One of the most serious violations of justice is slavery. An International Day of Prayer and Awareness was instituted on February 8, the feast of St. Josephine Bakhita, a Sudanese girl who was sold into slavery in the 19th century and later became a nun. This is an opportunity to recall the importance of these crimes, which often remain in the shadows, and which States rarely pursue. Organizations like Talitha Kum are constantly fighting against slavery and human trafficking, and they ask for our prayers and support. https://preghieracontrotratta.org "Journeying in Dignity": Listen, Dream, Act is the theme of the X° International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking, celebra...

Changing How Economy Works                                                                Traduction française - voir ci-dessous Capitalist economy, especially in its neoliberal, financial version, is ecologically and socially unsustainable, and it is the main driver of the poly-crisis we are today experiencing. Therefore, we need to change how the economy works. This will take a social transformation, that is, a systemic change that transforms both socio- economic structures and the worldview that underpins them. Having understood th...

Social implications of Economic Justice                            Traduction française - voir ci-dessous With the end of the bipolar system (Western capitalist world Vs Eastern communist system) Trans National Corporations (TNCs) pushed for a globalization of markets, seeking an expansion that could secure growth. Having reached the limits to growth within the Western consumer market, they needed to expand it. That meant pushing to turn the world into a global, single market – without any barriers of sorts – a single, interconnected financial marketplace, and a unified production system. However, they soon realized that s...

Economic Justice as a Priority for the Global South     Bro. Alberto Parise MCCJ     Rome, 23rd January 2024 La justice économique, une priorité pour le Sud            voir ci-dessous pour la traduction  The State of the World's Economy The recently published UN report on the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2023, presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos, portrays that we are in the middle of a "polycrisis". In fact, the report states that a series of severe and mutually reinforcing shocks struck the world economy in 2022: a. the impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic still reverberating worldwide,b. the war in Ukraine (a...

On-line Course on Integral Ecology From Laudato Si' to Laudate Deum An Initiative of the Alliance for the Care of Our Common Home (Pontifical Universities & Atheneums of Rome) In 2015 Pope Francis gifted us Laudato Si', the landmark encyclical letter on the care for our common home, in which he invited all people of good will to "a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet" (LS, 14). However, as Pope Francis recognizes in Laudate Deum, the apostolic exhortation published on 4th October 2023 - on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron of ecology, "our responses have not been adequate" and "the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the b...

Fr Richard Rohr OFM, presents on the Centre for Action and Contemplation , 4 key issues that call for us to be engaged in this year, 2024: He draws on Brian McLaren's work: Everything must Change .  McLaren presents 4 Crises: Planet, Poverty, Peace, and Religion.  McLaren Writes Way back in 2007, I wrote a book called Everything Must Change. I wanted to understand what our greatest challenges and threats and problems were here on Earth as a global civilization. I spent a year researching the literature of global crises, and I came away with an understanding of four deep problems that we face. First, we face a crisis with our planet. We are literally destroying our life su...

The three Magi from the East brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to those gathered around the new-born child in Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph among them. (Matt. 2) However, the beautiful story of the Epiphany suggests that these same travelers from the East bring other gifts, too, both to those in Bethlehem and also to us. These other gifts of the wise, then and now, are channels of peace and reconciliation within a very violent world. The Epiphany speaks to hearts in every age that long for peace and reconciliation in the midst of war, injustice and violence. We are so familiar with the Christmas scene that the magi seem to fit in there very naturally. In reality, they were strangers...

A Broader View of the Impacts of Climate Change on the World's Poor by Ted Keating, SM                                                                                                 Traduction française - voir ci-dessous When our Editorial Committee met to plan this issue of Today's Marists, we were embedded in the tragic news of a world on fire (western part of the United States, Canada, Greece, along with several other nations); massive, deadly flo...

COP28 is the first COP to have a Faith Pavilion, found at  https://faithatcop28.com/ La COP28 est la première COP à disposer d'un pavillon de la foi à  https://faithatcop28.com/ GLOBAL FAITH LEADERS UNITE TO DECLARE SUPPORT      Traduction française - voir ci-dessous – 28 high-level faith leaders from over 19 faiths and denominations unite to sign a statement seeking urgent climate action ahead of COP28. – The document, signed at the Global Faith Leaders' Summit on 6/7 November in Abu Dhabi, shows commitment from faith groups across the world to take swift and decisive action to address the climate emergency. – At COP28, the first-ever Faith Pavilion will b...

Ross Flint, Marist Associate,  Ordained Anglican, Tasmania, offers us his Reflections:       [Traduction française - voir ci-dessous]. In the vastly complex situation that exists in Israel today, there are many issues to deal with and many to discern. For anyone to side with either the Israelis or the Palestinians without listening to the many stories of the events that have unfolded during the 75 years since Palestine was divided to give the Jews a homeland due to the UN Resolution 181 in 1947 will inevitably come to wrong conclusions. To further complicate an already very complex situation, some evangelical Christians (primarily in the USA) have adopted a...

