
##4050862 As we look ahead to recovery from the present financial and economic crisis , we must ask ourselves : Do we return to business as usual ? Or is this a moment when a re-envisioning of the economy is both possible and necessary ? Some would argue that President Obama is already trying to change the social compact from an emphasis on opportunity to an emphasis on fairness . Others , however , look at the economic team the president has gathered and conclude that it includes the same Wall Street professionals who got us into this mess . Still others , myself included , think that the world will never be the same . The consumer-led growth of the past is not viable in a world where every country wants to have the same consumer society , because the demand on natural resources and the environmental strain would be too great . There is no single Catholic response to all of these issues , but Catholic social thought provides guidance for distinctive Catholic responses . Beyond Consumption Catholic social thought is rooted in a commitment to certain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need for human freedom and participation , the importance of community and the nature of the common good . These values are drawn from a belief that each person is called to be a co-creator with God , participating in the redemption of the world and the furthering of God 's kingdom . From these values emerge two central principles : a special concern for the poor and powerless , which leads to a criticism of political and economic structures that oppress them ; and a concern for certain human rights against the collectivist tendencies of the state and the neglect of the free market . Among the reasons to be concerned about consumptiondriven growth are three prominent points in Catholic social thought . First , excessive consumption by some individuals and nations while other individuals and nations suffer from want is morally unacceptable . A passage from Pope Paul VI illustrates the point : " ... the superfluous wealth of rich countries should be placed at the service of poor nations .... Otherwise their continued greed will certainly call down upon them the judgment of God and the wrath of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) . Second , excessive consumption threatens the earth 's environment , which is also morally unacceptable . Pope John Paul II has written : " Equally worrying is the ecological question which accompa- nies the problem of con- sumerism and which is closely connected to it . In his desire to have and to enjoy rather than to be and to grow , man consumes the resources of the earth and his own life in an excessive and distorted way " ( Centesimus Annus , No. 37 ) . Third , treating material consumption as the primary goal of life - that is , focusing on having instead of being - is seen as detrimental to human dignity . Pope John Paul II has written that " all of us experience firsthand the sad effects of this blind submission to pure consumerism : in the first place a crass materialism , and at the same time a radical dissatisfaction because one quickly learns ... that the more one possesses the more one wants , while deeper aspirations remain unsatisfied and perhaps even stifled " ( Sollicitudo Ret Socialis , No. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , we have sound philosophical principles and general guidelines for policy , but any re-envisioning of the economy remains vague and fuzzy . What is needed are specific policies that flow from the Catholic principles . Below I outline seven such policies . 1 . Re-regulation . The main thrust of public policy since the Reagan administration has been to free up markets by deregulation , tax cuts and the reduction or elimination of social programs . The result has been frequent federal deficits , a dramatic increase in inequality of income and wealth , periodic financial scandals , decay of public services and infrastructure , and the current collapse of the financial services sector . Today , the role of government needs to be rethought . Catholic social teaching insists that " government has a moral function : protecting human rights and securing basic justice for all members of the commonwealth " Pacem in Terris , Nos. 60-62 ) . At a minimum this means government must restructure and regulate the financial sector , protect the rights of workers and find ways of using intermediate institutions like churches to deliver @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of government . The U.S. bishops ' pastoral letter Economic Justice for All ( 1986 ) argues in its very first paragraph ( No. 1 ) that every perspective on economic life that is truly human , moral and Christian must be shaped by three questions : What does the economy do for people ? What does it do to people ? And how do people participate in it ? These questions should be asked at each and every level of government before any economic policy is enacted or undertaken , paying special attention to the economy 's impact on the poor and powerless ( No. 24 ) . Weighting costs and benefits with mone- tary values alone means that the access road will always be put through the poor neighborhood , not the well-off one . Cost- benefit analysis studies need to be restructured in order to answer these questions . 3 . Full employment . In a market economy , employment and access to wealth - is necessary to one 's identity as a human being . We do not ask someone , " Who are you ? " @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ am a professor or a carpenter . I work for General Motors or the University of Notre Dame . Therefore , whether through a public employment program or job tax credits to the private sector , a top policy priority must be to guarantee a job to everyone willing and able to work . We should also provide adjustment-assistance to those who lose their jobs because of changes in competitive position , and we should make every effort to keep open plants that can be operated efficiently . A host of other policies are also possible : targeted jobs programs , education and training programs to equip workers with the skills needed for the future , daycare centers for employed parents , and so on . 4 . Universal health care . Human dignity demands that basic health care be available to all . How we do this is less important than that we do it . My personal preference is to detach health care insurance from jobs , because it is a burden individual businesses should not have to bear . The best way to organize a universal system is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ almost nine million patients , might provide important lessons . Their high performance as an H.M.O. has been attributed to three practices . First , they place a strong emphasis on preventative care , which reduces costs later on . Second , their doctors are salaried instead of paid by fee for service , which removes the incentive to perform unnecessary procedures . Finally , they strive to minimize the time patients spend in high-cost hospitals by advance planning and by providing for care in clinics . This results in cost savings and greater physician attention to patients . And any restructuring of medicine needs to shift the focus from high-tech medicine for the few to basic medicine for all . 5 . Energy conservation . The most dangerous conflict and the one most difficult to resolve is that between traditional patterns of economic growth and environmental systems . Because we are stewards of the earth , any program for future economic improvement must be based on a wiser use of natural resources and more attention to the impact on environmental systems . At this point particular attention must be paid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ toxic waste . Increased taxation of gasoline and carbon is likely necessary to force conservation . And the additional revenue might also provide new opportunities for combating the federal budget deficit and aid subsidies to public transport that could make it cheaper than private transport . This would bring further energy savings . 6 . Globalization . Catholic social teaching calls us to recognize that all the peoples of the world are our brothers and sisters . As a result we can not pursue " beggar thy neighbor " policies in international trade and aid while constructing domestic economic solutions . In addition , Pope John Paul II has argued for social intervention on the international level " to promote development , an effort which also involves sacrificing the positions of income and power enjoyed by the more developed countries " ( GA , No. 52 ) . To carry out this effort , " it is not enough to draw on the surplus goods which in fact our world abundantly produces : it requires above all a change of life-styles , of models of production and consumption , and of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( No. 58 ) . This strikes at the heart of a consumption-oriented market system . 7 . The church and subsidiarity . A principal objective of publicly proclaimed laws and regulations is to stigmatize certain types of behavior and to reward other types , thereby influencing individual values and behavior codes . Aristode understood this : " Lawgivers make the citizens good by inculcating habits in them , and this is the aim of every lawgiver ; if he does not succeed in doing that , his legislation is a failure . It is in this that a good constitution differs from a bad one . " While families , peer groups , churches and schools play the most important role in shaping behavior and inculeating values , public laws have a role to play as well . While civil law , for example , can not make people stop holding racist beliefs , it can stop them from engaging in certain types of racist behavior . Over time that behavior ( refusing service in a restaurant , for example ) becomes delegitimized in public opinion . Short-Term Sojourners At @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which vests sovereignty in the state limited only by individual rights . A more communitarian view requires that sovereignty be shared with intermediate groups . Much work must be done at the lower levels , too . The church as an institution must honor its own employees ' rights to organize and to participate . It needs to educate its people in Catholic social thought , includ- ing their obligations as persons and as citizens to feed the hun- gry , house the homeless and so on . The promotion of soup kitchens and Catholic Worker houses and lobbying for social service needs are responsibili- ties that the laity should be urged to take on to a greater degree . Much is already being done , but more is needed . All well and good , some would say , but how can we get these policies enacted and bring the church to change its ways ? I do not know . It will require us as a people to rethink the type of society we want for ourselves , our children and our grandchildren . Resource shortages and environmental limits @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . Globalization is leading to a multipolar world in which the United States no longer controls events economically or militarily . If this makes it possible for the United States to reduce its policing function around the world , lowered defense spending can help pay for the needed health care reforms and other public investments , such as those for infrastructure . Finally , we must remember that as Christians we are short-term sojourners in this world . It is a temporary dwelling place , where we reside not as citizens with full rights but as aliens or pilgrims whose true home is in a city to come . The church 's tendency to provide religious legitimation to the debilitating and sometimes lethal workings of the market and/or the state must be resisted . Instead , the members of Christ 's body must mount a critique of the iniquities of both the market and the state , and carry out their obligation to love and serve God and their neighbor. 
