The Amazon rainforest is the world’s largest and most biodiverse tropical rainforest, covering an area larger than the continental United States. It houses one-third of the Earth’s plant and animal species and produces one-fifth of all its fresh water.  Like all rainforests, it helps regulate the global climate and is vital to maintaining the earth’s fragile balance. Yet at the current rates of deforestation (global deforestation contributes 20-25 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions) nearly 50 percent of the Amazon could be lost or severely degraded by the year 2020, and the vast majority will no longer be in a pristine state.

The Amazon is also home to nearly 400 distinct indigenous peoples who depend on the rainforest for their physical and cultural survival. Because we believe that all life is sacred, it is essential that we take action to protect the Amazon and its people.  We may be the last generation that has a chance to protect this precious gem of our world’s cultural and ecological heritage – an irreplaceable source of life and inspiration.  Read more at www.amazonwatch.org.

For a beautiful reminder of this global treasure watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=V_r74EG9xOo.

In mid-February 50,000 people from all over the country gathered in Washington DC to challenge our government to halt the building of the Tar Sands Pipeline. This monumental structure is conceived to stretch the length of the country and through part of Canada, harming the environment in many ways, disrupting communities of people and wildlife, threatening ecosystems and water sources. One participant was pleased to see a young couple with their baby in a stroller, and stopped to thank them for being there. They answered: “Our baby made us come.”

Yes, we must turn our ears to the cries of the children of our planet. If we cannot choose a healthy environment for ourselves, choose instead for the most vulnerable among us who will live with the ramifications of our choices for the next 80 years.

Take a few minutes to listen to the voice of 10-year old Ta’Kaiya Blaney, from the Sliammon Nation, who lives in North Vancouver, British Columbia. In this original song she begs all of us to help protect her native coastline from the oil spills like the Exxon Valdez spill that still lies a few inches under the surface of the water 22 years later.

written by Joe Grant, JustFaith Program Staff

In the summer of 2011 the National JPIC Office of the Passionist Community was re-visioned, becoming the Passionist JPIC Desk located at the Passionist Earth and Spirit Center in Louisville, Kentucky.  In the process of this major transition, connections were temporarily lost.

Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation remain integral focal points of the Passionist mission. We have  a renewed commitment to bring to our readership core issues of this time.  We deepen our commitment to the Gospel that calls us to seek out the forgotten, open our hearts to those who are marginalized, and challenge the systems that harm or neglect any of God’s children or creation.

• Acts 2:1-11. The awesome descent of the Spirit, so that all are caught up in wonder and hear the marvels of God spoken in their own tongues.
• 1 Corinthians 12: 3-7, 12-13. There are different gifts but the same Spirit. In the one Spirit all of us were baptized into one body [and] have been given to drink of the one Spirit.
• John 20: 19-23 Jesus breathed upon the disciples, gathered together in a locked room; he conferred the Holy Spirit and the power of forgiving sin.

Thoughts for your consideration: by John Gonzalez

The message of Pentecost Sunday offers us a curious lesson on the virtue of unity. Whoever attend the Pentecost vigil mass will hear the famous Hebrew account of Babel. In this account God is seemingly nervous of human ambition and He sows chaos by fragmenting the unified human community through the use of different languages. In the first reading for the Sunday Mass however we encounter God unifying the human community by the power of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Apostles. Language becomes the instrument that is used to sow division in Babel while for the Apostles language becomes the instrument of unity in preaching to the people of Jerusalem. How are we to understand God’s apparent contradiction during these two historical moments?

In the story of Babel the early Hebrew community tries to explain how the human community eventually migrated everywhere and became such a fragmented group. No social or ecological phenomenon could be explained without God’s intervention so of course in trying to respond to this reality they employed God’s divine intervention. Without taking this story as a literal historical account one can reflect on the spiritual lesson that is to be learned here. Of course God does not fear our human capabilities; instead we see what happens when the human community is organized on a project that goes against the will of God.

