On Feb. 27, I will be flying to Singapore - Chicago to Hong Kong to Singapore, all on
United Airlines. There are fifty Franciscan Friars in the Singapore Custody. They invited me to preach their annual retreat. Since this is the 800th anniversary of the
founding of the Franciscan Order of Friars - OFM: Ordo Fratrum Minorum (Order of Lesser Brothers), I suggested the retreat be focused on our Rule of Life written by St. Francis in 1223. Preparation for this retreat has been a blessing for me. I have read more on the Rule during the last six months than I have ever done. The old saying: If you want to learn something, teach it.
Have any of you been to Singapore? Have suggestions for me - what to see, what to do nor not to do...? Do you have any friends or relatives there?
Besides living with the Friars and learning their customs and culture(s), I hope to make contact with the SFO's, the Secular Franciscan Order - laity who live according to the Spirit of St Francis and the Gospel. I will return on March 18.
Blessings to you from Singapore!
Fr. Chuck Faso, OFM
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Books! Books! Books! - Reading! Rading! Reading!
Someone once said" "Show me your library and I will tell you when you died." That is,
the last thing you read is perhaps when you stopped learning and thinking and reflecting. Today, of course, we have books, magazines, Google, DVDs, etc. But there is something about holding a book, opening the book, turning those pages until the last page is read. One of our friars says that everyone should always be reading a novel - to get into another time zone, another culture, another person's and/or family's journey, another ethical world view,.... So what have I read recently?
I am almost finished reading "Three Cups of Tea" This a true story that reads like a novel. These 331 pages that won the Kiriyzma Prize is the story of Greg Mortenson's one man's mission to promote peace...one School at a time in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Greg Mortenson was attempting to climb the second highest mountain in the world but had to stop near the top and return down because of injuries of a fellow climber. On the descent, Mortenson took a turn that led him to a village where there was no school. That experience of these good people isolated not only by the mountains but by their lack of the possibility of education catapulted him into a mission that consumes his life with passion and meaning, commitment and direction.
The title refers to the custom in Pakistan and Afghanistan that is best described by Haji Ali, Korphe Village Chief, in the Karakoram Mountains of Pakistan: "We drink three cups of tea to do business: the first you are a stranger, the second you become a friend, and the third, you join our family and for our family we are prepared to do anything -- even die."
To read this book is to scale mountains and get to know people of Pakistan and Afghanistan in their daily hopes and fears, their struggles and challenges, the politics and wars. Mortenson is the director of the Central Asia Institute that he founded with the continued financial support of many people who share his dream and hope. He has spoken to a groups of a few people to thousands, to a room full of congressman in Washington DC and to military leaders at the Pentagon. The usual response is: Why have we not heard about this before?
David Oliver Relin, the writer, is a globe-trotting journalist who has won more than forty national awards for his writing and editing. A former teaching/writing fellow at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, he is a frequent contributor to Parade and Skiing Magazine. He lives in Portland Oregon.
Tom Brokaw said this about "Three Cups of Tea": "Thrilling....proof that one ordinary person, with the right combination of character and determination, really can change the world." I am finding the book an education of that part of the world and its culture, customs, religions, and wars. I have been moved and challenged to learn more and to do something. As a Franciscan, I went on the internet to "Franciscan Action Network" and found this website filled what is being done and can be done to bring more justice and peace to our world through the office in Washington DC. Take a look at "FAN" yourself. Most informative with daily updates.
The back cover of the book makes a great summary of the book in this way:
This book (Three Cups of Tea) is the astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his remarkable humanitarian campaign in the Taliban's backyard. In 1993 a mountaineer named Greg Mortenson drifted into an impoverished Pakistan village in the Karakoram mountains after a failed attempt to climb K2. Moved by the inhabitants' kindness, he promised to return and build a school. Three Cups of Tea is the story of that promise and its extraordinary outcome. Over the next decade Mortenson buildt not just one but fifty-five schools - especially for girls - in the forbidding terrain that gave birth to the Taliban. His story is at once a riveting adventure and a testament to the power of the Humanitarian spirit.
Have any of you read this book? What are your comments and reflection?
Any other books that you have read and want to share a few words about?
I will write again about books: "The Shack" and one I received yesterday "A Voluptuous God" by Robert V. Thompson. Anyone read either of these two books?
the last thing you read is perhaps when you stopped learning and thinking and reflecting. Today, of course, we have books, magazines, Google, DVDs, etc. But there is something about holding a book, opening the book, turning those pages until the last page is read. One of our friars says that everyone should always be reading a novel - to get into another time zone, another culture, another person's and/or family's journey, another ethical world view,.... So what have I read recently?
