Fifth Week of Lent, April 3-9
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Greetings of peace!
Since Pax Christi USA's beginnings in 1972, nuclear disarmament has been a priority. We're fortunate today to have an extraordinary group of individuals from throughout our movement who provide guidance and discernment for our community on issues related to nuclear disarmament. The Nuclear Disarmament Working Group, led by Nick Mele and Pax Christi USA's disarmament organizer Ronnie Fellerath-Lowell, has been indispensable for their expertise and passion around nuclear abolition and resourcing our movement for prayer, study and action toward that end. And the moment to reexamine our nation's idolatry of nuclear weapons and its implications for the world, has never been more striking. Nick Mele writes:
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"During the Cold War, it felt like nuclear war would break out with little or no warning. Russia has recently used a hypersonic missile and has several times explicitly threatened to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine. We are watching a slow drift toward the first use of nuclear weapons since August 1945. A single explosion will be a tragedy even if no humans are killed because it will be a step toward normalizing the use of nuclear weapons in war and because some part of the earth will be irradiated and burned. A modest exchange of nuclear weapons will affect the climate and the environment and could cause billions of deaths through hunger and disease."
As we watch this scenario become more possible with each passing day, Nick reminds us that "We are not powerless. We can pray, study and act to avert nuclear war."
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This year too as we gear up for Bread Not Stones 2022, a campaign to redirect military spending in the federal budget to human needs, we know how the money spent manufacturing and storing nuclear weapons steals resources away from efforts to address the climate crisis, dismantle systemic racism, improve education, provide healthcare, and more. You can find excellent resources provided by the Nuclear Disarmament Working group on this webpage.
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And we're also excited to announce that in a few days, we'll have hard-copy print versions of Archbishop Wester's pastoral letter on nuclear disarmament available for our members to purchase and share, followed by an online study circle (led by members of the working group) to unpack the letter and its uses for our organizing work, locally and nationally. Look for more information to come soon!
Lastly, please find below this week's Lenten PSA, focused on our Lenten hope for a world free of nuclear weapons.
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In peace,
Johnny Zokovitch
Executive Director, Pax Christi USA
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A prayer for disarmament
by Kim Vanderheiden, Pax Christi Northern California
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Breath of All that Is,
Preserve us from our own madness.
Direct us away from dealing destruction to others,
A path which leads to the ruin
Of our selves and our world.
Protect us. Help us to hear You.
Jesus Christ, Beloved,
Show us your precious face in all others,
You in us, and we in each other, from all places.
Teach us how to lower our defenses,
Feed us Love which transcends fear.
Heal us. Help us to let go of all fear.
Holy Spirit,
You Call us, in our minds, in our world,
And through each other. Speak to us. Speak through us.
When we worship power, control, money,
When we cannot forgive, or shove pain onto others,
Call us. Light the fire of Love.
We will not be afraid.
We will not be afraid.
Love transcends all fear.
You are with us always. Amen.
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>> Find the prayer for disarmament as a download at this link.
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A study circle offered last year by Pax Christi USA
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Find at this link a study guide, 6 videos, and more resources for your individual study or with your group.
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Take action for nuclear disarmament
from the Nuclear Disarmament Working Group
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1. Check your own investments and withdraw from financial institutions and corporations that fund, manufacture or maintain nuclear weapons. Write to those institutions to remind them that now that the Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons has entered international law, it is a crime to engage in any aspect of the nuclear weapons industry.
2. Remind your elected federal officials that the Church’s teaching about nuclear weapons has changed to condemnation of them—write letters or set up meetings with Representatives, Senators or their legislative staff over Zoom or in person during the Easter recess.
3. Write op-eds and letters to the editor: start with a local tie-in, and keep op-eds to 6-700 words and letters to 200-250 words. See Nick Mele's recent op-ed here as an example.
4. Contact your local bishop requesting that he issue a statement supporting the Pope’s condemnation of nuclear weapons and Archbishop Wester’s pastoral letter. Once the pastoral letter is available from Pax Christi USA, purchase a copy and gift it to your bishop, pastor, director of religious education, etc.
5. Include a station highlighting the suffering the human family undergoes because of nuclear weapons in your Good Friday Way of the Cross actions. Find more information at this link and please fill out this form to let us know if you have a Way of the Cross planned in your community.
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PAX CHRISTI USA TURNS 50 IN 2022!
If you can make a special contribution to our in celebration of our upcoming 50th anniversary,
we'd be so grateful! Just click on the donation button to the right to give securely & quickly online. Thanks!!
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Pax Christi USA
Weaving Threads of Peace for 50 Years
202-635-2741 | 415 Michigan Ave NE, Suite 240, Washington, DC 20017
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