LIVE!
from the desk of Rosemarie Pace, PCMNY Director
and the Eruption of a Nation on Fire
Beloved: Wait for and hasten the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved in flames and the elements melted by fire. But according to God’s promise we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells....
Therefore, beloved, since you are
forewarned, be on your guard not to be led into the error of
the unprincipled and to fall from your own stability.
This scripture passage comes from the first reading of the Mass for Tuesday of the Ninth Week of Ordinary Time, this year June 2nd, 2020. How prophetic! It certainly seems that the United States of America is on fire right now, figuratively and literally. It is on fire from racism and the unwarranted murders of innocent lives like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmad Arbery. It is on fire from anger and frustration over centuries of bigotry and discrimination. It is on fire from economic injustice, environmental injustice, and all systemic injustices. It is on fire from fear and hatred, ignorance and division. It is on fire from selfishness and greed. It is on fire from arrogance and indifference. It is on fire from looting and arson. It is on fire from loss of lives and loss of livelihoods. It is on fire from a refusal to accept responsibility. It is on fire from an unwillingness to do the hard and time-consuming work of doing justice and building peace.
But out of the ashes can come new heavens and a new earth. We see these sprouting all across the country. We see them in peaceful protests. We see them in people reaching out across ages and generations, across sexes and sexual orientations, across races and religions, across economic classes and political persuasions. We see them in people standing together to block attacks and protect property. We see them in police taking a knee and joining marches. We see them in neighbors gathering to clean up broken glass and to repair damaged and destroyed businesses. We hear them in voices crying out for understanding and compassion.
PCMNY UPDATES
Life at Pax Christi Metro New York, like life everywhere since March, has been much less eventful than before the pandemic; that is, literally, there have been far fewer events, if any.
We were able to provide our Good Friday Way of the Cross via e-mail and this website to anyone who wanted to pray in solidarity with others the Stations, scripture readings, reflections, and prayers of the faithful.
On August 9th, we
present our first ever Zoom webinar as our annual
Hiroshima/Nagasaki Memorial. You can request the text by
e-mailing
rosemarie@nypaxchristi.org. The
Memorial is always a commemoration of the atomic bombings of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but it is also an appeal for the
abolition of nuclear weapons. In that context, we want to
express particular support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of
Nuclear Weapons. It was adopted by 122 nations at the United
Nations on July 7th, 2017. It goes into effect after
50 nations ratify it. To date, 40 nations have done so. You can
keep track of the ever-growing number at the website of the
International Campaign to Abolish
Nuclear Weapons, ICAN,
www.icanw.org.
You can also
click this link to see the list of
signers to date.
Please do all you can to educate others
about this Treaty and to urge your Congress people and the
administration to sign and ratify it. The U.S. could take the
lead on this instead of investing nearly $2 trillion to upgrade
our most deadly weapons of mass destruction.
371 Sixth Avenue, New York, NY 10014 | (212) 420-0250 | fax (212) 420-1628 | info@nypaxchristi.org