##4050863 The Solanus Casey Center is an urban oasis on Detroit 's east side , situated among signs of death and decay . Much of the surrounding neighborhood is a distressing collection of crumbling homes and vacant lots , stark reminders of the 1967 summer riots when Detroit burned . To the west is Mt . Elliot Cemetery , one of the largest Christian burial grounds in the city . As desolate as it is , this setting is an ideal location for a memorial to Venerable Solanus Casey , a Capuchin Franciscan who devoted his life to serving the city 's poor , sick , outcast and suffering people . Father Solanus had an ability to see potential and beauty in people and situations where others saw only human refuse and devastation . The city of Detroit itself is much in need of realizing the potential it holds beneath its grimy exterior , and Father Solanus would make an especially appropriate patron saint . Bernard Francis Casey , known as Barney , was born in Prescott , Wis. , on Nov. 25 , 1870 , to an Irish @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a momentary experience of the brutality of the world that radically shifted his concept of life . While at work as a trolley conductor in Superior , Wis. , he once saw a drunken sailor standing over a woman lying on the tracks ; the sailor held a knife in his hand and yelled at the woman , threatening her life . Casey realized that this incident was not an isolated one - that the world was full of such violence . He also realized he wanted to make things better . He prayed for the sailor and his victim , and a few days later told his pastor that he wanted to become a priest . At St. Francis De Sales diocesan seminary in Milwaukee , Casey floundered academically in courses taught in Latin and in German . After four years there he was advised to enter a religious order instead . He entered the Capuchins at St. Bonaventure 's Monastery in Detroit on Christmas Eve 1896 . He received the habit and took the name Francis Solanus , by which he would be known for the rest of his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ academic work during formation would prove an impediment to full priestly status , so they ordained him a " simplex " priest , one who could neither preach nor hear confessions officially . He performed rudimentary duties like serving as porter at the monastery . Yet Solanus fully embraced his mission and greeted each person with such joy and respect that it evolved into a ministry of hospitality and spiritual counsel . Because of his gentle nature , which put people at ease and encouraged even the despairing to hope , Solanus earned the nickname " the holy priest . " The Counsellor Father Solanus 's caring presence and reputation for listening intently to each person also drew thousands to the monastery . " Do we appreciate the little faith we have ? " Solanus once asked a friend . " Do we ever beg God for more ? " Solanus counseled his visitors to do both . He welcomed alcoholies and the homeless in the same way he welcomed local dignitaries like Mayor Frank Murphy . By looking beyond the superficial - a person 's drunkenness , addiction , poverty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reflection as " beloved " in God 's eyes . One person who made the short pilgrimage across town to St. Bonaventure 's was my grandmother 's sister , Mary Louise . She brought my aunt Debby as an infant to Father Solanus because the child suffered from a painful skin condition , and home remedies had proved inadequate . Soon after the visit to Father Solanus , Debby 's skin cleared up . When I recently heard my Great-aunt Mary Louise recount this story , I was amazed not only by the outcome , but by her faith in the humble Solanus , whom she still reveres . During the Great Depression , unemployed men lined up outside St. Bonaventure 's asking for food ; Solanus helped to provide soup and sandwiches . Soon the few dozen men the Capuchins fed each day grew to hundreds . Father Solanus worked at the soup kitchen , recruited volunteers and elsewhere begged for food and funds to keep the kitchen open . One day food supplies ran short and the staff became concerned that a riot might break out . Solanus assured @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the line to join in praying the Our Father . Within minutes a bakery truck pulled up , full of donations for the soup kitchen . " Nobody will starve as long as you put your confidence in God , " said Solanus . Today the spirit of Solanus Casey is alive at the Capuchin soup kitchen , which has found new ways - like the Earthworks project - to peel back the surface of blight and expose the richness and potential within . One of the first of its kind , the Earthworks project grows hundreds of pounds of food each season on 1.5 acres of urban garden , some of it to feed the homeless and some to sell for revenue . Earthworks is not only an agricultural endeavor but also a community develop- ment project like dozens of others sprouting up around the city . Neighbors cooperate to clear vacant land ( some formerly occupied by a crack house ) and recruit local kids to lend a hand and make connections with the earth . To gaze upon soil permeated with pollution ( the E.P.A . calls them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Father Solanus . Soon a Saint ? Solanus long practiced his ministry of presence , listening and praying . He never turned people away ; in fact , he wanted to see them as soon as they arrived , even at the expense of his own plans . But the ministry exhausted him . Sometimes he would fall asleep while praying in the monastery chapel and startle his fellow Capuchins when he awoke and sat upright in the pew . When Father Solanus passed away on July 31 , 1957 , people lined up for two straight days to view his body before burial . Detroit had lost a saint . It was inevitable that the cause for Solanus 's canonization would be introduced , considering how much he was loved and the thousands of people he had helped . A petition to begin the process was filed under Cardinal John Dearden in 1981 . Six years later , Solanus 's body was exhumed and found to be intact . It was transferred to a new coffin and reinterred in a tomb beneath the floor of St. Bonaventure 's , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Center . Each year hundreds of people visit , leaving their requests for prayers and favors on folded pieces of paper above Solanus 's tomb . In 1995 Pope John Paul II declared Father Solanus " venerable . " His cause for beatification , according to Richard Merling , O.F.M.Cap , director of the Father Solanus Guild , requires one medically verified healing miracle . A number of documented miracles have been sent to Rome , and the guild is awaiting approval . If Solanus is canonized soon , he could become the first U.S.-born male saint . Detroit has suffered for a long time , and recent financial problems , a crumbling urban infrastructure and a corrupt former mayor have deflated the spirits of many residents . If Father Solanus were alive , he would be saddened , I think , but he would not stand idle . No , he would encourage people to search for the budding grace of God , present among them like a lone flower in bloom among the weeds and trash of an abandoned city lot . 
