Category: Religion

Helmuth James Graf von Moltke

225px-HelmuthvonMoltkeJan1945.jpgLast night was the US premiere of “A Journey to Kreisau,” a dramatic presentation about Nazi resister Helmuth James Graf von Moltke, written by Worcester theater icon Marc P. Smith.

There are 2 more local shows, Feb 19 & 20, 8pm, at the Hibernian Center/Fiddler’s Green (19 Temple St).

I am amazed I’d not heard much about von Moltke before, given that his estate was a center of anti-Nazi activity. In my circle, if you bring up resistance to the Nazis, you are going to hear about the White Rose, Bonhoffer, and of course Jagerstatter, but not von Moltke.

I’m a bit humbled by my ignorance, but mostly eager to read more about him, and excited to realize that there are still so many great men and women of history for me to discover.

The dog that could not read

Today we had six people praying and fasting for an end to the Iraq War. At the cathedral, we had more positive comments than ever.

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Outside the federal building, an old guy was stopped at a red light with a dog in his lap. The way the dog was leaning out the window, he looked like he was driving. “He can’t read your sign!” the old man pointed out with a smile.

Another man stopped by and said, “We can pray all we want and fast all we want, people are making so much money from it it’s never gonna end.”

They can’t move Jesus

We had 5 people with us this rainy day, fasting and praying for an end to the Iraq War.

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Outside the Federal Building, a guy asked, “You’re doing this outside the federal court?” Ken said, “Yes.”

“They can’t move Jesus,” the guy said, gesturing to our sign and the building. “They can’t move Jesus!”

Ash Wednesday, 2008

If I recall correctly, last Ash Wednesday the noon Cathedral mass was packed. This year, the church was maybe 3/4 full.

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Bishop Robert McManus, after mass

After mass we began our Lenten fast and vigil for an end to the Iraq War. We started out by holding a banner near the Cathedral door, but were asked to move across the street. This was unfortunate, in that it probably left some passersby with the impression that we were protesting the church or something.

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Holding a banner across the street. In the spirit of “Let no one see you fasting,” I tried to take photos of people’s backs.

All of the response I saw from churchgoers or people driving by was positive. Meanwhile, people handed out Jagerstatter holy cards to those leaving mass.

Handing out Jagerstatter holy cards

Then we went over to the Federal Building, where they didn’t care where we stood, so long as we weren’t blocking a door. I don’t have any good face-free pix of this part, so here you see Scott and Ken posing with the banner.

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Nice omnibus Ash Wednesday post from Rocco Palmo. This bit sums up the point of the vigil, for me:

The crux of Ash Wednesday is one that fascinates, and rightfully so: in a world — and, indeed, in a church — too often obsessed with appearances, with shirking blame and maintaining an image of perfection (sometimes at any cost), all that gets turned inside out: I’m far from perfect. I don’t have all the answers. I can’t go it alone. What I do matters beyond myself.

Lent 2008

What are Pie and Coffee readers and contributors doing for Lent?

Among other things, I’ll be participating in the Worcester Lenten fast and prayer for an end to the Iraq War. I’m not sure yet what form my fasting will take.

Feel free to post your thoughts below, or link to a blog post. Contributors, feel free to add resources to this post.

From the pope’s Lenten message:

The Gospel highlights a typical feature of Christian almsgiving: it must be hidden: “Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,” Jesus asserts, “so that your alms may be done in secret” (Mt 6,3-4). . . . If, in accomplishing a good deed, we do not have as our goal God’s glory and the real well being of our brothers and sisters, looking rather for a return of personal interest or simply of applause, we place ourselves outside of the Gospel vision.

So I assume everybody is giving alms, and you don’t have to mention that.

Worcester Lenten Prayer and Fast for an End to the Iraq War

As Roman Catholics who love the Church, we listened closely to Pope John Paul II who called the 2003 Iraq War “a defeat for humanity” and to Pope Benedict XVI who said, “There were not sufficient reasons to unleash a war against Iraq,” and went on to say, “We should be asking ourselves if it is still licit to admit the very existence of a just war.”

We remember that, despite the Vatican’s clear opposition to the Iraq War, only one American Bishop, Most Rev. John Michael Botean, condemned it. In a 2003 Lenten Pastoral Letter, Bishop Botean called the Iraq War “objectively grave evil, a matter of mortal sin.”

On March 19, the Iraq War will enter its fifth year. More than 150,000 Iraqi civilians and nearly 4,000 American soldiers have perished. Hundreds of thousands of our sisters and brothers have been injured, orphaned, or left homeless.

We cannot help but wonder if this war could have been prevented with a stronger voice of opposition from all of us in the American Catholic Church. We admit our own complicity by our failure to raise our own voices more forcefully. But, even now, we believe that the voice of our Church can help end the bloodshed.

jagerstatter.jpgTherefore, inspired by the witness of Blessed Franz Jagerstatter, we join concerned Catholics in twelve other dioceses around the United States to call for a Lenten prayer and fast for peace. Like Jagerstatter, the only known Roman Catholic to refuse service in Hitler’s military during World War II, we believe that the Church must not stay “silent in the face of what is happening.” Starting on Ash Wednesday, we invite all people of conscience to join us at Saint Paul’s Cathedral for midday Mass each weekday, followed by a peace vigil outside the church and, shortly thereafter, at the nearby United States Federal Building. We will conclude our prayer and fasting during Holy Week on March 19th with a special Catholic peace witness at the Federal Building.

We hope and pray that this witness in Worcester and other dioceses around the country will draw the Church closer to the nonviolent Christ and help our nation to end the Iraq War and Occupation.

Catonsville Nine: The 40th anniversary

On May 17, 1968, a group of Catholics now known as the “Catonsville Nine” went to the draft board in Catonsville, Maryland, took 378 draft files, brought them to the parking lot in wire baskets, dumped them out, poured homemade napalm over them, and set them on fire.

To remember the anniversary of this event, which continues to bear fruit today, we talked with Catonsville Nine member (and our housemate) Tom Lewis. Also part of the conversation is long-time peace activist Emeritus Professor Michael D. True, Ph.D. and Doctor of Humane Letters (honoris causa).

Jubilate Agno

“For I bless the PRINCE of PEACE and pray that all the guns may be nail’d up, save such are for the rejoicing days.”
–Christopher Smart, Jubilate Agno

Wow! Here’s a reading of Christopher Smart’s long, crazy, devotional poem “Jubilate Agno.” The readers are Frank Key and Germander Speedwell.

“It was written between 1758 and 1763, during which time Smart was incarcerated in Mr Potter’s private madhouse in Bethnal Green.”

mp3 link, more formats

Mr. Key’s Hooting Yard is at present my favorite podcast. If you like his reading voice but not his original writing, he’s also read a couple stories as part of the Escape Pod series, How Lonesome a Life Without Nerve Gas and Hesperia and Glory, both of them worth a listen.