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JUSTICE JOTTINGS
November 2024
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A Prayer for a Heavy World
by Kaitlin Curtice
O God,
this morning when we woke to your presence in and around us,
we also woke to a heavy world,
and in this world, we can’t make sense of all the things
that are wrong and should be made right.
We cannot fathom that people are judged on the color of their skin,
that lives are worth less because their pockets are empty,
that violence is an everyday occurrence,
and it seems that no place is safe.
So when we wake to the sunrise and know that you are still good,
teach us what it means to seek goodness when the world is dark.
O God,
teach us what it means to live in grace — not just for ourselves,
but for the collective whole.
We have been individuals for far too long,
and in that individualism, we’ve forgotten how to hold each other.
We need to return again to a love that holds together community —
A love based on the way we belong to each other,
the practice of Ubuntu, a return to our wholeness
based on compassion toward others.
And in that returning, we find that you are always bringing us back,
Not to a world in which we do not see color or class,
but into a world in which we see it and believe that
sacred love is the imprint on everyone and everything, anyway.
O God,
in a heavy world, we need to remember that we belong to each other,
And in that remembering, that we belong to you.
Teach us.
Teach us because the future depends on it.
Remind us, we pray. Amen.
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MSJC's Reflection on the Elections and Our Work
In response to the 2024 US elections, whether you feel devastated, happy, sad, angry, hopeful (or any other feeling or combination there of), we want you to know that our work here at MSJC continues. We will continue to fight for a more just Marianist Family, Church, and world. We will continue to advocate for equity and fight for the inclusion of every person in our Church and society, because we know that we belong to one another. Like our founders, we will meet the challenges of the day head on and we will find a way forward - together.
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MSJC EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES | |
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Eating for Tomorrow: How Care for the Earth Calls us to Transform our Habits of Food Preparation and Consumption
What: Join the MSJC/MEEC Integral Ecology Team on Wednesday, December 4 for an interactive, 90-minute virtual workshop designed to engage you in dialogue and practical applications on building eating behaviors that are both healthy for you and gentle on the planet. Through brief presentations, collaborative activities and discussions, we will delve into the benefits of incorporating a "Meatless Monday" practice into our lives and explore the ethical, environmental, and health impacts of eating less meat. Framed in the Eating for Tomorrow documentary, Laudato Si' and Marianist Encounters Goals, we’ll discover practical and thought-provoking approaches to sustainable eating habits.
Presenter/Facilitator: Dr. Jennifer Dalton, DCN is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) and Licensed Dietitian (LD, Ohio) and a Marianist Educational Associate at the University of Dayton (UD). She is a Clinical Professor and Director of the Dietetics and Nutrition Programs in UD’s School of Education and Health Sciences and has a deep-seated commitment to providing empathetic, holistic integrative and functional nutrition care while fostering purpose driven healing spaces.
When: Wednesday, December 4 starting at: 8pm ET / 7pm CT / 6pm MT / 5pm PT / 3pm HT. Read more about this event and register below.
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MSJC REFLECTIONS & RESOURCES | |
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Transgender Day of Remembrance
Reflection
by Team Member Kori Pacyniak
Every year, on November 20, communities around the world come together to remember transgender and gender non-conforming people who have been lost to violence within the last year on Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR). These vigils are often marked with the reading of names and candles, honoring our transcestors who are no longer with us. I attended my first TDOR vigil on a chilly night in November of 2009, with light drizzle coming down. It started out at the Episcopal Church that I was interning while doing my MDiv. As the church filled up with a gender diverse community from all around Boston, some looked uncomfortable due to the harm often caused to trans people by religious institutions. Soon a candlelit procession begins from the church down Brighton Avenue to near where Rita Hester, a Black transgender woman whose death in 1998 prompted the first vigils in Boston and San Francisco, lived. Candles to brighten the way, to remind us all of hope in the midst of despair. As we reached our destination, I realized that we had moved from one sacred space to another; the street corner has become just as sacred as the church. Slowly, reverently, the names of all the transgender people lost to violence within the last year were read. It became a litany, a prayer for those we’ve lost, and a voice echoing through my soul to bear witness. To not turn away. It reminds me of the passion, of the witness of the women at the foot of the cross. The moment when Jesus turns to his mother and says, “Woman, there is your son.” And then Jesus turns to the beloved disciple and says, “There is your mother.” Every year on Trans Day of Remembrance, as a too long list of names is read, I hear Jesus’ voice: “Bear witness for me. This is your kin. Your sister. Your brother. Your sibling. These are my beloved. Do not let any one of these be lost. For they are precious to me.”