##4050864 Growing up , I never knew much about Australia . I once had a boomerang - never could make it come back . I guess I had seen pictures of kangaroos . That was about it . For me the world extended only as far as my aunts had traveled . In my mind I could see the Tower of London , its hanging chains and flesh-eating crows ; I watched players strut about , waxing eloquent on the Globe stage ; and I drove a winding road through the green hills of Ireland . But Australia might as well have been Mars . And so it remained until about a year ago , when I was sent along with 10 other Jesuits from around the world to Sydney , Australia , to begin the final stage of my formal training as a Jesuit . The purpose of the assignment was part seasoning , part renewal . Put down your packs and spend seven months with other young Jesuits , reflect on your Uves in the Society and deepen your relationships with God and with his people . @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ program had a great reputation , but there were similar programs for Jesuits all over the world , including several in the United States . You Have Now Left Kansas When we arrived in Pymble , a town north of Sydney , in late January of last year , it looked like any affluent American suburb - stately houses , quiet neighborhoods , parks . Our community residence rested on a verdant , wooded piece of property about 20 minutes from the ocean and 30 from Sydney proper . It was once a school where young Australian Jesuits studied theology ; today it serves as a retreat house , a retirement community and a home for those who have just entered the Society and also for us . From the walls generations of former residents grinned at us . It all seemed comparable to what you might find in the States , I thought late that first day , as I sat outside snacking on cookies and wondering if it was going to rain . Then a flock of enormous white cockatoos shot from the trees screaming . Cutting down through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of pomaded greasers , their beaks opening and closing greedily as they eyed my treat . At dinner I could barely follow the conversation , just bits and pieces here and there when the older men slowed down between explosions of sound filled with laughter and madcap energy . As for the food : I discovered that the Australian spread with the dangerous-sounding name Vegemite , which I put on my bread , though it looked like creamy dark chocolate , actually tasted like deep -salted yeast . As the sun set , a sound like monkeys laughing hysterically came from the trees behind our house . The States ? I do n't think so . Welcome to Oz . Australia 101 During our first weeks together , the 11 of us and our directors eased in , told stories to one another of the jobs we had done , the ways we had entered the Society , our families . We took it slow , leaving harder things , the more brittle parts of ourselves , for later conversations . We came to find in one another a place of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Under , Bill Bryson 's fascinating travelogue about his adventures through the land , the people and the history of Australia . Australia , it turns out , is a funny combination of old and young . As a landmass it is ancient , much of it worn away to red desert over millions of years . Its first settlers , the Aborigines , arrived by sea between 45,000 and 60,000 years ago , probably from what today we know as the Indonesian archipelago . Their use of boats put them roughly 30,000 years ahead of the rest of the world . As a nation , though , Australia is quite young . The British first landed a ship here in 1780 , roughly three centuries after Columbus arrived in the Americas . When the First Fleet - 11 ships consisting of 729 convicts banished to spend the rest of their lives in Australia and 160 marines landed near Sydney on Jan. 18 , 1788 , the United States had already become an independent state . Australia 's British colonies federated into their own country in 1901 . Today Australia has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and two territories on a piece of land that is roughly the same size as the continental United States . If you were to lay Australia over the United States , it would stretch horizontally from Los Angeles to Detroit and vertically from Seattle to Mexico City . Yet most people Uve on its coasts ; over 13 million inhabitants ( nearly 60 percent ) live in and around the coastal capital cities alone . In describing Australia , Bryson frequendy returned to the number of different species here that can kill you . Forget lions and tigers and bears ; here live some of the most dangerous spiders and crocodiles and sea creatures in the world . The box jellyfish , for instance , is six to eight inches long and feeds on tiny shrimp , but it is the deadliest creature on the planet . One momentary brush with its venomous tentacles , and you really ca n't ever go home again . Near the Great Barrier Reef there are also critters living in cone shells that will poison you if you pick them up . We 're talking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ book , I was hungry to know more of this world . And I had decided never to go swimming . Sydney Our lives in Pymble took on a certain rhythm . We prayed together each morning our chairs set in a circle around a candle flame . Seminars were held on community life , intimacy , the history and character of the Society of Jesus . We became connoisseurs of food courts , movie houses and the Chatswood Mall . Sydney was just a train ride away ; but nestled away comfortably in suburbia in those early months , most of us were hobbits in our holes , content to devour our second breakfasts and enjoy a cup of tea with lunch , some port , a morsel ( or two ) of dark chocolate and some television after dinner . Eventually , though , each of us found his way into the city for one reason or another . For me , it was to stand in awe before that seashell , ship 's sail wonder , the Sydney Opera House . I arrived by train on a blue-sky @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Circular Quay . After a short stroll there it was before me , Jem Utzon 's Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning work , shining white in the sun and looking ... well , a little small , actually . But probably that was the shock of being " in the postcard , " rather than looking at it . I walked slowly around the base , waiting for the angle that would bowl me over . Off to the left , the Harbour Bridge , the world 's widest long-span bridge and tallest arch bridge , bowed across the water , another jewel of Australia . Yet no matter how long I stood there , it , too , did little for me . I went home puzzled at what I could not see . Occasion brought me back to the Harbour many times : a walk through the Royal Botanic Gardens at dusk , just as bats with the wingspans of jumbo jets threw themselves from branch-swinging slumbers into the air around me ; a hilarious evening with classmates drinking beer and eating pizzas topped with kangaroo and crocodile meat ; a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I noticed more - the curves and sudden sharp edges of the Opera House ; the stately , understated arc and unexpected hues of the bridge ; and the majesty of the harbor itself , an astonishing panoply of lovely , unique inlets , bays and beaches that can not be taken in all at once . I spent most of one Indian summer afternoon and an evening sitting on a bench on the Harbour Bridge , looking out on a million boats sailing the harbor . Sunset cast the curls of the distant shoreline in reds and yellows and purples , homes in the distance glowing a brilliant pearl white . In the evening the Opera House shone like a jewel surrounded by the myriad twinkling pinpoints of the city lights . If you ever travel to Australia , come and sit here on a summers day . ( Really ) Far From the Madding Crowd After some months together , the 11 of us were sent to parishes and schools to serve as spiritual guides for people interested in making a retreat . Each of us had been asked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ exactly an easy choice when you are in an enormous country and you want to see everything . But the image that came to me was of a stone in hand , thrown as hard and as far as you could - " hucked , " we would have said as kids . No urban setting for me , thank you ; fling me wide , as far