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Greetings!,
Below you will find your April 2012 e-Update, our monthly digest meant to archive for you links to resources from the past month which you may have missed. Before you get to the relevant action alerts, PSA e-bulletins, etc., I have also included a reflection on tomorrow's Lenten readings, Tuesday of Holy Week, as inspiration for the beginning of your week. The reflection is from Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace Colleen Kelly.
NEW STAFF MEMBER: We also wanted to introduce you to the newest member of the National Staff, Rachel Roa. Rachel has been with us since February and serves as the office manager. You can contact Rachel or send her notes of welcome at rroa.pcusa@gmail.com.
SPECIAL NOTE: Our friends at the University of Notre Dame PeaceNet are seeking former students who, at some time in their lives, became conscientious objectors and who work or worked against militarism. To get in touch or for more information, please contact Mark Dellamano at mrkdellamano@gmail.com.
Reflection for Tuesday of Holy Week
April 3, 2012
"'Teacher, where are you going?' Jesus answered, 'Where I am going you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later.'" (John 13:36)
Accompaniment means to share a journey from beginning to end; to walk together; to share an experience in time and place. Today's Gospel describes the conversation at the last supper. The disciples were bombarding Jesus with questions (yet again). Peter, Phillip, Thomas, the "other" Judas, and John were all wondering what was happening: Where was Jesus going, and why couldn't they accompany him? They did not understand.
Paul Farmer, a global physician to people who are poor, knows a thing or two about accompaniment. Dr. Farmer has worked in rural Haiti, urban Boston, and Siberian prisons. He is best known for removing systemic obstacles to health care for those who are poor. Farmer does this through common sense and through accompaniment. His organization, Partners in Health, has helped cure thousands of tuberculosis simply by accompanying the sick. At Harvard University's 2011 commencement, Farmer had this to say to the new graduates from the Kennedy School of Government:
"Accompaniment is an elastic term. There's an element of mystery, of openness, of trust, in accompaniment. The companion, the accompagnateur, says: 'I'll go with you and support you on your journey wherever it leads; I'll share your fate for a while. And by a while, I don't mean a little while.' Accompaniment is about sticking with a task until it's deemed completed, not by the accompagnateur but by the person being accompanied."
The disciples wanted to accompany Jesus. They did not even remotely understand where this journey would lead them, but they tried their hardest to have faith. We also don't know where our journey will lead, but we can choose to have faith in God as our accompagnateur.
Lent-Holy Week-Easter 2012 Resources
Throughout Lent, we've been posting a variety of resources on our webpage. You can access those resources by clicking here. We'll be posting reflections for Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter on each of those days later this week. Additionally, we've listed groups which are sponsoring or participating in Good Friday Way of the Cross public prayer services. You can see a list of those groups with contact information at the bottom of our Lent 2012 page. And if you have not planned a Way of the Cross but would like to, there's still time! Use the resources on the Lent page and send us your info and we'll post it.
Recent Prayer-Study-Action e-Bulletins (PSA)
Special Alerts
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