Religion – Page 14 – Pie and Coffee

Worcester parishioners make rosaries to end the war

A few weeks ago a friend handed me Worcester’s InCity Times and pointed to a notice about local Catholics sending rosaries to our troops in Iraq. He suspected this was some sort of pro-war statement. To me, though, sending rosaries to the troops seemed like a great idea, whatever the political background.

According to a front page article in today’s Telegram & Gazette, we were wrong to be suspicious of the rosary-makers’ agenda:

â€œWith enough prayer over there, weâ€™re hoping that something will happen where this war will end,â€ Ms. Mason said over the Memorial Day weekend.

And that couldnâ€™t come soon enough for her, especially since her son, U.S. Navy Reserve Petty Officer 1st Class Raymond R. Mason, 39, of Worcester, is scheduled to return to the war zone this summer.

My friend and I are so keenly interested in rosaries and the war because we’re going to court June 17 on federal charges for praying the rosary in the Worcester federal building as part of a Lenten prayer, fast, and vigil for an end to the Iraq War.

(You may recall that we mentioned this rosary project a few weeks ago on the 508 podcast, and that I disagreed with the rosary-makers’ statement that “There is no greater power than to place in the hands of our soldiers the rosary,” believing that both God and any sacrament, for example, are greater powers than that.)

Those looking to renew their habit of saying the rosary might read Garry Wills’s recent book The Rosary. (Interview about the book.)

Tom Lewis memorial mass

The Mustard Seed was beyond packed for Tom Lewis’s memorial mass, with a crowd of 30 lingering outside the doorways hoping for a glimpse of the events.

Father Bernie Gilgun celebrated the mass. (Deacon Walter Doyle assisted.) Here’s Fr Bernie’s homily:
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In Psalm 137, and also in the book of Proverbs, we are told, truly told, “The memory of the just is blessed.” If you wanna be blessed, don’t forget Tom Lewis! “The memory of the just is blessed.” You wanna be blessed? Remember this just man! He carried high and proud the banner of peace and justice in this community, perhaps like no other. Like a one-man revolution.

Download the mp3 or see more formats.

My bad photos.

Read comments about Tom Lewis.

Tom Lewis remembered

To be a witness does not consist in engaging in propaganda, nor even in stirring people up, but in being a living mystery. It means to live in such a way that oneâ€™s life would not make sense if God did not exist.
–Cardinal Emmanuel Suhard

Photo Credit: Inside Worcester

Tom Lewis, a much beloved friend and colleague, died in his sleep on April 4, 2007 at â€œEmma Houseâ€ in Worcester, Tomâ€™s household of Biblical faith and resistance to empire. Many have written beautiful pieces of remembrance about Tom and I am a bit reticent to repeat what others have so aptly described and appreciated. But I find it is necessary to add my own unique sense of things too. Tom and I shared a pilgrimage and activist commitments in this life. And we both shared teaching posts at Anna Maria College.
Continue reading “Tom Lewis remembered”

Tom Lewis, 1940-2008

My friend Tom Lewis died at home in Worcester yesterday, apparently in his sleep.

Sunday, May 4th, 3pm, there was a mass in memory of Tom at the Mustard Seed Catholic Worker, 93 Piedmont Street, Worcester. Photos and audio from the memorial.

Tom’s Wikipedia page.

Photos of Tom from Jonah House.

Photos of Tom and his art.

Obituaries: Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Baltimore Sun

Other remembrances: HBML, WCCA TV13, Alice’s Grand Adventures, Bruce Russell (Tom’s housemate at the time of his death)

Video: Democracy Now (Text version)

There’s a podcast with memories of Tom:
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Continue reading “Tom Lewis, 1940-2008”

Stations of the Cross, Worcester

Worcester’s Catholic Worker community celebrated Good Friday as it traditionally does, by walking the Stations of the Cross in downtown Worcester with meditations on present-day evils. About twenty people were there today, include some I had not met before. In past year’s we’ve crossed paths with other Stations groups, but not this year. Many pix.

Pictured: Former marine David Maher prays for an end to war.

5 arrested for praying the rosary in Worcester

This morning at the federal courthouse in Worcester, after attending mass and with about a dozen supporters outside, Mike Benedetti, Ken Hannaford-Ricardi, Sandra McSweeney, Scott Schaeffer-Duffy, and Roger Stanley entered the pre-lobby, knelt, prayed for an end to the war in Iraq, and said a rosary. People came and went from the courthouse, though additional participants weren’t allowed to enter.

Officers allowed them to complete the prayers, then arrested them.

They were charged in federal court with the “petty offenses” of not obeying a federal officer and blocking an entrance. They all plead “not guilty” and said they would represent themselves.

The 2 charges each carry a possible $5,000 fine. A 30-day jail sentence is also possible for each charge, but both the US attorneys and the judge said there was no risk of that.

The defendants will be representing themselves in court. Trial is set for June.

Photo: Worcester Indymedia. Pictured: Tom Lewis and law officers outside the entrance.