I am almost finished reading "Three Cups of Tea" This a true story that reads like a novel. These 331 pages that won the Kiriyzma Prize is the story of Greg Mortenson's one man's mission to promote peace...one School at a time in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Greg Mortenson was attempting to climb the second highest mountain in the world but had to stop near the top and return down because of injuries of a fellow climber. On the descent, Mortenson took a turn that led him to a village where there was no school. That experience of these good people isolated not only by the mountains but by their lack of the possibility of education catapulted him into a mission that consumes his life with passion and meaning, commitment and direction.
The title refers to the custom in Pakistan and Afghanistan that is best described by Haji Ali, Korphe Village Chief, in the Karakoram Mountains of Pakistan: "We drink three cups of tea to do business: the first you are a stranger, the second you become a friend, and the third, you join our family and for our family we are prepared to do anything -- even die."
To read this book is to scale mountains and get to know people of Pakistan and Afghanistan in their daily hopes and fears, their struggles and challenges, the politics and wars. Mortenson is the director of the Central Asia Institute that he founded with the continued financial support of many people who share his dream and hope. He has spoken to a groups of a few people to thousands, to a room full of congressman in Washington DC and to military leaders at the Pentagon. The usual response is: Why have we not heard about this before?
David Oliver Relin, the writer, is a globe-trotting journalist who has won more than forty national awards for his writing and editing. A former teaching/writing fellow at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, he is a frequent contributor to Parade and Skiing Magazine. He lives in Portland Oregon.
Tom Brokaw said this about "Three Cups of Tea": "Thrilling....proof that one ordinary person, with the right combination of character and determination, really can change the world." I am finding the book an education of that part of the world and its culture, customs, religions, and wars. I have been moved and challenged to learn more and to do something. As a Franciscan, I went on the internet to "Franciscan Action Network" and found this website filled what is being done and can be done to bring more justice and peace to our world through the office in Washington DC. Take a look at "FAN" yourself. Most informative with daily updates.
The back cover of the book makes a great summary of the book in this way:
This book (Three Cups of Tea) is the astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his remarkable humanitarian campaign in the Taliban's backyard. In 1993 a mountaineer named Greg Mortenson drifted into an impoverished Pakistan village in the Karakoram mountains after a failed attempt to climb K2. Moved by the inhabitants' kindness, he promised to return and build a school. Three Cups of Tea is the story of that promise and its extraordinary outcome. Over the next decade Mortenson buildt not just one but fifty-five schools - especially for girls - in the forbidding terrain that gave birth to the Taliban. His story is at once a riveting adventure and a testament to the power of the Humanitarian spirit.
Have any of you read this book? What are your comments and reflection?
Any other books that you have read and want to share a few words about?
I will write again about books: "The Shack" and one I received yesterday "A Voluptuous God" by Robert V. Thompson. Anyone read either of these two books?
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Former Senator Geroge McGovern on Peace Making
Former senator George McGovern addressed Obama in a recent editorial in The Washington Post.
"Please do not try to put Afghanistan aright with the U.S. military. To send our troops out of Iraq and into Afghanistan would be a near-perfect example of going from the frying pan into the fire…. Military power is no solution to terrorism. The hatred of U.S. policies in the Middle East--our occupation of Iraq, our backing for repressive regimes such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, our support of Israel--that drives the terrorist impulse against us would better be resolved by ending our military presence throughout the arc of conflict. This means a prudent, carefully directed withdrawal of our troops from Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and elsewhere. We also need to close down the imposing U.S. military bases in this section of the globe, which do so little to expand our security and so much to stoke local resentment."
McGovern proposes instead that the U.S. work with the U.N. World Food program and other agencies to provide a nutritious lunch every day for every school-age child in Afghanistan and other poor countries. This would be a minimum, as far as I'm concerned. We should also make restitution for every nation where we have ever killed a single child.
"Please do not try to put Afghanistan aright with the U.S. military. To send our troops out of Iraq and into Afghanistan would be a near-perfect example of going from the frying pan into the fire…. Military power is no solution to terrorism. The hatred of U.S. policies in the Middle East--our occupation of Iraq, our backing for repressive regimes such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, our support of Israel--that drives the terrorist impulse against us would better be resolved by ending our military presence throughout the arc of conflict. This means a prudent, carefully directed withdrawal of our troops from Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and elsewhere. We also need to close down the imposing U.S. military bases in this section of the globe, which do so little to expand our security and so much to stoke local resentment."
