday. We look ahead to Gaudete Sunday while we are seeing Christ-in-the-rubble creches with baby Jesus wearing a pro-Palestinian keffiyeh. For Syrians, Assad is gone and hope is present. Francis turns 88 Dec. 17, and says it is time to implement synodal changes. Civil rights activists gear up to battle deportation threats. Also noted: “one5c” offers 12 Advent-like “days of underconsumption.”
Baby Jesus in a keffiyeh
Religion News Service reports on the pro-Palestinian creche intended to point out the disconnect between the idealized Bethlehem of most representations and the reality in present-day Gaza and the West Bank.
A news note: On December 9, more than 50 members from several allied action groups gathered at the James M. Hanley Federal Building in Syracuse, N.Y., “to conduct a respectful and dignified symbolic burial for the children of Gaza.” Those gathered called for an immediate and permanent cease-fire for Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria, an end to all arms shipments to Israel, a withdrawal of all U.S troops and the restoration of all humanitarian aid to Gaza. AUSCP Friends Jack Gilroy and Mark Scibilia-Carver participated. Gilroy, a “grave-digger,” was arrested, cited and released.
Gaudete Sunday
Here is a traditional reflection on the third Sunday in Advent, from the Diocese of Wichita.
Most wasteful time of the year
With gift wrap, junky decor and too much food, the volume of trash Americans produce jumps 23% every December. Don’t stress! The climate-action newsletter “one5c” offers you a present that can help: A 12-day plan to easily revamp how you shop, cook, and decorate—without sucking any joy out of the season, courtesy of climate-concerned members of AUSCP.
Climate Crisis and apocalyptic imagination
Christian Century Editorial: As the depth of the climate crisis is revealed, our despair grows. But God hovers at the edge of doom. But as Jack Holloway writes, “pessimism is part of the power of apocalyptic imagination. Knowing that the present world is doomed can be a gift, says Holloway, when it fuels the desire to bring about something better: “When things are cataclysmic and horrifying . . . we need daring, world-changing consciousness.”
Rising fear of nuclear war
A Crux reporter recently interviewed columnist Tony Magliano about global concerns that could result from nuclear war among nations.
Jacob’s Ladder
As Christians observe Advent, Many Jews are hearing a portion of the Torah. Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin reflects on Jacob’s dream of a ladder that stretches from the earth to the heavens — with angels of God ascending and descending on the ladder. What was the meaning of Jacob’s dream? What are those angels doing on the ladder? Why are the angels going up the ladder, and coming down the ladder?
Assad is out, hope is in
For Syrians, Assad is in the past: ‘The thing we all have now is hope.’ Syrians at home and abroad are still reeling because what long seemed impossible – the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad’s brutal regime – took place in just a matter of hours this past weekend. The report from Christian Science Monitor.
After Assad, Syria’s Christians hope for ‘rebirth’ of country.
Pope urges church changes
On Nov. 25, Pope Francis published a note reiterating — and in an official sense, formalizing — his decision to make the final document of the recently concluded Synod on Synodality part of the Church’s ordinary magisterium. He said dioceses and churches should begin implementing the 52-page document’s recommendations for making structural changes in Church governance and increasing lay and women participation in the Church, among other initiatives
Prayers, plea to president: Commute death sentences
Pope Francis asks for prayers for inmates awaiting execution on federal death row in the United States, appealing that their sentences be commuted.
The Bishops of the United States launched an appeal for President Joe Biden to commute the sentences of the men on federal death row before the end of his term. The US Bishops made that appeal to Americans on the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
Human Rights Day
Marking Human Rights Day, on December 10, Pope Francis urged governments to listen to the cry for peace of the millions of people deprived of their most basic rights due to war. From Vatican News.
Homilies
Homilies must be prepared with the help of the Holy Spirit, be shorter than 10 minutes and put the spotlight on the Lord, not oneself, Pope Francis said. From America magazine.
College of Cardinals expands
The College of Cardinals became a bit bigger as 21 men received their red hats from Pope Francis on December 7. Coming from 17 countries, the newly created cardinals demonstrate the universal nature of the Church. One of them, French archbishop of Algiers, Algeria, spoke to Vatican News about his first act as cardinal: Dinner with the poor.