The prayers and arrest come as the culmination of a 43-day Lenten prayer, fast, and vigil carried out in conjunction with people in 11 other US cities, including Des Moines, Iowa, Buffalo and Rochester, New York. This campaign was inspired by the example of Franz Jagerstatter, the recently beatified Austrian Catholic who was executed for refusing to participate in an unjust war.

Continue reading “5 arrested for praying the rosary in Worcester”

Mass of Holy Chrism

Bishops McManus and Reilly chat outside St. Paul’s Cathedral before the Chrism Mass.

Rocco Palmo:

In the majority of Stateside dioceses, whether in their cathedrals or even larger parish churches, the Chrism Mass — the lone “family reunion” mandated by the rubrics — is happening today.

There was no noon mass at the cathedral today, so my friends and I went to the Chrism Mass before our Lenten prayer vigil for an end to the Iraq War.

The Chrism Mass takes its name from the last of the three oils blessed during the rite, which are then used throughout the diocese for the next year.

Tom Lewis does a little anti-war “pre-vigiling” at the cathedral before mass. More of us assembled across the street afterwards. I was happy that several priests came over to share words or hugs of support.

I’d never been to one of these before. The bishop blessed the year’s holy oil and priests renewed their “commitment to priestly service.” A very long standing ovation for Auxiliary Bishop George E. Rueger, who celebrated his 50th year as a priest and gave a great homily directed at the many Catholic school kids in attendance.

Prayer for an End to the Iraq War

Editor’s note: This will be part of a Holy Week prayer service at the Federal Building in Worcester.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, under the inspiratrion of Blessed Franz Jagerstatter, who gave his life to denounce an unjust war, on the fifth anniversary of the latest US escalation of its 17-year-long war on Iraq, we gather to beg Your forgiveness for the sin of this war and to ask for Your grace to end it now. We make these prayers in the name of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. Amen.

For the over 88,000 Iraqi citizens killed since 2003, we pray:
Lord, have mercy.

For the 4,100 US soldiers killed in Iraq since 1991, we pray:
Christ, have mercy.

For the 200,000 Iraqis killed in the first Gulf War, we pray:
Lord, have mercy.

For the 1.5 million Iraqis, including 800,000 children, killed by US-sponsored sanctions between 1991 and 2002, we pray:
Kyrie, eleison.

For the thousands of Iraqis killed by “no-fly zone” bombings between 1991 and 2002, we pray:
Christe, eleison.

For our failure to speak out more forcefully against the sin of this long war on Iraq, we pray:
Kyrie, eleison.

Recalling that Pope John Paul II called war on Iraq “useless slaughter” and “unjust, immoral, and illegal,” we pray the rosary to Mary, Queen of Peace, that the ears of all those in the federal government might finally be opened to attend to the plea of millions of Americans who want the war to end now.

Pray a rosary:

The First Sorrowful Mystery: Christ’s agony in the garden.
Help us to end the agony of the Iraqi people and to return all American soldiers safely home.

The Second Sorrowful Mystery: Jesus is scourged.
Help us to end the torture our nation continues to inflict on prisoners in Iraq and elsewhere.

The Third Sorrowful Mystery: Jesus is crowned with thorns.
Help us to never again drop cluster bombs, depleted uranium, and other weapons onto the heads of the Iraqi people.

The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery: Jesus carries the Cross.
Help us to take up Christ’s cross of nonviolent love (even at the risk of criticism and jail) to end the Iraq War.

The Fifth Sorrowful Mystery: Jesus dies on the Cross.
Help us to love our enemies as profoundly as Christ did from his Cross and to reject this and all wars.

Close with the Salve Regina.

The Saga of Dorothy Day

Editor’s note: This is excerpted from Scott’s comic “Servant of God Dorothy Day” in the April/May 2008 issue of The Catholic Radical. For a copy of the whole thing, write to 52 Mason St, Worcester MA 01610.

Servant of God Dorothy Day

The vast majority of those who sought help at Catholic Worker houses of hospitality were pleasant and courteous, but some, (from drink, drugs, mental illness, or plain frustration at their plight) were sometimes violent. Dorothy met those angry few with a down-to-earth love and a good sense of humor.

Hearing loss

The daily Lenten prayer and fasting for an end to the Iraq War continued today in Worcester, with 4 people participating. (I think a few dozen have been involved at some point.) We found a nice ring outside the cathedral; you can pick it up at the rectory if it’s yours.

When we went down to the federal building to continue the vigil, a friend and I went inside to talk to whoever was there. (From my limited experience, this seems to be standard operating procedure for continuing vigils. Sometimes this can bear unexpected fruit.)

My friend mentioned the recent report that upwards of 5% of Iraq and Afganistan War vets are collecting disability for hearing loss due to roadside bombs and the like.

One guy said, “And that’s a problem for us?” (Which seemed an odd thing to say.)

Another guy responded, “Yeah–we gotta pay for it!”

My friend pointed out that hearing loss also probably messes up a lot of these vets’ lives.

Other than that, things passed without incident.