McGovern proposes instead that the U.S. work with the U.N. World Food program and other agencies to provide a nutritious lunch every day for every school-age child in Afghanistan and other poor countries. This would be a minimum, as far as I'm concerned. We should also make restitution for every nation where we have ever killed a single child.
Blueprint for Peace in the World
The most developed blueprint comes from "Sept. 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows" (www.peacefultomorrows.org). They've composed a "primer for activists," which outlines a few unpopular truths.
1. U.S. and NATO occupation creates civilian casualties, angering Afghans.
2. Military occupation has hampered humanitarian aid and reconstruction efforts.
3. Afghan women continue to face violence and oppression under the occupation.
4. U.S. policy has empowered warlords, drug lords and the Taliban.
5. The occupation contributes to violence and destabilization for ordinary Afghans, including refugees.
6. NATO allies and military leaders are questioning the occupation.
7. U.S. troop casualties in Afghanistan are on the rise.
8. Afghans are calling for a negotiated end to the war.
9. Military escalation will only increase the violence, and potentially lead to a wider war involving nuclear-armed Pakistan.
10. Military occupation of Afghanistan does not curb terrorism.
They propose eight recommendations for change:
1. Set a swift timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO military forces, to be substituted by U.N. forces for short-term security.
2. Immediately cease air strikes on targets in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
3. Support negotiations between all parties involved in the conflict, including Afghan women leaders.
4. Reform humanitarian aid and reconstruction funding efforts to prioritize Afghan organizations over foreign contractors. Ensure that funded projects address the needs and requests of Afghans and are not simply pet projects of foreign donors.
5. Invest in long-term aid that increases self-reliance such as sustainable agriculture efforts.
6. Immediately discontinue the use of Provincial Reconstruction Teams, which are costly, inefficient, and have militarized the aid process.
7. Standardize, increase, and publicly document compensation to Afghan families and communities affected by U.S. military actions.
8. Sign the treaty to ban cluster bombs, pay for cluster bomb and landmine cleanup in Afghanistan, and pledge never to use these weapons again.
From every quarter, the message is clear: War is obsolete. War doesn't work. The days of war are over. We want nonviolent solutions for nonviolent breakthroughs to a new world of nonviolence.
"We've tried and tested every form of violence," Lech Walesa has said, "and not once in the entire course of human history has anything good or lasting come from it."
And from the Dalai Lama: "If we look at history, we find that in time, humanity's love of peace, justice and freedom always triumphs over cruelty and oppression. This is why I am such a fervent believer in nonviolence. Violence begets violence. Violence means only one thing: suffering. This small planet should be completely demilitarized."
Fr John Dear, SJ, states that war is not the way to follow Jesus. Indeed, Jesus says that whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me. In our wars, not only do we make Christ poor, hungry, homeless, sick and imprisoned, we kill him all over again.
1. U.S. and NATO occupation creates civilian casualties, angering Afghans.
2. Military occupation has hampered humanitarian aid and reconstruction efforts.
3. Afghan women continue to face violence and oppression under the occupation.
4. U.S. policy has empowered warlords, drug lords and the Taliban.
5. The occupation contributes to violence and destabilization for ordinary Afghans, including refugees.
6. NATO allies and military leaders are questioning the occupation.
7. U.S. troop casualties in Afghanistan are on the rise.
8. Afghans are calling for a negotiated end to the war.
9. Military escalation will only increase the violence, and potentially lead to a wider war involving nuclear-armed Pakistan.
10. Military occupation of Afghanistan does not curb terrorism.
They propose eight recommendations for change:
1. Set a swift timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO military forces, to be substituted by U.N. forces for short-term security.
2. Immediately cease air strikes on targets in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
3. Support negotiations between all parties involved in the conflict, including Afghan women leaders.
4. Reform humanitarian aid and reconstruction funding efforts to prioritize Afghan organizations over foreign contractors. Ensure that funded projects address the needs and requests of Afghans and are not simply pet projects of foreign donors.
5. Invest in long-term aid that increases self-reliance such as sustainable agriculture efforts.
6. Immediately discontinue the use of Provincial Reconstruction Teams, which are costly, inefficient, and have militarized the aid process.
7. Standardize, increase, and publicly document compensation to Afghan families and communities affected by U.S. military actions.
8. Sign the treaty to ban cluster bombs, pay for cluster bomb and landmine cleanup in Afghanistan, and pledge never to use these weapons again.
From every quarter, the message is clear: War is obsolete. War doesn't work. The days of war are over. We want nonviolent solutions for nonviolent breakthroughs to a new world of nonviolence.
