HOLY WEEK
FAITH AND RESISTANCE RETREAT
Wednesday, March 19 - Saturday, March 22, 2008
the hope of holy week 2008 ...standing in the breach
The “war on terror” was lost in the very act of declaring it. The war on terror is terror -institutionalized, justified, legislated. How do we live in the face of the terror the US Empire inflicts on the world?
- not as innocent bystanders - part of the silent crowd, watching Jesus carry the cross to crucifixion, watching boxcars of people en route to the death camps or secret torture centers, observing our nation as $626.1 billion is spent on warmaking in 2007 alone, as our brothers and sisters fight and kill in Iraq and Afghanistan to protect our "way of life"
Good Friday comes before Easter. And the radical gift of Good Friday is Christ's revelation of the power and the truth of nonviolence. There is no easy way to create a world where men and women can live together, it will be accomplished by persons who have the courage to put an end to suffering by willingly suffering themselves rather than inflict suffering upon others.
With this as background, about 80 people gathered - to reflect and act together for the Holy Week "Faith and Resistance" Retreat, March 19 - 22. Student groups from St. Johns University and the College of St. Benedict's in Minnesota , as well as from Loras College in Iowa spent part of their Alternative Spring Break attending the retreat. An enthusiastic group of people from New Jerusalem Now in Philadelphia came. Together, we sought to understand the meaning of the cross of Christ as the instrument of domination in the time of Christ and how it continues in our own time in which weapons of mass destruction - the threat and actual use of them - are instruments of domination.
We brought that cross, that message and those weapons—along with our own bodies—to the Navy League Arms Bazaar at the Marriott Hotel to address the horror of 150 weapons manufacturers seeking to sell their new technologies for death dealing. Some of us went into the hotel and spoke out with banners, leaflets, voices—all were escorted from the hotel and down the drive. Some unfurled their banners and made that walk very slowly. Others remained outside doing street theater on the theme of the cross as a symbol of domination and execution in the Roman Empire , just as nuclear weapons are symbols of domination and execution now. They also engaged in spirited leafleting of people going to and coming from the arms bazaar obscenity.
On Friday, we gathered early in the morning and entered the Pentagon grounds in solemn, silent procession. 5 people—Tim Fryett (The Simple Way-Philadelphia), Peter Pedemonti (House of Grace Catholic Worker-Philadelphia), Peter DeMott (Ithaca Catholic Worker Community), Susan Crane (Jonah House), Steve Miller ( Baltimore )—sought to block the entrance and were quickly arrested; two others—Claire Grady (Ithaca Catholic Worker Community) and Eve Tetaz ( Washington DC ) knelt on the grass. Eve was dressed in sackcloth, remembering Rachel weeping for her children. All were charged with "disobeying a lawful order" and were released with a trial date of June 20, 2008
Two others were arrested, one as a result of a mistake, the other in solidarity so his brother would not be alone. They were also released and have court June 20, 2008.
On Saturday, at the White House, we read the names of Iraqi and American dead, as well as names of those in Guantanamo . Four were arrested for holding signs in front of the White House: Steve Baggarly and Kristin Sadler (Norfolk Catholic Worker), Bill Streit (Little Flower Catholic Worker) and Eve Tetaz ( Washington DC ). They were released later in the day and are ordered to appear in Federal Court in D.C.
Throughout the retreat we were enriched by reflections by Bill Streit, Bob Ludwig of Loyola University , Chicago School of Pastoral Studies, Sr. Margaret McKenna of New Jerusalem Now and Demissie Abebe from TASSC in Washington , D.C. These reflections informed and enriched our planning, acting and evaluating each action as we moved through out time together.
quoted from " Nonviolence: The Only Road to Freedom" Martin Luther King, Jr. May 4, 1966
St. Stephen & The Incarnation Church,
16th & Newton Streets, NW, Washington D.C.
In face of the terror, we choose to walk in the way of nonviolence,
learning, as we do, from Isaiah and Jesus
and the Cloud of Witnesses who have walked this way before us.