out as I could go . I was sent to Cobar , an outback community of about 5,000 people in western New South Wales . Cobar is a mining town 10 hours by bus and train from Sydney ; the phrase " back of Bourke , " Australian slang for " the middle of nowhere , " refers to an actual town just two more hours farther on . In the middle of my first week , the parish priest took me to Wilcannia , the next town over . It was a 150-mile drive away . In between , we saw absolutely nothing - no towns , no rest stops , no gas stations , just lots of low brushy trees and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The parish of St. Lawrence O ' Toole , where I worked was a lovely , welcoming community with a grade school where the kids wore broad floppy hats and with parishioners who laughed readily at my bad jokes and the way I said " mate . " Twice each week 10 members of the parish came to talk individually with me about their relationships with God . Supposedly I was there to help , but mostly I watched in awe as God entered into their lives in very specific and individual ways . It was as though God had been waiting for so long to have this time with them . On my off day each week the parish priest took me into different parts of the area . I had imagined the outback would offer a sprawling landscape of red soil and blue sky stretching as far as the eye could see - like the Badlands of South Dakota , maybe - strange , otherworldly . In fact , the bush chokes the horizon like giant weeds . From the road you can not see much of anything but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ times you almost feel as though you are in a tunnel . And off the road it 's more and more of the same . Stifling , horrible . Yet with time , absent a view , a focal point and perspective , you become aware that you are within something much bigger than yourself . Perspective , you discover , gives a sense of mastery , of power . Now you are in something you can not tame . In the Aboriginal rite of passage known as " walkabout , " as I have read about it , the young man who agrees to wander into the outback for six months goes forward with no clear destination in mind . It is a dangerously foolish plan , considering how inhospitable the environment can be ; but being out there one begins to see the sense of it . The whole concept of a path is ridiculous ; there are no tracks that lead anywhere , no straight line that will not get bent and bent and bent again by the sameness of the terrain , no way to avoid being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is to give yourself over to it and let it happen . The months that followed brought many other treasures : 30 days spent mak- ing the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius in silence , learning to wait for God amid the golden vine-swept hills and burning sun- sets of the wine country of South Australia ; the full-on , five-senses dining astonishment that is a trucker 's breakfast in the small town of Hay ; five brilliant , challenging weeks in Melbourne ; soaring eucalyptus trees , tiny purple wildflowers and nights in which I lost myself in black velvet heavens scattered with the whitest of stars . Most gifts led back to the same : being led into a world I could not navigate , had not imagined , " a sunburnt country , " as the poet Dorothea Mackellar describes Australia , a bewildering land of " beauty and terror , " and finding it to be the face of God . When the 11 of us finally parted , seven months after we had first met , it was with embraces and even some tears . Who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ever ? In one another 's company and in this land of Australia , we had found support and God 's grace . Now it was time to pick up our packs and go walkabout again . 
##4050865 With the opening of the Flannery O'Connor archives at Emory University in 2007 , and now the publication of the first major biography , by Brad Gooch ( Flannery , reviewed Am-3/30-4/6 ) , many people are rediscovering this enigmatic Southern Catholic writer . What we have known for a while may not sparkle , but it still intrigues . Flannery O'Connor was devoutly Roman Catholic in a rigidly Bible-belt South . An only child , she was adored by her father , who died when she was in high school . Flannery inherited his lupus and died herself before the age of 40 . For a brief time , she had a romance with a traveling Bible salesman , which later inspired her story , " Good Country People . " She lived most of her years on the family farm in Georgia in an eccentric style , surrounded by her mother , friends who came to visit , and the peacocks , ducks , geese and chickens that she often trained . O'Connor was a storyteller whose characters represent the strangest sort of people on earth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ parts in us all . " We 're all grotesque , " O'Connor confidently said in answer to a question about why her characters were odd , often even physically disfigured . She wrote about what needs forgiving in human life and often depicted violence to do so . O'Connor once expressed admiration for a local Georgia pastor who pinned a real lamb to a wooden cross and then slaughtered it before the eyes of his congregation as a teaching lesson . She also believed that Protestants understood the Mass in ways that were lost on many of her fellow Catholics . O'Connor felt that it was necessary to shock . " When you can assume that your authence holds the same beliefs you do , " she said , " you can relax a little and use more normal ways of talking to it ; when you have to assume that it does not , then you have to make your vision apparent by shock - to the hard of hearing you shout , and for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures . " I recently asked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of short stories , Say You 're One of Them , was likewise shocking in its portrayal of violence in the lives of children in Africa , for his thoughts on this odd regional American author . " I 'm fascinated " he said , " by her incredible understanding of the dynamics of sin and grace in the modern world . I find her work very sacramental and powerful . I 'm happy , too , that she was a person of faith who refrained from writing didactic and saccharine stuff . " O'Connor 's South is sacramental . In " The River " a drowning becomes a kind of baptism . In other tales , small and everyday acts of violence become means of grace , refuting the heresy that sees the world as dualistic . Various groups - including many modern spiritual writers - have argued that the material or created world is somehow necessarily evil , while the spiritual world that fights against it from without rather than from within is inherently good . And so , the theory goes , the more spiritual we become the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . O'Connor sees it differently . She constructs characters who encounter grace in the midst of what is considered most material and base . Grace is impossible , in an O'Connor story , apart from what we encounter in and through our bodies in the midst of the mess , but more importantly , in the darkness of life . Several of Flannery O'Connor 's stories have been made into films . In the 1970s , a few Chicago-based artists produced short films from her short stories ; these are often available in VHS format at public libraries . More notable is the feature film made by Universal Studios and directed by John Huston in 1979 : " Wise Blood . " With a screenplay written by Benedict Fitzgerald , the son of O'Connor 's best friends , Sally and Robert Fitzgerald , " Wise Blood " is faithful to the novel of the same name . Starring Huston himself and Ned Beatty , it tells the hilarious story of Hazel Motes , a young ambitious , uneducated man who is determined to be successful after remrning from a war . @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way to succeed is to become a country preacher ( he believes he 'll succeed because a cab driver has already mistaken him for one ) . We see Motes attempt to establish what he calls " The Church of Truth Without Jesus . " The film communicates the central themes of O'Connor 's work : the messiness of revelation , that Christ came to reach sinners , that gross sin has a better chance than prim righteousness does of leading to sublime revelation . " Wise Blood " was released on DVD last month . " Good Country People " - that tale of a Bible