"We've tried and tested every form of violence," Lech Walesa has said, "and not once in the entire course of human history has anything good or lasting come from it."
And from the Dalai Lama: "If we look at history, we find that in time, humanity's love of peace, justice and freedom always triumphs over cruelty and oppression. This is why I am such a fervent believer in nonviolence. Violence begets violence. Violence means only one thing: suffering. This small planet should be completely demilitarized."
Fr John Dear, SJ, states that war is not the way to follow Jesus. Indeed, Jesus says that whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me. In our wars, not only do we make Christ poor, hungry, homeless, sick and imprisoned, we kill him all over again.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Pilgrimages - Turkey/Greece and Oberamergau
Come join Fr. Bill Burton OFM (www.biblicist.net) and me, fr. Chuck Faso, OFM (www.frchuckofm.org) for a pilgrimage:
1) In the Footsteps of St. Paul - Turkey and Greece - May 24-June
For more info and/or an email brochure contact me at cfaso@earthlink.net
or AMI Travel:
Lebbie Chang
6119 N. Cicero Ave #1
Chicago IL 60646
(773)777-4900
(800)821-8947
www.amitravel.com
email: tours@amitravel.com
2)Oberamergau Passion Play 2010
August 5-14, 2010, co-hosted by Fr. William Burton OFM
and Fr. Charles Faso, OFM: a 10 Day alpine Europe Tour, featuring Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Germany - Munich, Salzubrg, Innsbruck, Bolzano, Island of Mainau, Lucerne, and the memorable Passion Play Performance.
For more Information, please contact:
Trans World Travel (TWT)
John Gibbs
734 Central Ave
Highland Park IL 60035
Phone:(847) 432-2400
Outside Illinois: (800) 323-8158
1) In the Footsteps of St. Paul - Turkey and Greece - May 24-June
For more info and/or an email brochure contact me at cfaso@earthlink.net
or AMI Travel:
Lebbie Chang
6119 N. Cicero Ave #1
Chicago IL 60646
(773)777-4900
(800)821-8947
www.amitravel.com
email: tours@amitravel.com
2)Oberamergau Passion Play 2010
August 5-14, 2010, co-hosted by Fr. William Burton OFM
and Fr. Charles Faso, OFM: a 10 Day alpine Europe Tour, featuring Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Germany - Munich, Salzubrg, Innsbruck, Bolzano, Island of Mainau, Lucerne, and the memorable Passion Play Performance.
For more Information, please contact:
Trans World Travel (TWT)
John Gibbs
734 Central Ave
Highland Park IL 60035
Phone:(847) 432-2400
Outside Illinois: (800) 323-8158
Saturday, January 17, 2009
A Franciscan Prayer for Peace
Lord, make us instruments of your Peace
In a world all too prone to violence and revenge,
We commit ourselves to the Gospel Values of
Mercy, Justice, Compassion, and Love;
We will seek daily to promote forgiveness and healing
in our hearts, our families, and our world.
Where there is hatred, let us sow Love;
Where there is injury, let us cultivate Peace
Fear and distance prevent people from recognizing all
as brothers and sisters;
tensions lead to violence and mistrust;
We will strive to honor the dignity that God places
in each and every human person.
Grant that we may not seek to be understood as to Understand;
To be loved as to Love
Our failure to understand the other can create exclusion
in all its negative forms –
racism, marginalization of those who are poor, sick, the immigrant;
it can also create situations of domination, occupation, oppression and war.
We pledge to seek the way of solidarity,
to create hearts, homes, and communities
where all people will experience inclusion, hospitality, and understanding.
For it is in giving that we receive, in pardoning that we are pardoned
And in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Let us Pray:
Lord God, create in us:
-the Capacity to hear and understand the voices of those who suffer from
every form of violence, injustice, and dehumanization;
-the Openness to receive and honor people from other cultures, languages,
religious traditions, and geographical regions;
-the Creativity to explore new ways of communication and dialogue through
music, poetry, performing arts, and the mass media;
-the Audacity to undertake the building of communities of forgiveness, healing,
and reconciliation.
To God who is above all and in all are the glory and the honor. Amen
In a world all too prone to violence and revenge,
We commit ourselves to the Gospel Values of
Mercy, Justice, Compassion, and Love;
We will seek daily to promote forgiveness and healing
in our hearts, our families, and our world.
Where there is hatred, let us sow Love;
Where there is injury, let us cultivate Peace
Fear and distance prevent people from recognizing all
as brothers and sisters;
tensions lead to violence and mistrust;
We will strive to honor the dignity that God places
in each and every human person.
