Flowers in the Desert

I would like to take this opportunity to direct you to the blog written by David and Anna Draper, Columban lay missionaries in Chile. Their blog is www.flowersinthedesertblog.blogspot.com and details their personal and professional lives in Chile.

Their posts are open, honest and personal and provide an excellent glimpse into the life of a young married missionary couple. David and Anna recently became parents to son Joshua whose cuteness defies a written description.

Check out their blog. You’ll be glad you spent some time with them.

Kate Kenny, managing editor Columban Mission magazine

President Barack Obama

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. day on January 19, 2009, the Columban office in Omaha, Nebraska was closed. Yesterday we celebrated the life of a man dedicated to social justice whose mission was far from complete when he was assassinated.

And today, January 20, 2009, president-elect Obama will become President Obama, the 44th President of the United States and the first African American president in our history. Certainly Rev. King would have been proud to see the election of President Obama.

President Obama’s official mission begins today. Let us wish him well as he begins the journey.

Kate Kenny, Managing Editor, Columban Mission magazine

The Knowing

The Knowing
by Roseanna Walters

I am a river flowing through life – endlessly, effortlessly without strife.

Life is a river flowing through me – endlessly, effortlessly into the sea.

“I Am that I Am,” gurgled the river to life, “sometimes cutting through that
Which can feel like a knife.”

Cutting away the grief and despair – opening up to the light and the air.

The Light to see and the air to breathe.

Opening up the Heart to perceive, that the I Am that I am is all that there is.

This is all there is is more than enough, and so it will be – life flowing
From you back into me.

From me to the sea again and again.

On and on – without end.

Roseanna Walters is a Columban associate working in the Omaha, Nebraska office.

JPIC Action Alert

January 2, 2009

THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON THE HOLY LAND IS ENGULFED IN VIOLENCE:
URGE PRESIDENT BUSH TO HELP NEGOTIATE A CEASEFIRE NOW

TAKE ACTION NOW! Visit the CRS Action Center now to contact President Bush and urge him to send a high level personal representative to the Holy Land immediately to help negotiate a ceasefire and ensure that the people of Gaza receive humanitarian assistance.

WHAT IS THE CURRENT SITUATION IN THE HOLY LAND? Escalating violence between Hamas, the Palestinian party that controls Gaza, and Israel has caused death, destruction and great suffering in recent days among Israelis and Palestinian civilians. Unjustified rocket attacks on Israeli civilians and the disproportionate Israeli military actions causing unacceptable casualties among Palestinian civilians will have serious negative effects on any progress in peace negotiations and risk a wider war.

WHY SHOULD CATHOLICS CARE ABOUT THE HOLY LAND? Our Catholic faith teaches us to be peacemakers. The U.S. Bishops wrote in The Challenge of Peace: God’s Promise and Our Response, “Peacemaking is not an optional commitment. It is a requirement of our faith. We are called to be peacemakers, not by some movement of the moment, but by our Lord Jesus.”

Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has called on the international community to help Israelis and Palestinians to discard the “dead end” of violence and pursue instead “the path of dialogue and negotiations.” Immediate, visible and decisive U.S. leadership is urgently needed.
In a December 30 letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany, Chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), wrote:

“At a time when the attention of Christians is drawn naturally to the birthplace of the Prince of Peace, it is tragic that innocent civilians are once again the victims of armed conflict and a humanitarian crisis.” A ceasefire and humanitarian relief are indispensable initial steps on the road to a two-state solution—a secure Israel living in peace with a viable Palestinian state—with justice and peace for both peoples.”

WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH DOING TO PROMOTE PEACE IN THE HOLY LAND? In 2005, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) launched the Catholic Campaign for Peace in the Holy Land. The campaign’s goal is to create a shared commitment to the broad outlines of a just resolution of the conflict and to raise a united voice with policy makers and the wider public. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has worked in the Holy Land for nearly half a century, supporting peace with justice for all people, while responding to the humanitarian and sustainable development needs of Palestinians.

Together, USCCB and CRS are advocating for stronger U.S. leadership to hold both parties to the conflict accountable in building a just peace. We also support U.S. funding for the Palestinian Authority to increase its ability to govern as well as urgently needed humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people.

