Call to Action - Call to Justice for All

From Nov 7 to Nov 9, I joined c. 2500 Catholics at the 30th Call to Action Conference. It was held in Milwaukee. Major talks and many break-out sessions continued to stir us Catholics to make real and visible, tangible and desirable the vision of Church that God stirred in our hearts during the Vatican Council II, 1962-1965. We committed ourselves to journey of making our Church and World a place of justice for all. One of the inspiring speakers I heard was John Dear, SJ, a writer and activist for all things just that will bring about peace for all. Here are some of his reflections on the Call to Action weekend:

"This weekend, Barack Obama just freshly elected, I joined 2,500 Catholics at the annual Call to Action conference in Milwaukee. A spirit of hope hovered in the air. And in the air, too, was a general agreement that, the election notwithstanding, our work must continue. We need to keep pushing for an end to the U.S. wars on Iraq and Afghanistan. We still need to work to eradicate poverty, hunger, disease, corporate greed and environmental destruction. We still need to work for a more just society. Shortly put, we too have to be hopemakers, and carry on the hard work of making our hope -- a world of peace -- come true. Being hopemakers, a synonym for peacemakers -- this was the theme of my talks. It is up to us to pursue the audacity of peace, to practice the nonviolence of Jesus, and in the process, to help the church reclaim its peacemaking vocation. "