salesman who has a brief affair with a well-educated woman with a wooden leg - was made into a short film by Gary Graver , who went on to become a Hollywood cinematographer with Orson Welles . ( Graver also made " adult " films under a pseudonym ; the bizarre nature of O'Connor 's work attracts all sorts of people ! ) Today you can find Graver 's 10-minute black-and-white short , made in the 1960s , on YouTube . O'Connor 's stories @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ upsetting turns they take , always aiming toward some sort of revelation or salvation . Many people will remember another of her characters , The Misfit , from her story " A Good Man Is Hard to Find . " In the story , a bitter old grandmother reaches out to console a hardened criminal , The Misfit , just before he shoots her dead . Only after she has been murdered does the reader learn how she finally saw the truth . Sweet images for God are almost always torn down by O'Connor . We may see God as big and kindly , strong and comforting , warm and supportive , like an unconditional friend . But O'Connor shows us other sides to the divine-human relationship . The Christian becomes material in the hands of the sculptor , who will lop off and chip away as he sees fit . This is one reason for the strong reactions for and against O'Connor 's storytelling . We are not supposed to like what she shows us . Too often , our God has become domesticated , like a dog on a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the fact that we rarely see Jesus with nice , sophisticated , religious people . We more often see him handing out grace to the people he hangs out with : tax collectors , prostitutes , the sick , the flawed , the rejected and those who have to work so hard to make a living that they do not have time to study the Scriptures . The well-behaved and respectable were the people who most angered Jesus because they were fooling themselves and others . It is impossible , when reading O'Connor , to sustain the nonsense of popular television preachers like T. D. Jakes and Joel Osteen - that the closer we follow Christ the prettier we will become , the wealthier we will become , and the more friends we will have . Jesus says the opposite . One lasting problem surrounds O'Connor 's legacy . Her attitude toward people of color - in her case , her neighbor African -Americans in Georgia - has been trumpeted by some as enlightened and by others as typically racist for her time and place . She wrote a story @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 1955 - nine years before the Civil Rights Act ) , which can be seen through either lens . I asked an African-American Catholic storyteller friend of mine what she thinks . When Claudia Mair Burney first read " Everything That Rises Must Converge , " she was stunned by the " unblinking , hard look at racism . " But when she turned to O'Connor 's letters to " get to know her better , " she found another shock : " I came upon a letter in which she , as glibly as her characters , referred to African Americans as niggers . ' That single word illustrated how very different Ms. O'Connor and I were after all . I closed the book . " We will most likely never know Flannery O'Connor 's real attitudes toward race . Brad Gooch 's Flannery offers hints , but not many . This was a woman writer who was complicated . But even on this issue , Claudia Mair Burney 's experience with O'Connor shows how she can challenge and startle a reader to see things in a new way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , " and this time , I met myself coming and going . With increasing dis- comfort I found that I identified with the mother , son , and black woman wearing an identical hat . I am proud , nave , self-congratu- latory , angry , and guilty , though a part of me feels I 've done noth- ing wrong . I am as complicated as the story , characters , and O'Connor herself . Now I see that , like a double-edged sword , " Everything That Rises Must Converge , " with its violent climax and ending that results in a death , has the remarkable ability to slowly , and with deft blows , kill the racist within me. 
##4050866 Bush 's War In " A Death in the Family " ( 5/18 ) , David O'Brien seems to absolve George W. Bush of responsibility for the invasion of Iraq by saying it is not his war . Yet we invaded only because the Bush administration lied to us about the reason for the invasion . The fighting in Afghanistan can be called our war because we were attacked by elements in that country . The death of our service men and women is a tragedy , and their sacrifice must be appreciated . But those responsible for their deaths and the deaths of so many Iraqi civilians can not so easily be absolved . ( REV . ) FRANK ECKART Toledo , Ohio Give Me Scripture Thank you for your articles on liturgy and preaching ( 5/25 ) . I can appreciate , as Edward Foley , O.F.M.Cap. , points out ( " Scripture Alone ? " ) , that homilies do not always need to flow from the Scriptures . However , I personally long for a homily rooted in Scripture . Some of our younger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that would have us believe that church tradition began in the 19th century , that only the hierarchy receive the Holy Spirit and that there is but one social justice issue that merits attention . CAROLYN CAPUANO , H.M. Canton , Ohio The Whole Story I agree with the " fundamental Roman Catholic principle " of Edward Foley , O.F.M.Cap. , that liturgy determines the readings and not vice-versa ( " Scripture Alone ? " 5/25 ) . But I think a second principle , or at least a corollary , emerges in the Sundays of Ordinary Time , in which the liturgy pursues a semi -continuous reading of a single synoptic Gospel . In this B cycle year , for instance , when we hear John 's sixth chapter proclaimed in order over five summer Sundays , would n't the preacher take this invitation to develop the rich layers of meaning that grow and deepen each week as a key to the celebration ? In line with Father Foley 's principle of using not just the single pericope but the whole liturgy of the Word , why not bring the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ preaching during Ordinary Time ? The homily must not become a Bible study session . The preacher is called on to bring the words and deeds of Jesus into clearer focus using all the literary and theological resources at his disposal . ( REV . ) JAMES EBLEN Seattle , Wash . Homily by Committee It is a shame that it took a South African Jesuit to bring to the attention of the U.S. church the fact that their bishops in 1982 called for the establishment of homily preparation groups ( " Preaching in a Vacuum , " 5/25 ) . In Fulfilled in Your Hearing the bishops stated " that working with a homily preparation group will help to ensure two things : that the homilist hears the proclamation of the good news in the Sunday Scripture readings as it is heard by the people in the congregation ; secondly , that the preacher is able to point in concrete and specific ways to the difference that the hearing of this good news can make in the lives of those who hear it . " In 2004 the chairman of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Committee , Bishop Timothy M. Dolan , was going to " update and bring Fulfilled in Your Hearing into conformity with the 2003 General Instruction of the Roman Missal " I would recommend that the new chairman consult with a Jesuit who was on the drafting committee in 1982 , John J. O'Callaghan , S.J. , as well as Bishop Richard J. Sklba , who also was a member , to get the ball rolling again . Their input would at least assure that this urgent call will not go the way of the dodo bird . Both homiletic professionalism and the preacher 's respect for the intelligence of the congregation demand that these homily preparation groups be established in every parish . After all , priests need all the help they can get in their overworked ministries . Let 's hope that they all have the humility to accept this opportunity . JIM CASEY Upper St. Clair , Pa . Talking Back So Chris Chatteris , SJ. , wants feedback on the Sunday homily ? How curious ! I frequently find the Sunday sermons maddening . Occasionally I feel like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that 's not true ! " or " How do you know that ? " More often , however , I am lulled to inattention by vague generalities , and although I fight valiantly against them , I succumb to