Fr Francois Grossin sm, New Caledonia, sent this recent news:         Traduction française : voir ci-dessous Australia offers climate asylum to Tuvalu's citizens On 9 November 2021, Tuvalu's Minister of Foreign Affairs sent a video to be broadcast at a UN climate summit. In the clip, Simon Kofe was found with water up to his thighs, begging for help as a photographer of APF captured the event on film. Canberra has announced that it will offer residents of Tuvalu, an archipelago particularly threatened by rising sea levels, "special" rights to settle and work in Australia, in a treaty made public by the two countries on Friday 10th November. "We believe that the peopl...

Concluding the fall semester:   [Traduction française - voir ci-dessous] As the fall semester comes to an end at Centro Hispano Marista, Marist School Atlanta - Georgia, there is a palpable sense of accomplishment and growth among the students. The soon-to-be graduates echo their hard work and determination as learners and reflect on the challenges they've overcome and the knowledge they've gained. Teachers and students alike take pride in the progress made during these few months, celebrating not only academic achievements but also personal victories. We look forward to celebrating many GEDs passed and our upcoming 2023 Graduation Ceremony this December. For those students returni...

MARIST MISSION STUDIES 5 – 29 September 2023 Ranong, Thailand Report from Fr. Hermes Sabud, SM The aim of the Marist Mission Studies (MMS) 2023 was to "Inflame the passion for Marist mission" among the participants. The specific objectives are as follows: 1.Bring together younger Marists from different parts of the world of the Society of Mary. 2.Engage in creative reflection and study what it means to be a Marist missionary in today's context. 3.Create a space to learn from the Marist mission experiences of the participants. 4.Provide Marists with opportunities to deepen and nourish their passion for the mission of the Trinity. The participants of MMS 2023 were: 1.Fr. George Baruk...

Source: Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice:https://www.jcfj.ie/2023/10/04/laudate-deum-summary/ Posted on October 4, 2023 by Kevin Hargaden - Economic Justice, Environmental Justice, News, Poverty & Inequality News, Theology The Origin Story Eight years ago, Pope Francis published one of the most important works of environmental thinking in history, Laudato Si'. Praised by religious and secular figures alike, it had an immediate and lasting impact. It was written to engage the scientific, political, and religious communities – addressed really to "every living person on this planet" (§3) – and to summon us all to a renewed commitment to "care for our common home". Laudato Si' are the op...

Seeking God: Buddhist Meditation and Christian Mysticism I recently entered into a 10-day Buddhist Vipassana Retreat. A few Marists had shared with me that they had completed a Vipassana Buddhist Retreat and I thought I would try and enter such an experience. I was curious about the Buddhist psychology of meditation and I wanted to learn some more about Buddhist beliefs as most of the Myanmar and Thai people in Ranong, Thailand are Buddhist. I was also curious if I could make any connections between Buddhist meditation and the Christian contemplative tradition of St John of the Cross. John of the Cross has both haunted and inspired me since my Renewal experience at Le Neyliere in 2019. His S...

Fr Yean-Yves Denize sm writes from Marist Provincial House Paris:  Le P. Yean-Yves Denizel sm écrit de la Maison provinciale mariste de Paris :  voir ci-dessous Historical: Created in 1945, the "Secours populaire français" = "French Peoples Aid" is the heir of popular movements whose values it has, throughout these decades, preserved while evolving considerably. Its orientation, its missions, its independence make it possible today to bring together people of heart regardless of their personal commitments, their political, philosophical or religious sympathies, without any distinction of sex, age or social level. Day after day, here as elsewhere, the "Secours populaire", an as...

Share the Journey Pilgrimage Unites Community in Solidarity with Refugees and Immigrants  /  Partageons le chemin Le pèlerinage unit la communauté en solidarité avec les réfugiés et les immigrants  [ voir ci-dessous ] On Saturday, April 29, Marist School's chapter of Share the Journey organized and embarked on a pilgrimage to foster unity and offer prayers for refugees and immigrants. Students, faculty, and representatives from Marist, Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit High School, and St. Pius X Catholic High School were joined by representatives from the Clarkston Community Center and the Archdiocese of Atlanta's Office of Justice and Peace Ministries. The group set out on a five-mi...

For your consideration … "Overshoot" - Professor William Rees   /   « Overshoot », le dépassement des ressources de la terre   By Ross Flint – Marist Associate  /   Par Ross Flint – Associé mariste    -   faites défiler vers le bas pour la traduction française    This week (March 2023) I have been listening to an esteemed Canadian professor Bill Rees who gives a dire assessment for our future on this planet. His conclusion is that the climate change issue is actually a symptom of a more serious problem, what he calls "Overshoot". William E. Rees with Nate Hagens: "The Fundamental Issue - Overshoot" | The Gre...