Bob Mickens, formerly with La Croix International, has returned to publishing with a report on the new Cardinals and what they may mean at the next conclave.
To battle the deportation campaign
Civil rights advocates are formulating legal strategies against Donald Trump’s anticipated mass deportation campaign, including his plan to use U.S. military forces to round up and detain unauthorized immigrants. The report from Baptist News Global.
The murder of an insurance CEO
OPINION: As Christians, while we condemn the act, we are also called to look deeper, to ask why such violence occurs in the first place. What societal undercurrents, what systemic failures have led us to this point? From Baptist News Global: “Advocacy for health care reform is not just a political issue; it is a moral imperative.”
Women Deacons
Opinion from Phyllis Zagano: Catholic Church must remember its own history. Winston Churchill famously said, “Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.” If the Catholic Church forgets history, it is simply doomed.
SCOTUS Transgender case
Opinion from Michael Sean Winters: In such a culture, the church’s witness is best served when it overreaches in charity, not in legal grasping. The amicus curiae brief filed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, however, articulates a legal stance that undervalues the fact that ours is a pluralistic culture.
Thoughts from a Black Catholic on Trump presidency
OPINION: Dr. Ronald E. Smith gives a prayerful take on the return of the Republican firebrand, with an eye on the economy and level-headed engagement.
A Pentecostal welcome for Giuliani
Although Rudy Giuliani has become one of the most disgraced of the 2020 election deniers, he got a warm welcome last Sunday at a Pentecostal church in Tulsa, Okla. The former mayor of New York, who has gone bankrupt due to judgments against him for defaming two Georgia election workers, was the guest of honor at Sheridan Church, where Donald Trump admirer Jackson Lahmeyer is pastor.
Most congregations avoid discussing politics, new study shows
Even if members are politically active and many leaders are often outspoken about issues and candidates they support, most congregations make great efforts to keep politics out of the church when they gather. The report from Religion News Service.
Activism
Grandmothers protest closure of parish’s LGBTQ+ ministry in Milwaukee Archdiocese. The report from National Catholic Reporter.
Obama makes plea for pluralism, citing interfaith partnerships, megachurches. From Religion News Service.
Celebrating the anniversary of the Black Catholic bishops’ letter means recommitting to radical action. From Black Catholic Messenger, on the impact of forgotten activism during the Black Catholic Movement and its enduring call for the Church today.
Indiana bishop meets the Adriatic
What began as a simple pilgrimage to the Holy House of Loreto for Bishop Kevin Rhoades turned into a memorable Marian ordeal. From the National Catholic Register.
At the Movies
Catholic Hollywood director D.J. Caruso set out to tell the story of Mary as seen through her own eyes, in a new film available on Netflix. “My goal was to see if I could present Mary in a beautiful way, in a way that a younger audience could see her and relate to her as not just this beautiful, iconic holy mother, but as a young girl who had to make sacrifices and struggle and deal with things that a lot of the contemporary youth are dealing with today.” REVIEW from Christian Century.
The new Bonhoeffer movie isn’t just bad. It’s dangerous. By egregiously misreading Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s moral crisis, it primes viewers for violence. REVIEW from Christian Century.
OPINION from Religion News Service: Both right and left claim Bonhoeffer as a champion. Here’s why his ideas fit neither. “Bonhoeffer matters precisely because he reminds us that Christian behavior and attitudes are more than calculations for a partisan edge.”
REVIEWS: National Catholic Reporter offers five new family-friendly Christmas movies to watch this year.
‘The future of humanity’
PARODY by Jesuit Thomas Reese. In an exclusive, RNS is publishing the leaked minutes of a heavenly committee on the future of humanity. Despite the danger of suffering from the divine wrath, we feel that publicizing this document is in the public interest.
Zoom: Selecting bishops
One more reminder: Exploring how clergy and laity can work in the selection of Catholic bishops, Dec. 14.
Sign on is https://zoom.us/j/2429500175:
Password is spirit.
To find the time for you in your locale, click on Our Universal Calendar and scroll down to Dec. 14. It might help to prepare for this online discussion by going back to read the summary of the online presentation on why the people must have a voice in choosing their bishop and the 2nd presentation exploring possible processes for selecting our bishops.
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