daydreams . Even when I happen to agree entirely with the church 's teaching on a certain issue , I am all too often chagrined by the weakness of the priest or deacon 's argument . " Because the church says so " does n't do it for me . If a priest or deacon encounters a " block " when preparing a sermon , why not spare the congregation some suffering and simply read a piece of uplifting or socially redeeming literature -Chekhov 's " The Lament " perhaps - or a two-minute poem or song ? Short and to the point can be powerful . CHRISTOPHER X. O'CONNOR Albuquerque , N.M . The Kiss Thanks to Jim McDermott , SJ. , for his commentary on the sign of peace ( " Hand in Hand , " 5/25 ) . Even in the old days , the kiss of peace @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ typical parish . It occurred only in a solemn Mass with deacon and subdeacon ( or as we said in our Boston neighborhood , " a Mass with three priests " ) . Yet since the only solemn Mass most Catholics ever attended was a funeral - where the " kiss " and the preceding prayer were omitted along with the final blessing - few people had ever seen it before it " sud ' denly " appeared in 1970 . R. P. BURKE Bexley , Ohio On the Hook Re your editorial , " Too Big to Bail " ( 6/8 ) : Allowing A.I.G. and poorly managed banks to fail might have been , and might still be , in the nation 's best interests . In the case of A.I.G. , the government could have chosen to underwrite more traditional operations , whereas high-risk , second-party bets on the success ( or failure ) of other institutions could have been allowed to take their natural course . So long as these institutions remain " too large to fail , " we will always be on the hook . @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but they have too many friends in the banking and finance sectors to look out for our interests objectively . In addition , they and President Obama appear to be overly concerned with preserving the image of the United States and in pacifying our foreign creditors . Propping up the financial sector is only buying the United States time to re-establish a more self-sustaining economy that does not require constant deficit spending ; it will not solve our fundamental economic problems . JOSEPH A. D'ANNA Los Alamos , N.M . Not Dead Yet " Ave atque Vale " ( 6/8 ) was most enjoyable and persuasive , but Thomas G. Casey , S.J. , is wasting his word processor . Neither English nor any other tongue is ever likely to supplant Latin as the official language of the Vatican for reasons that have nothing to do with culture , linguistics , history or even theology . Latin is pre-eminent because it is the hieratic language or argot of the Roman hierarchy , the language of power . It divides the elite from the hoi polloi . Apart from Vatican bureaucrats @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it , nobody speaks , reads or writes Latin for any reason . There is no room here to review and counter the arguments for the dominance of Latin in the church , but it would not make any difference anyway . There is no salvation outside Latin . The wonder is that we got our vernacular liturgies . So count your blessings . And remember what the school boy used to say : " Latin is a language/ as dead as it can be ; it killed all the Romans/ and now it 's killing me . " PETER FARLEY Freeport , N.Y . Latin S , Ingls No Thomas G. Casey 's suggestion that English be adopted as the officiai language of the church reflects an unfortunate lack of understanding and sympathy for those cultures that speak languages derived from Latin . Such a move would cause intense anger and resentment among that vast percentage of the world 's Catholics who speak the language of St. Teresa of vila and St. John of the Cross ana who would be astounded at seeing the language of Thomas Cramner and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ MALGIERI New York , N.Y . 
##4050868 THIRTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME ( B ) , JUNE 28 , 2009 Readings : Wis 1:13-15 ; 2:23-24 ; Ps 30:2-13 ; 2 Cor 8:7-1 5 ; Mk 5:21-43 " Your faith has saved you . Go in peace " ( Mk 5:34 ) When illness lingers on and on with no relief or when death looms at the threshold of a child 's life , it can cause sufferers to take measures that are out of the ordinary . In todays Gospel , a synagogue official pleads with Jesus for his dying daughter . This scene is unusual in that most other religious leaders in the Gospel are painted as opposing Jesus and ultimately trying to do away with him . This leader , however , is a desperate father on the brink of losing his beloved 12-year-old daughter . Ordinarily he would not humble himself at the feet of an itinerant healer , but because his daughters life hangs by a thread he will try anything . The crowd surrounding Jesus parts for Jairus , as he implores Jesus to come and lay his hands @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make her live . As Mark is wont to do , he intertwines a story of another person whose interminable suffering causes her to step beyond her normal behavior , too . This woman has gone to doctor after doctor , only to have her hopes rise and be dashed yet again , as her illness kept growing worse . For 12 long years she has been seeking a cure . Having exhausted her monetary resources and her dignity , she forsakes the professional doctors and follows after a popular healer . Exerting her last energy , she wriggles through the crowd that presses in on Jesus and grabs his cloak from behind . With hope almost gone , she will try anything . In both cases , people with status and resources take the unusual step of leaving their accustomed social circles and reach- ing out to an itin- erant preacher and healer . Jairus was a well-respected leader of the faith community . The hemorrhaging woman had once had money to spend on doctors . In desperation , both cast off their last bit of reserve , risking trust @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and they are not disappointed . God 's power to heal flows freely through Jesus into the bodies of these two suffering females . Both are restored as beloved daughters . The Gospel healings are dramatic enactments of God 's will for life to the full for all , as the first reading asserts . God does not rejoice in death ; rather , God formed humankind to be imperishable . The Gospel story leads us to grapple with a mystery : Why does God , whose love is so visible in healing touch , not prevent the death of beloved daughters and sons ? With his choice of words in describing the hemorrhaging woman , Mark draws her in lines parallel with Jesus , pointing toward the mystery of his suffering and death . Mark uses the verb paschein ( v. 25 ) to describe her suffering , the same verb that Jesus uses to speak of his own passion ( 8:31 ; 9:12 ) . In the third passion prediction Jesus says he will be scourged ( 10:34 ) ; she is healed of her " scourge " ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A.B . as " affliction , " in N.R.S.V. as " suffering " ) . Finally , she tells the " whole truth " ( v. 33 ) to Jesus , the truthful teacher ( 12:14 , 32 ) . Just as her faith both saves and heals her ( the verb sozein in v. 34 has both connotations ) , so Jesus ' faithfulness to God brings salvation and healing through and beyond death . This Gospel does not focus on the boundaries Jesus crossed by letting an unclean woman touch him . Many have read this story in light of Lev 15:19-30 and its proscriptions concerning a woman with discharges " beyond the time of her impurity . " Yet the account in Mark does not say where on her body the woman 's hemorrhage was , nor is ritual purity made an issue in the text . In fact , as a healer , Jesus was always touching and being touched by people who were ritually impure . Most Jews would have been ritually impure most of the time . The only time when it was necessary to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one was going to the Temple . Then , ritual washing and waiting until sundown would remove most kinds of impurities . Instead , the focus in the Gospel is on faith in the divine power to heal and save that flows through Jesus , which is sometimes manifest in physical healing and which is mysteriously at work even when beloved daughters and sons pass through death . FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME ( B ) , JULY 5 , 2009 Readings : Ez 2:2-5 ; Ps 123:1-2 , 2 , 3-4 ; 2 Cor 12:7-10 : Mk 6:1-6 " My grace