Peace and Justice
Greetings to My
Franciscan Brothers.
Peace and
good to you!
In the
midst of General Visitation and preparations for our Provincial
Chapter in January, I believe there is excitement and hope for
our Province. These feelings are strengthened by the ordinations we
celebrated this summer, our September Jubilee celebration, and
Anthony's reelection as Minister Provincial. However, we also feel
concern for our future. We see church scandals that don't seem to go
away, the decline of vocations to the religious life and priesthood,
and a growing secularism that often does not encourage church
attendance, much less vocations.
As friars
filled with excitement, hope, and concern, I believe we need to
bring these feelings to our daily prayer. Because we are called to
be instruments of peace, we also recognize the need to share these
feelings with others so that they will feel comfortable to express
their hopes and feelings. Shortly before his death, Cardinal
Bernardin wisely reminded us: "People do not want today's priests
and religious to be CEOs, politicians, or business persons. Rather,
they want us to be with them in their moments of joy, struggle,
illness, and sorrow, and to be at peace in sharing their feelings
with God and each other." At this point, you may be asking: "Why is
Brad writing all this?"
The reason
is because, in the last two weeks, I have felt a strong sense of
excitement, hope, and concern. As I watched the anniversary of 9-11,
I was encouraged by our remembrance of those who lost their lives
and moved by the families who grieve their loss. But, I also feel
concern for our future and our vulnerability to further attacks.
These feelings are compounded by the tragedy surrounding the Gulf
Coast after Hurricane Katrina. I feel proud to see so many reaching
out to their sisters and brothers in need with financial aid in
excess of $800 million. At the same time, I feel concern for our
vulnerability to future natural disasters and our inability to help
so many in harm's way. And finally, oil and gas prices continue to
climb by the week with an economic impact on everyone. We are not
alone. In Ireland I paid as much as $1.50 a liter for gas,
equivalent to close to six dollars a gallon in the United States.
My
brothers, our future leaves us with many concerns. First and
foremost, as I wrote earlier, I hope that we bring these concerns to
our prayer, to be those good examples of faith and hope for our
world. When I pray, I try to share three primary feelings with God:
"I feel most hopeful when...; I feel most afraid when...; and, my
greatest concern for the church, for the world, is..."
Along with
prayer, I also believe we need information to guide good decision
making. Beginning in this newsletter and continuing in the following
one, I will share information concerning oil companies and their
impact on the economy and the global environment. The first article
entitled, "Oil, Gas, and Coal," was written by the agency known as
Corporate
Watch. In the next
newsletter I will present more specific information on the oil
companies that are helping the environment and those whose standards
are unacceptable.
Let us
continue to reach out to all in need, to care for our environment,
to pray, and to gather information to make good decisions. In this
way we will make a difference in these challenging days for our
country and our world. May God bless you all. You remain in my
thoughts and prayers.
Your Brother,
Brad
Fr. Brad
Baldwin, T.O.R.
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