Wisdom Wednesday | March 31st

AUSCP NewsMarch 31Roundup

For Holy Week we offer some considerations of the Paschal Triduum in a Time of Pandemic and several other items in our weekly search for wisdom.

Topics this week include the death penalty, Jesuit reparations for slaveholding, the real border crisis, Christians standing up for Asian Americans, and an archived video on the non-clerical priesthood.

Also: Did Mary Magdalen have bad hair days? That’s from a writer’s personal reflection exploring Sacred Scriptures from a family perspective.

And our nomination for best tongue-in-cheek headline: “With new ferry named for her, Dorothy Day still moving workers.”

Racial Healing and Reparations

Trial continues for the accused killer of George Floyd. We invite you to keep up with day-to-day developments and to pray for racial justice. We say that Black Lives Matter, and Black lives have always mattered.

That’s why the Jesuits have pledged to raise $100 million for the descendants of the people bought and sold by their religious organization. America Magazine says it is the only effort of its kind.

On March 15, the Society of Jesus announced a new partnership with the descendants of enslaved people sold by the Jesuits in 1838. In a video from America, senior editor J.D. Long-Garcia talks with Joseph Stewart, president of this new foundation, and Timothy Kesicki, S.J., president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, about their hopes for the future of this project of reconciliation. (Warning: You may get an advertisement at first, but you can scroll down to Skip Ad.

If you’re looking for a way to get involved, FutureChurch invites you to participate in Good Friday Stations of the Cross and pray with Black women who are Witnesses for Racial Justice. Available at noon EDT, April 2.

AUSCP Initiative Roundup

ANTI-RACISM – An estimated 5,000 people attended rallies last Sunday to take a stand for Asian American lives amid rising racism. Religion News Service reports that Christians were among those standing up for Asian American rights.

IMMIGRATION – From our Southern border, two items offer non-partisan perspective on immigration issues.

DEATH PENALTY – In an Opinion piece, the New York Times editorial board joins our call to end the death penalty.

Virginia’s move to end the death penalty was a welcome step. The administration can do more.

Read the full editorial, “Stop the Executions, President Biden.

Church News and Opinions

In America Magazine, Brianne Jacobs examines the Covid-19 vaccines and opines they are “a miracle. Yes, an honest-to-God miracle.”

God can work miracles, but La Croix International suggests there are some things God can and cannot do. It’s another reflection on the negative responsum from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on same-sex blessings.

It takes two miracles usually to canonize a saint. Dorothy Day, the famed co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, is not (yet) a canonized saint — but she has achieved a kind of secular sainthood. As Crux reports, “With new ferry named for her, Dorothy Day still moving workers.

If you wondered about that teasing question, “Did Mary Magdalen have bad hair days?” here is the answer in an article from US Catholic suggested by an AUSCP friend, Ann Clem. The writer, Alice Camille, points out that the Bible is far more than history. It is legendary.

Lastly, here’s another question: Do you have to believe in God to be the victim of religious discrimination? A self-styled pagan baker is suing her employer for what she says happened to her.

Bite-size AUSCP Picks for the Week

FOLLOW – If you are like me, you complain about all the emails overflowing your inbox. Then you sign up for more! We’ve rounded up some top picks.

Here’s a temptation from the Pew Research Center, for daily religion headlines from around the web.

Or you may like the daily inspiration of Father Richard Rohr at the Center for Action and Contemplation

And lastly, do you use Twitter? Pope Francis does. Among the pope’s followers is the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests. Check out the latest tweets from the pope.

WATCH – AUSCP executive director Bob Bonnot recommends a webinar from his home diocese, with Father Richard Fragomeni, on Considering the Paschal Triduum in a Time of Pandemic. The webinar is available to the AUSCP, courtesy of the Diocese of Youngstown.

Topics include a theology of the Easter Mystery reconsidered, liturgical accommodations for the Adult Rites of Initiation, and the Triduum as the heart of parish renewal and Liturgical Life.

And finally, in June 2019, Dr. Richard Gaillardetz challenged the AUSCP Assembly with his keynote topic, “To Form a Priestly People: Toward a Non-Clerical Theology of Priesthood.” It’s our featured video this week from our archives.

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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