From Antigone to Thich Nhat Hanh
Teach us to care and not to care…T.S. Eliot, Ash Wednesday Over the years when reading Sophocles’ Antigone, I tended to see her as the conscientious heroine, standing alone against her uncle Creon, the brutal…
Tag: Oscar Romero
Solidaridad/2
What You Understand Depends on Where You Stand for Ellen Rehg Mev looked up to Ann ManganaroCo-founder of Karen Catholic Worker HouseSister of Loretto medical doctorCompañera to Father John Kavanaugh When Mev went to El…
Political Holiness
Pedro Casaldáliga & José-Maria Vigil, Political Holiness: A Spirituality of Liberation Those who struggle for utopia, for radical change, saints marked by the liberating spirit, are all of a piece; they carry faithfulness from the…
Mentshes/1
Dear Shannon, I enjoyed our long conversation on Saturday afternoon at 6 North Coffee. I appreciate you taking the time to visit on such a busy weekend. After our chats, the strong impression I am…
El Salvador Connection by Martin Zaldivar
In our current class, I asked if anyone had a strong connection to El Salvador. Martin Zaldivar shared the following, and he gave me permission to post it. El Salvador is the home to half my…
What I’ve Learned from El Salvador by Maria Vazquez-Smith
since August 2011 1. I learned that life is unpredictable and cannot be controlled. 2. I learned that there is a wide, visible gap between life in the United States and life in the many…
Faces/1 (A Letter from Prison)
“Dear Perry Thinking of you a lot these days Been reading the martyrs Here in my homey little cell (For a while I got solitary for asking disruptive questions) Wanted to send you this little…
A Pope (Opening Up the Imagination)
Given the visit this week of Pope Francis, I want to share a short chapter from my new novel, Dear Layla Welcome to Palestine. This chapter was originally written in 2010 during the pontificate of Benedict…
You and Monseñor
You and Monseñor are alike in two obvious respects To me anyway You both have expansive hearts for the people You may say “But you know many people with big hearts” That’s true But the…
Don’t Say I Never Gave You 22 Reasons for Hope
Thich Nhat Hanh is made of non-Thich Nhat Hanh elements. Jennifer Ying-Burgoyne is made of non-Jennifer Ying-Burgoyne elements. Dr. Suess is made of non-Dr. Suess elements. Maude is made of non-Maude elements. Victor Jara is made…