Good Friday, the Firing Squad, and the Gas Chamber

From the Catholic Mobilizing Network...


Good Friday is a time to contemplate capital punishment.

Today we remember that Jesus suffered and died for us in an execution at the hands of the state.

At the same time, we remember that thousands of our brothers and sisters in the U.S. face the same gruesome fate — and that we, as Christians, have a responsibility to advocate against these attacks on human dignity.

On this particular Good Friday, this responsibility looms larger than ever. Two states — South Carolina and Arizona — have recently announced plans to restart executions in the coming weeks.

(This is very important. Please read more here.)

Today, Good Friday, we weep over the execution by a state of a convicted criminal who carried the message of our salvation. That message of salvation tells us to see Christ in others. If we are about that project, can we allow state-sanctioned executions to take others? 

A Important Message for Holy Week

 I think that if we miss this, then we miss much of the significance of Holy Week and Easter/Pascha:

Some Messages About Peacemaking And Justicemaking...

 

“Peace demands the most heroic labour  and the most difficult sacrifice. It demands greater heroism than war. It demands greater fidelity to the truth and a much more perfect purity of conscience.”--Thomas Merton

Young Catholics: Enter your original poem about the death penalty for a chance to win!

 The following comes from the Catholic Mobilizing Network website. 

Justice and Mercy Poetry Contest for Young Catholics

Enter your original poem about the death penalty for a chance to win!

Are you an 18-30 year old who is enrolled in college or graduate school and motivated by your Catholic faith? Do you care about justice, especially as it pertains to the U.S. criminal legal system?

Enter Catholic Mobilizing Network’s (CMN’s) Justice and Mercy Poetry Contest for Young Catholics with an original poem about the injustice of capital punishment and become eligible to win up to $1,000 in cash.

The first-place winner will also be invited to read their award-winning poem at CMN’s 13th anniversary celebration on October 10, 2022 at the Apostolic Nunciature of the Holy See in Washington, DC.

Contest winners will be chosen by a diverse group of committee members who bring an array of interest, experience, and skills when it comes to engaging young Catholics, ending the death penalty, and using poetry as a way to nurture the intersection of justice and faith.

Submission Guidelines and Eligibility

This contest is open to Catholics in the United States ages 18-30 who are enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program at an accredited college or university.

Poetry submissions will be accepted from March 1, 2022 - May 31, 2022. Submissions are limited to one poem per person. Formal, rhyming, or free verse poems are welcome.
Contest Prizes

First Place - The first-place winner of the poetry contest will receive a $1,000 cash prize and their poem will be published on CMN’s website and social media channels. The first-place winner will also be invited on an expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC to read their poem live at CMN’s 13th anniversary celebration at the Apostolic Nunciature on October 10, 2022.

Second Place - The second-place winner of the poetry contest will receive a $500 cash prize and their poem will be published on CMN’s website and social media channels.

Third Place - The third-place winner of the poetry contest will receive a $300 cash prize and their poem will be published on CMN’s website and social media channels.

ALL contestants will be invited to an exclusive virtual gathering in the summer of 2022 to hear from death penalty abolition leaders and learn about opportunities for education, advocacy, and prayer in the movement to end the death penalty.

What would we have to let go of to be at peace right now?

I don't have political or social answers to these questions right now---the lists are so long and the subjects are so complex ad people who are much smarter than me write books about this. But on my individual level the list is pretty easy: ego, doctor's visits, bills that I can't pay easily, the grind that comes with having lived for 66 years in a world where my country has been at war and/or engaged in exploitation and oppression without a break for all of that time, these unending to-do lists, this oppressive daily busyness, certain unfulfilling commitments and many more that do help others and do fulfill but take energy and struggle.

What about you?