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First Week of Advent, Nov. 27-Dec. 3, 2011
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Greetings of peace!
Advent seems to me to always be a time of new beginnings, a chance to make the world new again, to start over, to do things differently. The biblical readings during Advent often echo this sense, juxtaposing God's shalom, God's peace, the reign of God with the world of violence, greed and injustice which we so often experience all around us. But as I look around this Advent, especially at the students and young adults who are at the center of the Arab Spring movement and the Occupy movement here in the U.S.--and those students who gathered last week outside the SOA--I am reminded of a quote from Arundhati Roy:
"Another world is not only possible, she is on her way.
On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing."
For those with eyes to see, the evidence that a new world is possible and "on her way" is visible even in the midst of this present darkness. For us, Advent is that time when we recall how the promise of a new world was being shaped and formed in Mary's womb, soon to be born on that first Christmas Day two millenia past. Today, the peace of Christ continues to be shaped and formed in each person dedicated to that world which Christ proclaimed--a world of mercy, compassion, justice, love and peace. This season, may the peace of Christ be born again in our hearts and actions. May we be heralds who proclaim that indeed, "another world is possible."
For reflections and resources throughout this Advent season, click here to visit our Advent resource page on the website. Thanks!
In peace,
Johnny Zokovitch
Director of Communications, Pax Christi USA
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| PRAY: Nov. 27, First Sunday of Advent | | |
Is 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7 | 1 Cor 1:3-9 | Mk 13:33-37
Why do you let us wander, O God, from your ways, and harden our hearts so that we fear you not? . . . Too long have we been like those you do not rule, who do not bear your name. Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, with the mountains quaking before you. . . .Would that you might meet us doing right, that we were mindful of you in our ways! (Isaiah 63:17a, 19, 64:4)
How do you recognize a child of God? Others may not know us for who we are and whose we are, but God does. Does this mean God has special responsibility for us? In the first reading God is accused of not keeping us on the straight and narrow. Why isn't God taking control, appearing before us in righteous anger, accompanied by quaking mountains for extra measure? Why does God allow us to wander away?
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STUDY: Women, War & Peace
| |  Women, War & Peace is a bold new five-part PBS television series challenging the conventional wisdom that war and peace are men's domain. The vast majority of today's conflicts are not fought by nation-states and their armies, but rather by informal entities: gangs and warlords using small arms and improvised weapons. The series reveals how the post-Cold War proliferation of small arms has changed the landscape of war, with women becoming primary targets and suffering unprecedented casualties. Yet they are simultaneously emerging as necessary partners in brokering lasting peace and as leaders in forging new international laws governing conflict. With depth and complexity, Women, War & Peace spotlights the stories of women in conflict zones from Bosnia to Afghanistan and Colombia to Liberia, placing women at the center of an urgent dialogue about conflict and security, and reframing our understanding of modern warfare.
The entire series is now available to watch for FREE online.
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ACT: Call for peace stories - Bethlehem
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This year has brought new prospects for freedom in the Arab world. The massive movements in Tunisia and Egypt are cries for democracy. Early in this year, Muslims and Christians came together and prayed for change in Cairo's Tahrir Square. In other countries, the movement towards democracy and accountability seems unstoppable despite the cruel repression it has faced. Inspired and empowered by these examples, many individuals and groups everywhere now show enormous courage in using non-violent means to peace and justice.
While in the past, Pax Christi International made a call for sending wishes and prayers, we now would like to invite you to share in this new climate of hope by exchanging stories of peace.
The stories will be used in Bethlehem, Palestine, and other locations in educational and religious settings. These stories are a sign of hope, and a gesture to these movements that people from outside the Middle East and North Africa care about their destiny.
Please e-mail your inspirational Christmas stories for peace before the 25th of December 2011 (Western Christmas) and/or the 7th of January 2012 (Eastern Christmas). While English is the preferred language, non-native English speakers may also send stories of peace in their mother tongue. Messages can be e-mailed to the Arab Educational Institute at the following address: info@aeicenter.org
You can read all messages at www.aeicenter.org.
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