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October is Respect Life Month October 2nd, 2019
October is Respect Life Month! This year’s Respect Life theme is “Christ Our Hope in Every Season of Life,” helping us become engaged with building a culture that cherishes every human life.
It’s time for us to renew our commitment to defending those most vulnerable in our midst. There are many ways we can get involved in our parishes, and our own prayer lives.
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has prepared a number of excellent resources to share with members of parish communities. You can also read this year’s Respect Life Month Statement by Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, of Kansas City in Kansas and Chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities.
Missionary Oblates JPIC continues to advocate that “Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person – among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.” CCC 2270.
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has a strong commitment to pro-life issues and their website is rich with related information. Visit the USCCB Pro-Life Initiative
Prayer
Join us in praying for a greater respect for human life from conception to natural death:
“Father and maker of all,
you adorn all creation
with splendor and beauty,
and fashion human lives
in your image and likeness.
Awaken in every heart
reverence for the work of your hands,
and renew among your people
a readiness to nurture and sustain
your precious gift of life.
Grant this through our Lord
Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in
the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God forever and ever.
Amen”
–USCCB Prayer for Life–
2019 World Day of Migrants and Refugees September 27th, 2019
World Day Of Migrant And Refugees – September 29, 2019
Pope Francis’ message for 2019 World Day of Migrants and Refugees:
Podcast features Fr.Jesse Esqueda OMI speaking on
the migrant crisis in Tijuana. (Produced by: Br. Joey
Methé, OMI)
“Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!” (Mt 14:27). It is not just about migrants: it is also about our fears. The signs of meanness we see around us heighten “our fear of ‘the other’, the unknown, the marginalized, the foreigner… We see this today in particular, faced with the arrival of migrants and refugees knocking on our door in search of protection, security and a better future.”
“¡Ánimo, soy yo, no tengáis miedo! (Mt 14,27). No se trata sólo de migrantes, también se trata de nuestros miedos. La maldad y la fealdad de nuestro tiempo acrecienta «nuestro miedo a los “otros”, a los desconocidos, a los marginados, a los forasteros […]. Y esto se nota particularmente hoy en día, frente a la llegada de migrantes y refugiados que llaman a nuestra puerta en busca de protección, seguridad y un futuro mejor.”
In line with the 2019 theme set forth by Pope Francis, “It is not just about migrants,” we present a podcast featuring the work of Missionary Oblate Fr. Jesse Esqueda, OMI, who shares his insight on the migrant and refugee crisis in Tijuana. The podcast was produced by: Br. Joey Methé, OMI – JPIC fellow.
Walking with the People of the Amazon September 26th, 2019
Why the Amazon Merits a Synod
By Cardinal-designate Michael Czerny, SJ & Msgr. David Martínez de Aguirre Guinea O.P.
The next Synod of Bishops, to be held in Rome, October 6-27, 2019, is on the Amazon and has as its theme “New paths for the Church and for integral ecology.” It will examine issues that are important to “every person living on the planet” as Pope Francis wrote in the introduction to his Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ (3).
Why is the Amazon so important that a synod is dedicated to it? What is “integral ecology,” and what might be “new paths” for the Church? Finally, what is a synod really all about? [1]
The Amazon
A few key facts about the Amazon region:
- Its size is 7.8 million square kilometers, approximately the same size as Australia.
- It includes areas of Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.
- There are approximately 33 million inhabitants, of whom 3 million are indigenous belonging to 390 diverse groups or peoples.
- Impact on the planetary ecosystem: the Amazon River basin and the surrounding tropical forests nourish the soil and regulate, through the recycling of moisture, the cycles of water, energy and carbon at the planetary level.
Access the full article at La Civiltà Cattolica.
Oblates Host 2019 McLean Center Scholars September 17th, 2019
The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy held its 2019 Annual Seminar from August 18-September 20 under the theme The Meaning of Democracy: Foundations & Contemporary Challenges. The seminar is an interdisciplinary and intercultural initiative with 15 scholars from different countries around the world participating. One objective of the seminar is for participants to practice mutual understanding and so achieve lasting forms of academic friendship and cooperation.
Participants twice visited the Oblate community in Washington DC during the month of September. On September 8th they participated in liturgy at the chapel and on September 10th they joined the community for lunch and listened to a lecture, “Issues of Justice/Democracy and Finance Today” presented by Fr. Séamus Finn OMI.
On Monday September 16th Fr, Séamus Finn, OMI also served on a panel of scholars and practitioners at a public event –Contemporary American Economic Culture and Its Values– organized by the McLean Center for the Study of Culture and Values.
Rev. George F. McLean, OMl (1929-2016), was the Founder of Catholic University of America’s (CUA) Center for the Study of Culture and Values, and the International Council for Research in Values and Philosophy (RVP, www.crvp.or
g). He taught philosophy at CUA from 1956-1993 but devoted his entire life to promoting dialogue and cooperation among different peoples, cultures and religions around the globe.
In 2017 to honor Fr. McLean the university officially inaugurated the CUA McLean Center for the Study of Culture and Values (MCSCV). Fr. McLean initiated an annual seminar in 1984 to invite scholars and philosophers from diverse cultures and civilizations to participate in five to ten week seminars in Washington, D.C. to discuss current and urgent philosophical issues.
For more information about the Center visit http://www.crvp.org/McLean/McLean.html
(Click photos twice to increase size)
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- Mass: Chapel at Oblate residence
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- Fr. Séamus Finn presents to the group
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- Fr. Séamus Finn makes a presentation to 2019 McLean Scholars
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- 2019 McLean Scholars listen to presentation at Oblate residence
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- Group picture at Oblate residence
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- 2019 McLean Scholars & Staff with National Shrine in background
2019 Amazon Synod: Common House in Rome September 13th, 2019
By Roberto Carrasco, OMI – Peruvian Oblate Missionary
In view of the Synod for the Amazon, an articulation process has begun that brings together several Church institutions and organizations with the aim of generating a space for dialogue and listening, that walks alongside the Synod Fathers this October 2019 in Rome. The Amazon Synod will take place in in Rome from October 6-27, 2019.
As we remember what the experience of the Martyrs Tent in Aparecida was – in Brazil in 2007, we all seek to enrich this space of interaction and communication between persons, with the spirit of the Amazon. It is not just presenting various activities, it is rather an exercise in communication and intercultural dialogue, an interaction with the new, the diverse, the still unknown.
Amazon: Common House, is an effort to make present the life of the Amazon and who inhabits it. In the Amazon, maloca is the place where indigenous communities sit to simply be, listen, celebrate and be able to discern what happens in the life of the community. Read the full article here.
Presenting Our 2019 Summer JPIC Report With a Fresh New Look! August 16th, 2019
We are excited to share the 2019 Summer JPIC Report with a fresh new look: we hope you like the new design. Please share your feedback and story ideas by emailing us at jpic@omiusa.org.
A PDF version of the newsletter can be downloaded here.
Past issues can be found in the Resources section of the website.
JPIC Report is the twice-yearly newsletter of the US Oblate JPIC Office. It is an informational resource about and for Oblates and others involved in the work of promoting justice, peace and the integrity of creation.
