248: Remind me to walk with the wind,and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love
A first for us today: The reflection is made up of 3 important announcements:
ANNOUNCEMENT #1
The Trump administration plans to execute three more people this year.
As Sister Helen Prejean, one of the death penalty's most vocal and inspiring opponents, tweeted, "All federal executions scheduled by the outgoing administration should be canceled immediately... Human lives shouldn't be left in a political lame duck limbo."
The next federal execution is scheduled for today, and demonstrates how racist the death penalty can truly be. Orlando Hall is a Black man convicted by an all-white jury, thanks to a prosecution expert known for keeping Black citizens off of criminal juries. Tell the Justice Department: No lame-duck executions >>
It wasn't enough for Donald Trump and William Barr (a Catholic) to simply end a 17-year moratorium on the barbaric and ineffective federal death penalty. They've also set a grisly record for the most-ever federal executions in a single year -- and now they seem set on rushing through as many more executions as they can before Biden takes office.
Inmates are usually given at least 120 days' notice before their state-sponsored deaths. Lisa Montgomery, scheduled to become the first woman killed by the federal government in nearly 70 years, was given just 54. "There's no possible way for her to get a fair clemency hearing," her lawyer told The Washington Post.
Christians cannot accept this outrageous injustice. Pope Francis, the National Council of Churches, and countless other Christian leaders have long spoken out against the death penalty. As Jesus said, "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone."
Add your name now so we can deliver more urgent signatures to the Justice Department! Tell the Justice Department: No lame-duck executions >>
Thank you for everything you do to love your neighbor and defend the dignity of all human life. In peace, -- Guthrie, Rev. Nathan, and the Faithful America team
"If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also." - Matthew 5:39
ANNOUNCEMENT #2
A couple of days ago I had the great pleasure to hear a ZOOM interview with several nuns who went to Selma Alabama to protest for Civil Rights. The very young Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis asked for clergy to witness with the people of Selma and these sisters, and many priests, answered the call. Their stories are powerful. We can now watch that program and also watch a documentary made about the sisters.
Witness & Grace Conversation: Sisters of Selma:
1. View. A recording of the November 17 Sisters of Selma conversation is now available. Feel free to pass it along to your family and friends. Watch the video recording of Sisters of Selma session on November 17, 2020.
2. WATCH THIS DOCUMENTARY. We would like to make the PBS documentary Sisters of Selma available to you, free of charge, for a limited period of 72 hours starting at noon on Friday, November 20. Here is the link where it can be played online:
https://vimeo.com/441884441/f0880ffa71 3. Register to learn more. Participate in our session, Three Black Catholics Continuing the Journey. As a follow up to our session on Tuesday, our guests will share reflections on how their ministries, entrusted to them by God, continue the journey of Black Catholics in the U.S. Catholic Church, and how their background and community informs and inspires the work about which they are most passionate. The session is Thursday, November 19 at 2 p.m. - 3 p.m. Central. Learn more | Register
Learn. Here is the selected historical context that we heard in the session. Pray. Here are the opening and closing prayers we used in the session with the sisters: This is the Opening Prayer read by one of the Sisters of Selma on November 17: Loving God, help us not to look forward in fear to changing things; may we instead look ahead full of hope. Help us to trust that You, whose very own we are, will lead us, though we may sometimes feel lost and concerned. Liberate us from fear of what may happen tomorrow so that we can use our full energy to make tomorrow better for others and for ourselves. Confident that You are with us today and every day, may we set aside anxious thoughts and imaginings. Even as we confront real obstacles --- ignorance and evil and the effects of sin --- may we remain grounded in hope and be promoters of peace. Amen. - St Francis de Sales
Closing Prayer: Oh holy one, remind me to answer the highest calling of my heart and stand up for what i believe. Remind me to walk with the wind, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be my guide. Remind me to do this in your holy name, Amen. - John Lewis
ANNOUNCEMENT #3
ILAN PAPPE & DIANA BUTTU What Next for Palestine? Sunday, November 22, 12noon Pacific/3pm Eastern
ILAN PAPPE is known as "Israel's bravest historian." He felt forced to leave Israel due to his support of economic, political and academic boycotts of Israel. DIANA BUTTU was legal advisor to the historic Palestinian negotiating team and later to the Palestinian president. You can hear these two luminaries speak about "What's Next for Palestine?" this Sunday, Nov. 22, noon pacific / 3pm eastern -- and ask them your questions as well, Register Now!
And on Nov 21 you can watch the World Without Walls event, “Arab Walls: Repression and Division” & then join a special Rally & Twitterstorm on Nov 29 to demand the decriminalization of indigenous strug gles from Turtle Island to Palestine -- scroll down for info!
ILAN PAPPE & DIANA BUTTU What Next for Palestine? Sunday, November 22, 12noon Pacific/3pm Eastern
Given the US elections, COVID, uprisings and upheavals worldwide - what's next for Palestine? Don't miss this chance to hear from two brilliant and compelling activist/scholars about the effects on Palestine and what we can do. Join us!
(use this link)
ILAN PAPPE, Ph.D., directs the European Center of Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter in the U.K. He is an Israeli historian and activist, the son of German Jewish parents who fled Nazi persecution in the 1930s. Pappe has published 15 books, including the groundbreaking The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (2006), which debunks the myth that the Palestinian population left of their own accord. He documents that part of Israel’s founding ideology was the forcible removal of the indigenous population: between 1947- 1949, over 400 Palestinian villages were destroyed, civilians were massacred, and approximately one million men, women, and children were expelled from their homes at gunpoint. Called “Israel’s bravest historian” by journalist John Pilger, Pappe left Israel in 2008 after finding it it “increasingly difficult” to live there with his “unwelcome views and convictions,” including his support of economic, political and academic boycotts of Israel.
DIANA BUTTU is a Canadian-Palestinian human rights attorney. In 2000, she moved to the occupied West Bank where she served as a legal advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team and later to the Palestinian president. She was part of the team that assisted in the successful litigation of the Wall before the International Court of Justice. Buttu resigned from her post in 2005 but remains a frequent commentator on Middle East politics and human rights, with op-eds and appearances in media outlets such as the NYT, CNN, BBC, Aljazeera, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. Buttu is the recipient of the Stelle Solidariete Italian prize for her human rights work; she was the Eleanor Roosevelt Fellow at Harvard Law School, holding an appointment with the Kennedy School and Law School at the same time. In a 2018 opinion piece in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Buttu stated, “It is repugnant that the world demands that Palestinians negotiate their freedom, while Israel continues to steal Palestinian land.”
$10 suggested donation, Benefit for Palestine & Lebanon Sign up at www.mecaforpeace.org/pappe!
Cosponsored by Arab Resource and Organizing Center, Friends of Sabeel, Jewish Voice for Peace/BA, More!