is sufficient for you , for power is made perfect in weakness " ( 2 Cor 12:9 ) Have you ever done something you never thought you could do , but could because someone else believed in you and urged you forward ? On the contrary , have you found yourself hampered by others ' preconceived notions and lack of confidence in you ? In a certain sense , these are the experiences of Paul in the second reading and of Jesus in today 's Gospel . Paul has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ apostolic ministry . Yet he has a sense of true humility concerning these unusual gifts . They are not due to any power or qualifications of his own . Rather , he knows that they are pure grace , sheer gift from God and undeserved . Paul has done things in his ministry that he never imagined doing because God 's gifts have been recognized and called forth in him . Paradoxically , these uncommon gifts do not endow Paul with any privilege or cause him to become puffed up . Instead , the exercise of his gifts for mission have brought him great suffering : insults , hardships , persecutions and calamities . He writes of " a thorn in the flesh " given him . Biblical scholars have long puzzled over the nature of this " thorn . " An ancient interpretation understands it as " the thorn of the flesh , " that is physical desires or concupiscence , that plagues Paul . Others have thought it to be a physical malady or a kind of suffering related to his ministry . The latter is a real likelihood @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It is part of the " fool 's speech " that begins in 11:1 and goes through 12:10 . In it Paul is refuting the charges of his opponents who accuse him of being weak ( 10:1-2 ) , having no credentials ( 3:1-3 ) and being unimpressive in words , deeds and physical presence ( 10:1-12 ) . Paul counters with a surprising twist : instead of defending himself by taking a position of strength , he turns the tables and argues that his weaknesses are the very mark of his authenticity as an apostle . His own powerlessness makes evident that God 's grace and power work through him . That the " superapostles " ( 11:5 ; 12:11 ) who oppose Paul are the " thorn " in his flesh sent by Satan is likely when we see that in 11:12-15 he compares them to Satan , " who disguises himself as an angel of light . " See also Num 33:55 and Ez 28:24 , where enemies are called " thorns . " Unlike these false apostles , Paul boasts of weakness that allows God 's power @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to endure hardship when it is for the sake of the mission . Paul , with the grace of God , was enabled to do far more than he ever thought possible , given his own abilities . Jesus , by contrast , was prevented from doing any mighty deeds in his hometown because of the limited expectations of his own people . Thinking they knew Jesus inside and out , they hindered his ability to let God 's power work through him for their benefit . Sometimes this is referred to as the " tall poppy syndrome . " Group dynamics often prevent anyone from rising above the rest . " Who do they think they are ? " others will say about an emergent local leader . If an " expert " had come from outside the community and taught the same things as their native son , they would have been far more disposed to accept such teaching . In both readings there is a recognition that the perceptions of others can strongly influence the exercise of prophetic and apostolic gifts within a faith community . Opposition and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expressed belief in the untapped abilities of another can cause him or her to flourish in extraordinary ways with the power of God . BARBARA E. REID 
##4050872 BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST ( B ) , JUNE 14 , 2009 Readings : Ex 24:3-8 ; Ps 1 16:12-18 : Heb 9:1 1-15 : Mk 14:12-14 , 22-26 " This is my blood of the covenant , which will be shed for many . " ( Mk 14:24 ) As youngsters , we had ways of sealing the bond of friendship with our best friends . We girls would exchange friendship rings , pledging our undying loyalty to one another . Our brothers would make a small cut on their finger and then mingle their blood with their buddy 's to signify the unbreakable bond between them as " blood brothers . " Today 's readings evoke this symbol of blood bonds that can never be broken . In the first reading , Moses sprinkles half the blood of a sacrificed animal on the altar and the other half on the people . The blood signifies the life force that seals the commitment between the Holy One and Israel . Not only are God and the people bound together irrevocably , but the people themselves are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the foot of the mountain represent the whole of the people . They acclaim with one voice their loyalty to all the words and ordinances of God . In the same way Jesus ' blood , shed for all , reaffirms God 's unbreakable bond with us . What Jesus says and does at the Last Supper is the culmination of an entire lifelong pouringout of himself in love . The words and gestures echo God 's life-sustaining self-gift to Israel in the wilderness , symbolized in manna ( Ex 16:12-35 ) , and Jesus ' feeding of the hungry multitudes during his Galilean min- istry ( Mk 6:30-44 ; 8:1- 9 ) . These con- tinual manifes- tations of God 's commit- ment to us reach their climax in Jesus ' gift of self . In Mark 's Gospel , the Last Supper is a Passover meal , recalling how the blood of lambs * smeared on the doorposts kept the fleeing Israelites safe from the destroyer , and how the flesh of the lamb was consumed in haste for the journey to freedom . So Jesus ' flesh and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who then embody for others his unbreakable commitment of love . His blood seals this covenant for all people . Four times in describing the preparation for the meal Mark uses the word math'tai , " disciples , " signifying all the women and men who have followed Jesus and who have ministered with him . In the words over the cup , Jesus says his blood " will be shed for many . " This reflects a Hebrew idiom , where the contrast is between " one " and " the many . " " Many " does not mean that some are left out ; instead it signifies the totality . This blood bond is already a reality for us , yet it awaits perfect fulfillment , as Jesus ' final words in today 's Gospel reading indicate . In our eucharistie gatherings we make present again Jesus ' gift of self while we also celebrate a foretaste of the eternal feasting , where we will experience perfect oneness with the Holy One and with one another . TWELFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME(B) , JUNE 21,2009 Readings : Job @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 5:14-17 : Mk 4:35-41 " Why are you afraid ? Do you not yet have faith ? " ( Mk 4:40 ) In our most fearful moments , several things can quell our terror . An imagined threat passes ; the light of day reveals that the forms so scary in the night were only shadows ; a real , well-founded terror is dissipated when loved ones bear it with us . In today 's Gospel the disciples are terrified that the sea will swallow them up . It is a frequent occurrence on the Sea of Galilee , especially late in the afternoon , chat strong wind squalls surge suddenly . The lake is ringed by hills that funnel the wind , which whips up the waves . The disciples ' fear is well founded as their boat begins to be swamped . Meanwhile , Jesus is peacefully asleep , like those the psalmist describes who rest undisturbed , having placed their trust entirely in God ( Ps 3:5 ; 4:8 ) . When the disciples rouse Jesus , he rebukes the wind in the same way that he rebukes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 9:25 ) , and it immediately obeys . Jesus ' questions to the disciples , " Why are you terrified ? Do you not yet have faith ? " are not so much a rebuke to them as they are a way of teaching them how to cross over from fear to faith . The disciples have addressed him as " Teacher " when they cry out to him ( v. 38 ) , and Mark portrays this as a teachable moment . As frequently happens in the books of Wisdom , instruction is given through probing questions that lead the learner into deeper insight . This is the technique God uses with Job in the first reading for this Sunday . It is not with an accusatory tone that God asks Job about the primordial days . Job is in terrible anguish and