Grant that we may not seek to be understood as to Understand;
To be loved as to Love
Our failure to understand the other can create exclusion
in all its negative forms –
racism, marginalization of those who are poor, sick, the immigrant;
it can also create situations of domination, occupation, oppression and war.
We pledge to seek the way of solidarity,
to create hearts, homes, and communities
where all people will experience inclusion, hospitality, and understanding.
For it is in giving that we receive, in pardoning that we are pardoned
And in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Let us Pray:
Lord God, create in us:
-the Capacity to hear and understand the voices of those who suffer from
every form of violence, injustice, and dehumanization;
-the Openness to receive and honor people from other cultures, languages,
religious traditions, and geographical regions;
-the Creativity to explore new ways of communication and dialogue through
music, poetry, performing arts, and the mass media;
-the Audacity to undertake the building of communities of forgiveness, healing,
and reconciliation.
To God who is above all and in all are the glory and the honor. Amen
A Jew's Prayer for the Children of Gaza
by Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman of Kol HaNeshama, Jerusalem
Lord who is the creator of all children, hear our prayer this accursed day.
God whom we call Blessed, turn your face to these, the children of Gaza,
that they may know your blessings, and your shelter,
that they may know light and warmth,
where there is now only blackness and smoke,
and a cold which cuts and clenches the skin.
Almighty who makes exceptions, which we call miracles,
make an exception of the children of Gaza.
Shield them from us and from their own.
Spare them. Heal them. Let them stand in safety.
Deliver them from hunger and horror and fury and grief.
Deliver them from us, and from their own.
Restore to them their stolen childhoods, their birthright, which is a taste of heaven.
Remind us, O Lord, of the child Ishmael,
who is the father of all the children of Gaza.
How the child Ishmael was without water
and left for dead in the wilderness of Beer-Sheba,
so robbed of all hope,
that his own mother could not bear to watch his life drain away.
Be that Lord, the God of our kinsman Ishmael,
who heard his cry and sent His angel to comfort his mother Hagar.
Be that Lord, who was with Ishmael that day, and all the days after.
Be that God, the All-Merciful,
who opened Hagar's eyes that day, and showed her the well of water,
that she could give the boy Ishmael to drink, and save his life.
Allah, whose name we call Elohim,
who gives life, who knows the value and the fragility of every life,
send these children your angels.
Save them, the children of this place,
Gaza the most beautiful, and Gaza the damned.
In this day, when the trepidation and rage and mourning that is called war,
seizes our hearts and patches them in scars,
we call to you, the Lord whose name is Peace:
Bless these children, and keep them from harm.
Turn Your face toward them, O Lord.
Show them, as if for the first time,
light and kindness, and overwhelming graciousness.
Look up at them, O Lord. Let them see your face.
And, as if for the first time, grant them peace.
Lord who is the creator of all children, hear our prayer this accursed day.
God whom we call Blessed, turn your face to these, the children of Gaza,
that they may know your blessings, and your shelter,
that they may know light and warmth,
where there is now only blackness and smoke,
and a cold which cuts and clenches the skin.
Almighty who makes exceptions, which we call miracles,
make an exception of the children of Gaza.
Shield them from us and from their own.
Spare them. Heal them. Let them stand in safety.
Deliver them from hunger and horror and fury and grief.
Deliver them from us, and from their own.
Restore to them their stolen childhoods, their birthright, which is a taste of heaven.
Remind us, O Lord, of the child Ishmael,
who is the father of all the children of Gaza.
How the child Ishmael was without water
and left for dead in the wilderness of Beer-Sheba,
so robbed of all hope,
that his own mother could not bear to watch his life drain away.
Be that Lord, the God of our kinsman Ishmael,
who heard his cry and sent His angel to comfort his mother Hagar.
Be that Lord, who was with Ishmael that day, and all the days after.
Be that God, the All-Merciful,
who opened Hagar's eyes that day, and showed her the well of water,
that she could give the boy Ishmael to drink, and save his life.
Allah, whose name we call Elohim,
who gives life, who knows the value and the fragility of every life,
send these children your angels.
Save them, the children of this place,
Gaza the most beautiful, and Gaza the damned.
In this day, when the trepidation and rage and mourning that is called war,
seizes our hearts and patches them in scars,
we call to you, the Lord whose name is Peace:
Bless these children, and keep them from harm.
Turn Your face toward them, O Lord.
Show them, as if for the first time,
light and kindness, and overwhelming graciousness.
Look up at them, O Lord. Let them see your face.
And, as if for the first time, grant them peace.
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