Feb 2012 Banner

Monday, July 2, 2012

Greetings!,  

 

"I refuse to accept the view that (hu)mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood [sic] can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word."     ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

As we approach the Fourth of July, I often find myself mining the writings and speeches of the person I consider to be the greatest American, Martin Luther King, Jr. MLK seemed to weave together the best of who we can be as a nation with an unflinching critique of the worst excesses of our history. He called us to live deeply in the most bedrock of values--justice, compassion, nonviolence and love--even as we acknowledge how far short of those values our nation's policies often are and how much more we need to work to transform our society into that beloved community he so often articulated for us. During this Fourth of July holiday, I hope that each of us can go beyond the shallow sloganeering that will be all too evident, and that we will celebrate instead our belief in each other, our hope for the future of our country and the rest of the world, and our work to achieve in our neighborhoods and communities some semblance of that beloved community to which Dr. King called us. 

 

Below you'll find a number of items from the past months which we think you may still find relevant or useful in your work for peace with justice. We also wanted to share with you two additional items. We learned last week that Marmete Hayes, one of the founding members of Pax Christi in Vermont, passed away. I knew Marmete through phone calls and emails and she was an incredibly dynamic, dedicated woman. We'll be featuring a longer story about Marmete on the website next week, but I wanted to share news of her passing with you here too. Sr. Miriam Ward, her caregiver over the past few years, told me that Marmete had three Pax Christi members with her when she passed, and that among her last words to them was this: "We need to do something on nonviolence this year! We haven't done anything on nonviolence yet!" Organizing and educating right to the end. Rest in peace Marmete.
 
We're also excited to announce that we have a new Director of Programs, Sr. Anne Louise Nadeau, SNDdeN. Sr. Anne Louise's first day is today and we'll post more information about her joining us within the next few weeks. If you'd like to send Sr. Anne Louise a note of welcome, you can reach her at anadeau@paxchristiusa.org.
 

Recent Prayer-Study-Action e-Bulletins (PSA)

Special Alerts

Recent News Items, Calendar Items and Other Items of Interest

In Christ's peace,

 

Johnny Zokovitch

Director of Communications, Pax Christi USA


P.S. To see more of the latest from Pax Christi USA, visit the website at http://www.paxchristiusa.org. You can also "subscribe" to our website by clicking on the "Subscribe to our website" link in the right-hand sidebar of the website. This will alert you every time a new item is posted on the website. And don't forget to check out our page on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.