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Dear Brothers,
May God give you peace.
It is an honor to be your new Justice and Peace director.� Thank you
to the Provincial Council for giving me this role.� Thank you to
Brad Baldwin
who has carried it for the last four years.
I
remember a few years ago not knowing what peace and justice was all
about.� Why did the two words go together as one?� I received some
insight recently about this when the Nobel Peace Prize winner was an
economist, a Bangladeshi who enabled poor women to receive loans to
build small enterprises.� Here economic justice brings peace. My
ministry at Saint Bridget�s and life in Minneapolis has helped me to
understand why peace and justice not only fit together but are
integral to the gospel and our Franciscan way of life.� Meeting a
poor man who works hard cleaning offices to support his family but
can never get ahead with the low wages and few benefits he receives
teaches me about justice.� Talking to a Mexican woman who struggles
in similar conditions at a grocery store teaches me about justice.�
The immigrant boy who grew up in the United States but still has no
papers and cannot afford college at triple the tuition teaches me
about justice.� While these injustices exist, peace cannot happen.
These days I am working on environmental justice, organizing with
our Secular Franciscans the showing of the movie �An Inconvenient
Truth� to open people�s awareness of global warming.� I am proud
that our brother
Pat
Foley was part
of a recent radio panel discussion on this important topic.� The
movie confirms how often the heaviest effect of pollution is felt in
poor neighborhoods and countries.�
I
am also working with an inter-faith group to promote community
benefits for expensive developments such as the Twins Stadium.� We
are organizing a coalition to demand that those of us who pay taxes
toward the construction of this ballpark have a right to determine
that jobs and contracts coming from this ought to be given to those
most in need.
I
am passionate about this type of justice work.� I feel it deeply as
part of my Franciscan vocation and pray that I exhibit that part of
me whenever I minister.� I hope you join me in some of these
pursuits and I welcome your assistance and suggestions.� We have a
unique opportunity to show the world how Francis of Assisi inspires
our call toward peace and justice today.
����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Bro. John Kerr, T.O.R.
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