Babel may or may not have happened, but Babel like moments have happened in our human history where civilizations and societies have developed unifying agendas that goes against the will of God. For a time a particular culture or group may achieve great projects and pursue a policy of dominance based on the achievements. But such power that is wielded outside of the will of God or the Holy Spirit becomes corrupted and divisive. Consider for example the situations of the Athenians and the birth of democratic Greece. This was a noble and virtuous endeavor. The immediate result of this revolutionary achievement was that they were able to organize the Greek peninsula to defend themselves from the overpowering tyranny of the Persian Empire. Yet no sooner had they reached their own moment of power when they began to make plans to overpower others with their perceived supremacy. Their downfall came soon enough with the start of the Peloponnesian war.

St. Paul declares that all our gifts and talents are given to us by the one Spirit. These gifts are not given to us to serve our own interest but to serve the one Body. These gifts that we each have can certainly profit us and our own communities but they are not put to their authentic use if they do not serve the common good of the one Body. If we use these talents toward that purpose then we will achieve an authentic unity where our motivation is for the service of God and all of creation.

The Gospel passage tells us that an essential element of this authentic unity is a spirit of peace. As he shows the wound on his hands and side Jesus keeps offering the disciples this spirit of peace. If you had seen a friend inflicted with terrible and unjust wounds what feelings would surface? Possibly anger and revenge, a desire to see that justice is served perhaps. I would like to assume that is why Jesus keeps enforcing this call to peace. He wants his disciples to witness the truth but to do so through an attitude of peace and compassionate love. Only through a spirit of peace can the disciples begin to approach the wisdom and understanding of God’s plan through the Holy Spirit. In breathing the Holy Spirit to the disciples Jesus’ first instruction is to have them forgive others. In this way they truly become a witness to God’s love.

The readings for Pentecost Sunday invite us to adopt this spirit of peace and forgiveness and to contemplate the authentic unity of the human family. In order to be open to the wisdom of the Holy Spirit we need to recognize the power of that one Great Spirit within each and every one of us.

• Acts 1: 1-11. Between Easter and Ascension Jesus instructed the apostles and advised them to “wait… [for] you will be baptized
  with the Holy Spirit.” Eventually Jesus will return gloriously, the same way by which he ascended from their midst.
• Ephesians 1: 17-23. Christ’s “fullness fills the universe” and so the Lord distributes “the wealth of his glorious heritage” and
  “the immeasurable scope of his power in us who believe.”
• Matthew 28: 16-20. Stresses the Lord’s universal authority and the commission of the apostles to “make disciples of all nations.” It was spoken by Jesus in Galilee.

Thoughts for Your Consideration: By John Gonzalez

As I consider the lectionary readings for this weekend I cannot help but place the interaction between Jesus and his disciples within the context of the rapture which was suppose to take place a couple of weeks ago and which is now being slated for October. The disciples, like so many of us, were also looking for quick and definitive answers. As Jesus prepared to ascend into heaven they eagerly asked him if now was the moment for final culmination of God’s Kingdom here on earth. Jesus offers the sobering response “It is not for you to know the times or seasons.” Instead of passively dwelling with the “end of the world” phenomenon Jesus offers his disciples a call to action to be agents of God’s great love for the entire world. Comically, as Jesus ascends, the disciples simply stand there naively waiting for God to yet intervene so that even angels are commissioned to shoo them away and get them moving on to their appointed task.

The fact is that it is easier for us to sit back and let God do all the work than for us to take responsibility and be an active part of God’s plan for the redemption of the world. The disciples in the first reading and St. Paul in the second reading confront the divine kingship that belongs to Christ but they are reminded that this divine citizenship does not allow them to sit back and judge the world under the false pretense that they are the chosen ones. Instead they are instructed to be actively involved in transforming the world in the vision of justice and peace.

