Pace e Bene

Fr. Louie Vitale and Fr. Jerry Zwada risking arrest at the White House as part of the Christian Peace Witness for Iraq in March 2007

Marking the Fourth of July

July 4, 2010

Hello, friends and family,

Happy INTERDEPENDENCE DAY!

Many of the letters I have been receiving from all of  you are referring to the overwhelming problems in our society today.  The Afghan War—noting as we enter the 10th year that it is our longest war, and surely costliest, as it goes on.  We keep crossing new thresholds, the torture shock has increased with Drones in terms of inhumane warfare (even the question of war crimes),  global missile defense systems, new developments of nukes, emergent images of “Space War,” the Immigration trauma, and resultant violence near the Border, the sex scandal in the Catholic Church, going all the way up to the massive growth of our prison population.

There is an intense interest in having a better America, more faithful to our ideals, more caring for othersThese later factors have resulted in the US reaching higher ratings as a violent society (cf. Pew Study) and of course the economic fall out, people out of work (in almost all of our families), people loosing their homes, the safety-net for the poor falling into desperation, numbers of people lacking health care, the Oil Spills, global warming, and other environmental crises, and the list goes on.
 
So, do we celebrate “Independence Day?”  Perhaps not with the same uninhibited joy as in previous decades.  May if we use the newer label, “INTERDEPENDENCE DAY” we can give thanks.  It is clear to me through the letters I receive and the articles I read (especially online articles mailed to me) that there is an intense interest in having a better America, more faithful to our ideals, more caring for others. 

We profess to “love our neighbors,” even though that is not always easy.  But many of us see that “neighborhood” as a much wider world.  We rise quickly to aid folks in New Orleans or Haiti or in the wake of the monstrous Gulf oil spill, and we express concern for polar bears, and even other planets.  How many people watch programs that raise these global concerns?
 
It always strikes me (who doesn’t watch very much TV) how well informed people are, even in county jails, about the peoples, animals, and environments of our world.   Maybe we have a greater view of Creation, and maybe a wider view of the Creator;  new technology arouses our sense of awe and wonder.  Through the Internet we are in touch with people across the world.
 
Hopefully on these holidays we can stop and give thanks to those who make our lives possible, and do reach out to others in our name.  Yes, it is easy to see the shortcomings, but let us not forget to give thanks where thanks is due.
 
I can say again how grateful I am for the Chapel and religious services here.  It is easy for me to give thanks and that alone is a great gift.  A VERY JOYFUL HOPE OVERWHELMS ME, AND I SAY THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART.
 
I will be released on July 23rd.  Until then, many blessings.

Louie