And let us learn, as well, from one another.
The Hope of Holy Week 2008...standing in the breach
We live in an age of institutionalized terror, a terror that engulfs our world. The so-called “war on terror” was lost the moment it was declared - lost in the very act of declaring it. The war on terror is terror -institutionalized, justified, legislated. What's so frustrating is that, engulfed by terror, we aren't even aware of the darkness and violence that surround us. That should be no surprise. Good Friday comes before Easter. And the radical gift of Good Friday is Christ's revelation of the power and the truth of nonviolence. There is no easy way to create a world where men and women can live together, where ... all children receive as much education as their minds can absorb. But if such a world is created in our lifetime ... it will be accomplished by persons who have the courage to put an end to suffering by willingly suffering themselves rather than inflict suffering upon others.*
How do we live in the face of the terror the US Empire inflicts on the world?
- not as innocent bystanders - part of the silent crowd, watching Jesus carry the cross to his crucifixion
- not as passive spectators watching boxcars of people en route to the death camps or secret torture centers
- not as unwitting accomplices to a foreign policy dominated by nuclear weapons, as $626.1 billion is spent on warmaking in 2007 alone,** as our brothers and sisters fight and kill in Iraq and Afghanistan to protect our "way of life."
No! We choose to live in hope - hope in the spirit of nonviolence that is the lesson of Good Friday.
- Our hope is in all who learn to act and to live in the spirit of nonviolence - to confront the lies, the killing, the domination that fuel the war on terror.
- Our hope is in the lesson Jesus taught through his cross, that the only way to confront evil is to absorb it in our own flesh.
- Our hope is in the community and the resistance that grow out of our nonviolence.
- The hope we seek to embody is the Biblical hope - to be enabled to stand in the breach.
The nonviolence of Christ, the nonviolence of those who absorbed the violence of the culture in their own flesh is the light that will free us from the darkness of these times - a darkness so voracious as to snuff out the sun itself .
We invite you to gather - to reflect and to act
- For the nonviolence of disarmed hearts in a disarmed world
- On behalf of justice for the oppressed, abandoned, murdered
- Against the terror that plagues our planet, a plague that finds so much of its origin in our own country and by our own government…
We'll begin with supper at 6:00 p.m., on Wednesday, March 19 through early afternoon on Saturday, March 22, 2008
- A time to reflect / act / reflect.
- A program - reflection sessions each of our days together to help us deepen our sense of this year's theme.
- We will pray together and maybe sing and laugh some.
- We will provide simple meals and sleeping bag space at the Church. If you require other accommodations, please let us know and we will try to connect you with a source.
- There will be a program for children but we'd need to know ages and numbers of children coming to be better prepared to provide for them.
The retreat is organized by
The Dorothy Day Catholic Worker & Jonah House
For more information...
Dorothy Day 503 Rock Creek Church Rd, NW
Washington D.C. 20009 202-882-9649
Jonah House 1301 Moreland Ave. Baltimore MD 21216
410-233-6238 disarmnow@jonahhouse.org
www.jonahhouse.org
* quoted from " Nonviolence: The Only Road to Freedom" Martin Luther King, Jr. May 4, 1966
**For 2007 the United States military budget - that portion that pays the salaries, training, and healthcare of uniformed and civilian personnel, maintains arms, equipment and facilities, funds operations, and develops and buys new gear and funds all branches of the U.S. military: Army , Navy , Air Force , Marine Corps , and Coast Guard - rose to $439.3 billion. This does not include nuclear weapons research, maintenance and production (~$9.3 billion, which is in the Department of Energy budget), Veterans Affairs (~$33.2 billion) or the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (which are largely funded through extra-budgetary supplements, ~$170 billion in 2007). ] Conversely, the military budget does allocate money for dual-use items, such as the development of infrastructure surrounding U.S. military bases. Altogether, military-related expenses totaled approximately $626.1 billion.