has cried out in misery to God . God 's answer in the midst of the storm is to point Job to the awesomeness of creation . The Creator speaks of having birthed the sea as it " burst forth from the womb , " and then @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mother wraps a newborn with " swaddling bands , " giving the child a sense of security as it enters a new and frightening phase of existence , so God bound the sea at its creation . God does not explain or take away Job 's suffering as uncontrollable waves of loss threaten to swallow him up . Rather , the Holy One redirects Job to the awe and beauty of the created world and to the divine power that recreates it in ever new and magnificent patterns of generativity . Turning from his own misery toward the inscrutable designs of the Creator , Job allows himself to be transformed through the pain . So too in the Gospel , Jesus ' questions point the disciples toward deeper understanding of the power of the Creator at work in himself and in them . It is a power that creates and recreates through patterns of death and rebirth . As God does with Job , Jesus does not explain away the disciples ' terror , but redirects them toward the One who is the creative power at the center of the universe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to cross over into awe at the One whose re-creative power is manifest in Jesus ' stilling of every storm . BARBARA E. REID 
##4050873 Winter has departed , but concerns about rising unemployment and the volatility of food and utilities prices remain . Behind these concerns lies a still darker fear of another depression . Those of us who lived through the Great Depression of the 1920s and 1930s look for similarities , but the two periods are different in many ways . For example , farm foreclosures , rather than a housing crisis , marked the beginning of the Great Depression . Economists , concerned about inflation , kept interest rates high . Do nothing more , they advised . Let the market right itself , and the new market will be leaner , more efficient ; and the country will experience a moral uplift as people learn how to live simpler lives with fewer wants . That advice , however , failed to address the human needs incurred by increasing unemployment and foreclosures . My first encounter with unemployed people came when they arrived homeless and hungry , at our Iowa farm , a 235-acre plot of land on a dirt road seven miles from the nearest town . Like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . We did what we could for the new arrivals . My mother fixed sandwiches with huge slices of homemade bread and leftover roast beef and served them to our unexpected guests . We were fortunate . Though we had no electricity or running water , we had plenty of food . Our furnace burned wood we collected from the farm , and my mother made and repaired our clothing using a Singer sewing machine powered by a foot pedal . The trouble began when the price of farm commodities dropped to a new low . Corn sank to 10 cents a bushel , and cattle and hogs were not worth the expense of shipping them to market . It became impossible for my father to find the money to pay off the debt he had contracted when he bought the farm . The promissory note he signed was negotiable , with a clause requiring payment on demand . At the time we were not concerned about that clause , because the banker who granted the loan was a member of the local community . Family Crisis Then the bank closed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ assets , including my father 's promissory note , were sold to pay creditors . If the note 's new owner called for immediate payment of the debt and the borrower defaulted , the next step would be a sheriff s auction of the livestock , farm equipment and any unsold crops . If collected funds were insufficient , the land would be sold to make up the difference . In our case , the creditor was one of the largest farmers in the region . He demanded instant payment of the loan , hoping for a larger gain namely , the speedy auction of our rich Iowa farm that he could buy for a fraction of its worth . My parents were desperate . They had heard of Milo Reno , organizer of the Farmers ' Holiday movement , groups of farmers from across the country who faced foreclosure and sale of their land . The organization 's tactics were to stop a sale in progress and then force both sides to negotiate until they reached a compromise . Only when a creditor refused to negotiate would the Holiday group @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ refusing to leave the farm until the dispute was I learned about Farmers ' Holiday on the day the foreclosure process began . As the youngest child , I was the only one in our family still attending the one -room rural school about a mile from our farm . My parents and five siblings decided not to tell me what was about to happen for fear I might spill the news to my classmates , thus spoiling the surprise the group was planning . When I arrived home that afternoon , our driveway was full of cars . The sheriff , a friend of the family who sympathized with the farmers , had gone to the pasture to collect the cattle . He took his time gathering them , stopping frequently to enjoy the view . By the time he returned with the herd , my parents had called Farmers ' Holiday and a crowd had gathered . We needed to locate the creditor in order to begin negotiations . He appeared , red-faced , from around a curve in the road nearby , where he had been waiting for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intense negotiation that ended in the early hours of the next day when a compromise was reached . The discussion had been angry and at times threatening , but on the whole it had been respectful . The sheriff 's presence guaranteed that there was no violence . A Saving Compromise The compromise saved our farm . The negotiators , as I remember it , reduced the face value of the note to a sum comparable to the amount borrowed by my father when times were prosperous . We were to pay off the debt in a series of yearly installments . The arrangement did not please everyone in the community . My father described an incident that occurred the day following the averted foreclosure . The owner of a gas station in our small town was a friend of my father 's . They had been business partners . The owner scolded my father in front of other farmers at the station . " You should have paid back the entire loan , " he said . " What you did was dishonest . " For a man like my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ business dealings , the statement was devastating . I wondered how anyone could consider it just to pay a debt with money worth more in value than the original debt . As I look back on those years , I am not sure we learned anything useful . Yes , as economists predicted , we lived simpler lives during that last decade before World War II . We were too poor to do otherwise . No , the market did not right itself . Production returned to former levels only after factories geared up for arms production . I do not believe we were strengthened morally either . Minions of people lost their jobs with the concomitant loss of human dignity and the ability to support their families . The positive element of the Great Depression , as I see it , was the way people worked together , neighbors helping neighbors . We can imitate their example because we have something to build on . Neighborliness happens often in the small cities like Adrian , Mich , , where I live . Each winter we gather at one of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work of Habitat for Humanity ; we serve meals to the hungry at Daily Bread ; we gather food for food banks , provide shelter in winter through a Share the Warmth program and support other charitable groups . Taken a step further , we have the ability to become a nation of neighbors committed to support and affirm our new leadership as they attempt to change the disastrous policies that pushed this country toward depression . People are losing their homes and livelihood . They need help , both physical and emotional . Even if we help only a few people - driving someone to a job interview or taking a food basket to a family in need - we will be helping to form a more just and peaceful world , in which neighbors trust one another and show a willingness to use the tools of negotiation and compromise to settle disagreements . 