Prayerful Solution

It is time for a “Rosary Crusade.” I propose that, at a minimum, the three North-American nations — Mexico, the United States and Canada — come together and, as one continent, pray for peace on our planet and ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to end the tyranny and viciousness of Satan. Better yet, we do this as a planet, with all the nations of the world praying to Our Lord and his Mother. The world is in terrible straits, and there is only one solution: prayer. It needs to be soon, and it needs to be continual.
John Sherman
Richland, Washington

 

Divest Now

Regarding “U.S. Bishops: Obama’s Executive Order ‘Unprecedented and Extreme’” (page one, Aug. 10 issue): The time is long past for the Catholic Church to wean itself from “big government.” The more the Church depends upon government largesse, in the form of grants and contracts, the more the government can interfere with and try to dictate to the Church. Catholics should fund their own social-service projects out of their own pockets. If this means cutting back on some of those services, so be it. We can’t be everything for everybody, but we can still do a lot of good in the world. Being faithful to the truth of what the Church teaches will have a greater positive effect in the long run than running a bunch of government-backed “programs.”
Patrick Christle
New Haven, Indiana

 

Father Barron’s Gift

Pertinent to “Come Celebrate With Us” (Publisher’s Note, July 27 issue): When I entered the Church in 1949, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen became my Thomas Aquinas. I considered him the greatest evangelist in my life, and his efforts created a peak in evangelization that I don’t believe the New Evangelization will ever regain until we return to the wisdom of the First Vatican Council to restrict handling of the Eucharist and sacred vessels to consecrated hands.

When Father Robert Barron first began his series Catholicism, my first thought was that he might be the new Fulton J. Sheen. The more I listen to him, the more I become convinced that he is. I could not make it to your EWTN Family Celebration, but I tuned in to Father Barron’s presentation this morning on EWTN, and now he has become my new Thomas Aquinas as well. Talent is building up in the New Evangelization.
Bob Rowland
Irving, Texas

 

Required Reading

Regarding “Regensburg Revisited: Faith, Reason and the Islamic State” (In Depth, Sept. 7 issue): I was really very thrilled and impressed to read this commentary. It was very balanced and thought-provoking and should merit the attention of every person — whatever the religion he/she believes in or professes. The least I could do after reading it was to email it to some of my own family members first. We are living in a turbulent world, and everyone should know that others are equally important and should form a corpus for real peace and world unity. Aren’t those who take to the sword the first victims of their own doing?
Jose R. Thalakottur
Queens, New York

 

Reflection on World Peace

It has become a cliché: young beautiful women articulating the equation to world peace in hopes of becoming the next Miss America. But the state that our world finds itself in today is forcing me to ponder my own conclusions. I doubt I am alone in my sentiments. I find myself overwhelmed with the unrest in our world, frustrated one moment that I am not thinking about it enough in my daily routine — and the next moment that I am thinking about it too much.

I am fighting off feelings of guilt as I write this reflection from my front porch, without fear of repercussions from proclaiming the name of Jesus. I picture us as Peter the Apostle, who once found himself trying to walk on water, alone in the ocean’s torrent waves, struggling to stay afloat, while demanding and crying out to Jesus, “Lord, save me!” Personally, I find myself asking Jesus over and over again, “How am I supposed to respond to this suffering? I don’t claim to be very educated on foreign policy or terrorism. I don’t know the answers. I just know what it feels like to be a young woman living in an affluent country when millions are struggling and suffering for basic human rights.”

The answer to each of our prayers will be intimately personal, for we all have our own unique callings. But I think the first step to all of our responses can be found in the writings of a young Jewish woman, Etty Hillesum, who died at Auschwitz in 1943. She wrote: “They can harass us, they can rob us of our material goods, of our freedom of movement, but we ourselves forfeit our greatest assets by our misguided compliance … by our own hatred, by our swagger, which hides our fear. We may, of course, be sad and depressed by what has been done to us; that is only human and understandable. However, the greatest injury is the one we inflict upon ourselves. I find life beautiful, and I feel free. … I believe in God, and I believe in man; and I say so without embarrassment. Life is hard, but it is no bad thing. … True peace will come when every individual finds peace within himself.”

How can we help people in less fortunate situations? Seek peace within ourselves first. This philosophy has been preached to us by many before, but how often — and in situations like today — we need to be reminded. Feeling guilty, helpless and scared probably won’t help anybody. But reigniting the desire and quest for all-encompassing and exhilarating peace — only discovered in seeking a deeper, more personal union with our Creator, God himself — must be an appropriate start.

Let our prayer be that our suffering brothers and sisters may be consoled by our communion, as one body we together cry, “Lord, save us!”
Tricia Kasson
Columbus, Ohio