For more information contact:
Dr. Stephen Colecchi, Director, USCCB Office of International Justice and Peace, scolecchi@usccb.org, 202-541-3196
Tina Rodousakis, Grassroots Advocacy Manager, CRS, trodousa@crs.org; (410) 951-7462


Committee on International Justice and Peace
3211 FOURTH STREET NE • WASHINGTON DC 20017-1194 • 202-541-3160
WEBSITE: WWW.USCCB.ORG/JPHD • FAX 202-541-3339

December 30, 2008

The Honorable Dr. Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520

Dear Secretary Rice:

As Chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, I urge you to take immediate action to help end the escalation of violence between Hamas and Israel. The rocket attacks on Israel must be stopped, and Israel’s military attacks on Gaza halted. Our Conference believes that more than words are needed. We ask you to urge the President to send a high level personal representative to the region immediately to help negotiate a ceasefire and make provision for humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.

The toll in human deaths and suffering, the negative effects on progress in negotiations for peace and the risks of wider war caused by this escalation of violence cannot be allowed to continue. Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has called on the international community to help Israelis and Palestinians to discard the “dead end” of violence and pursue instead “the path of dialogue and negotiations.” Immediate, visible and decisive U.S. leadership is urgently needed.

Our Conference will encourage Catholics to support active U.S. engagement to achieve a ceasefire and we are prepared to do whatever we can to be helpful to efforts to halt the violence and restore progress toward peace.

At a time when the attention of Christians is drawn naturally to the birthplace of the Prince of Peace, it is tragic that innocent civilians are once again the victims of armed conflict and a humanitarian crisis. A ceasefire and humanitarian relief are indispensable initial steps on the road to a two-state solution—a secure Israel living in peace with a viable Palestinian state—with justice and peace for both peoples.

Sincerely yours,

Most Reverend Howard J. Hubbard

Bishop of Albany
Chairman, Committee on International Justice and Peace

Join UNIFEM's Campaign to End Violence Against Women

Statistics indicate that one in three women will be the victim of violence in her lifetime. Violence against women can include beatings, coerced sex or other forms of abuse. It is a universal problem that devastates lives, fractures communities and impedes development.

Violence against women and girls continues unabated in every continent, country and culture. It takes a devastating toll on women's lives, on their families, and on society as a whole. Most societies prohibit such violence — yet the reality is that too often, it is covered up or tacitly condoned. — UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, 8 March 2007

Currently UNIFEM is collecting signatures online in a campaign to Say No To Violence. The goal is to deliver one million signatures to the Secretary General on November 25 in order to send a strong message to the world's decision makers that ending violence against women should be a top priority in the global agenda.

Action: Add your voice to this campaign by signing on at: http://www.saynotoviolence.org/

Background Information:

Statistics paint a horrifying picture of the social and health consequences of violence against women. For women aged 15 to 44 years, violence is a major cause of death and disability. In a 1994 study based on World Bank data about ten selected risk factors facing women in this age group, rape and domestic violence rated higher than cancer, motor vehicle accidents, war and malaria.

The economic cost of violence against women is considerable. A 2003 report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the costs of intimate partner violence in the United States alone exceed US$5.8 billion per year: US$4.1 billion are for direct medical and health care services, while productivity losses account for nearly US$1.8 billion. Violence against women impoverishes individuals, families and communities, reducing the economic development of each nation.

In many societies, rape victims, women suspected of engaging in premarital sex, and women accused of adultery have been murdered by their relatives because the violation of a woman's chastity is viewed as an affront to the family's honor. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that the annual world-wide number of "honor killing" victims may be as high as 5000 women.

Women's bodies have become part of the battleground for those who use terror as a tactic of war. Women are raped, abducted, humiliated and made to endure forced pregnancy, sexual abuse and slavery. Violence against women during or after armed conflicts has been reported in every international or non-international war-zone, including Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Peru, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Chechnya/Russian Federation, Darfur, Sudan, northern Uganda and the former Yugoslavia.

Several studies have revealed increasing links between violence against women and HIV/AIDS. Women who have experienced violence are at a higher risk of HIV infection. A survey among 1,366 South African women showed that women who were beaten by their partners were 48 percent more likely to be infected with HIV than those who were not victims of battery.


For further information:

www.unifem.org
www.who.int/gender/violence
www.un.org/womenwatch/directory/violence_against_women_3004.htm
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/ViolenceAgainstWomen.aspx