Right now, in the wake of the 2024 election, the trans community is shaken and afraid, because of anti-trans rhetoric cloaked in religious values coming at us from all sides. Afraid because of the 664 anti-trans pieces of legislation that have been proposed in 43 states in 2024 alone. Afraid because we do not know if our faith communities are safe places for us to live authentically as ourselves.
This Trans Day of Remembrance offers an opportunity for transgender allies, accomplices, and co-conspirators. To learn about the history of Trans Day of Remembrance. To learn about local legislation and policies in your area and how they affect trans adults and youth. To listen to the stories of trans folks. To stand side by side with us in our grief, fear, and anger. To remind us that we have allies in the battle for our survival. To remind us that we are loved and beloved by God and by our communities. Paraphrasing the words of theologian Sallie McFague, “Great action requires great faith.” Both great faith and great action will be needed in the days ahead, as we face the unknown. We must protect trans children so that they are able to grow into trans adults. We must recognize the face of God in the face of our trans siblings. These are our siblings, friends, lovers, children, grandchildren, parents. It will require all of us, working together in solidarity, to stand up to the injustice of anti-trans rhetoric and legislation and help bring about a world where our trans siblings are not merely tolerated, but where they can flourish to the fullest.
On this Trans Day of Remembrance, I offer this prayer:
God of grief and lament. God who hears our cries and knows our innermost hearts. Be with us in our grief and sadness. Be with us in our anger and lament. Remind us that every one of us, in all our gender diversity, reflects Your boundless wonder. Help us to listen with open hearts, to be transformed by Your love, and to never cease working for justice in Your name. Amen.
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DEATH PENALTY ABOLITION AND RESTORATIVE JUSTICE | |
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President Joe Biden needs to follow through on his 2020 campaign promise to end the federal death penalty. Each of us is asked to consider signing a petition that urges President Biden to commute the sentences of the 40 men currently on federal death row, before the President leaves office in January.
In his 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis addressed the moral problem of capital punishment by citing St. John Paul II, writing that his predecessor "stated clearly and firmly that the death penalty is inadequate from a moral standpoint and no longer necessary from that of penal justice." Echoing the teaching he clarified in his 2018 revision of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis wrote, "Today we state clearly that 'the death penalty is inadmissible' and the church is firmly committed to calling for its abolition worldwide." Here is a video of Pope Francis' prayer to abolish the death penalty everywhere.
President-elect Trump resumed federal executions during his first term, after a pause of nearly two decades. In a resurgence of government-sanctioned violence at the federal level, Mr. Trump carried out 13 executions in the last six months of his first term. On the 2024 campaign trail, Mr. Trump spoke of death penalty expansions and expeditious executions. Contact President Biden to spare the 40 lives on federal death row that now hang in the balance.
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Advent Resources
Advent 2024 Resources Compiled by Catholic Climate Covenant: Including a Simplicity Challenge from Ignatian Solidarity Network, Maryknoll’s One Family of God scripture based reflections and prayers, Catholic Relief Services CRS Advent Wreath prayers,
Advent Conspiracy: Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, Love All and more!
Marianist Environmental Education Center (MEEC)
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Virtual Christmas Card Store - Select from images including Marianist and local Artists, Mount Saint John nature photos & Marian Library collections shipped to you. All with verses of hope inspired by Scripture, Laudato si and other spiritual writers.
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Winter Solstice Sunrise Celebration and Prayer For Peace - Friday, December 20th, 2024, 6:30 - 8 am. We will observe the longest night of the year with prayers for our transformation as bearers of hope, peace and reconciliation and a reflective candlelight procession through the woods of Mount Saint John. A bonfire in the prairie at sunrise will welcome the Prince of Peace. Hot beverages and a light breakfast provided. Free-will offerings welcome. At Mount St. John, 4435 East Patterson Road, Dayton, 45430. Park in Lot C. Sponsored by the Marianist Environmental Education Center (MEEC). RSVP to: 937/429-3582 or info@meec.center.
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Marianist Meatless Mondays
Below are 5 new meatless recipes to try in November/December a frittata, oatmeal cake, Waldorf salad, vegan walnut tofu, and a creamy lasagna soup. You can still sign up to participate in Meatless Mondays here.
We are collecting recipes for our Marianist Family! Have an amazing vegetarian or vegan recipe you love? Please send it to us at info@marianistsjc.net.
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