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Dear Friars and Friends,
Let's stayed filled with Easter hope.... It looks like a time of renewal for us, as Catholics, with a Pope who has picked a pretty fine name!!!, and who has already taken public steps to highlight the need of Christians to uphold the dignity of the poor and the integrity of creation.... His Easter message to the world was for peace--while naming many key countries where violent conflicts exist.
This month the U.S. is facing changes in immigration policies, struggles to implement gun control, discussions about the moral use of drones, and the proliferation of our military personnel and weapons adjacent to North Korea.
There are many Justice issues for you to preach and teach about....
Larry Dunphy OFM, the St. Barbara Province JPIC Animator from 1980-1983, died February 26th. Larry loved working with the poor and those in jails. Larry went to the OFM Africa Project; he would say his time in Africa was challenging yet the most profound in his friar life. Until a week before Larry died, his avocation was to write to legislators. And he always included a teaching about "social justice" in every homily he preached. I spent Holy Week at the friary in San Antonio, Texas, with the formation community of Our Lady of Guadalupe Province. I led a day of recollection. Here is a photo of Jack Clark Robinson OFM and Chris Kerstiens OFM watching "The Passion Play" downtown on Good Friday. Holy Saturday morning was the 17th annual "Cesar Chavez March for Justice" also in downtown San Antonio. Pictured are [right to left] Jorge Hernandez OFM, Jose Luis Peralta OFM, and yours truly. I wrote a short article about the present crisis in North Korea. Find it here. ..........peace........Bro. Mark......... Check out Franciscans for Justice on Facebook If you know of someone who would like to receive these Updates, please send us their name and email to franciscansforjustice@gmail.com And it's easy to forward this Update to anyone you want and they can sign themselves up. I compose weekly bulletin announcements--easily copied by cut and paste. If you or your bulletin editor are interested in receiving a weekly bulletin announcement via email, please email us the name of the contact person and their email address. To view a sample copy, please click here. |