The Gospel passage is very instructive with regards to the challenge of our faith. As with the first reading Jesus again is commissioning the apostles to “make disciples of all nations” and even though he is ascending Jesus assures them of the Holy Spirit and reminds them that he will be with them always. What impresses me is just how human the apostles are in this one passage “When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.” The promise of eternal life and the belief that God’s vision of justice and peace will prevail are articles of faith. Jesus promises to be with us always, this too is an article of faith. We are asked to believe in the promises of our revealed religion even though there is no tangible proof that these promises will come to pass. There are moments where we struggle to believe in the midst of our doubts and disillusions. If the apostles who witnessed the resurrection and the ascension doubted in the presence of Christ how much more difficult is it for us who struggle to believe 2000 years after the fact?

Many times we strive to do what is right on a personal level or to promote what is just and fair on a social level and many times we wonder “what’s the point?” This past week I have been undergoing my own spiritual dryness and I went out to the ocean where I was able to witness God in the power of His own creation. I was able to witness God but I could not feel His presence. And then, as I began to contemplate the universe beyond the sea, the words of the psalmist came to me:

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?” (Ps. 8:3-4)

At that moment I was reminded that in many ways I am nothing more than a cosmic germ. Just like a bacteria evolves within my body so too am I like a bacteria in the cosmos, physically insignificant yet empowered to shape the evolution of creation in ways I cannot imagine. We are part of something grand, on the surface it may not seem so, but in the depths of our soul we know that there is purpose and meaning in what we do and in all that happens. So it is that the psalmist could continue with the following verse:

“Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor” (Ps. 8:5)

The recent blogs that Fr. Sebastian and I wrote attempted to offer the Catholic social tradition’s perspective on economic justice. Going beyond any economic ideology the moral perspective of the Catholic faith has always opted for a creative harmony between values and principles that  exist in tension. Catholic social teaching seeks a balance between freedom and equality, between solidarity and subsidiarity. These are values whose tension will keep us on the balancing beam of social justice. Our recent blog post also demonstrate how creative solutions do exists that can help us strike this balance. What is required is an atmosphere of cooperation and civility in being open to the possibility of achieving this challenge. But instead the political forces on the right have developed this debate into an all or nothing argument forcing the American public to make a fabricated choice between deficit reductions or protecting social service programs to the poor and vulnerable.

Before addressing the details of the budget issue itself let us consider the importance of the issue that the Bishops are addressing and which a group of Catholic theologians also recently raised to the Speaker of the House John Boehner on the occasion of his commencement address at the Catholic University of America. The “Preferential Option for the Poor” is a principle of cherished principle of Catholic social teaching not least because it is a principle that consistently demonstrates a value that Jesus expressed in his own life of embracing the poor and  marginalized. Scripture tells us how Jesus lived with the poor, taught the poor and ministered to their needs throughout his public ministry. The “option for the poor” is a lens that the Church uses as a moral measure for social or economic policies. When the Church considers the moral measure of any policy it reflects on the impact that such policies will have on those members of society that are most vulnerable. Based on this reflection the Church sees itself as an advocate for the interest of those who are poor and vulnerable.

There is another principle however that has been accepted as the foremost principle of Catholic social teaching and that is the “Right to Life.” Our belief in the dignity of all humanity forces us to always appeal to the sanctity of life in all policies. Our position against abortion and the death penalty flows from this principle. What some may not know is that the issue of poverty is also considered by the Church as a Right to Life” issue.

And how can we fail to consider the violence against life done to millions of human beings, especially children, who are forced into poverty, malnutrition and hunger because of an unjust distribution of resources between peoples and between social classes? (Evangelium Vitae #10)

It is out of this moral vision that the Church expresses its grave concern for the poor and vulnerable within this budget debate.

The budget that is proposed by Chairman Ryan and endorsed by members of the Republican Party violate the “Right to Life” by eliminating or severely limiting services essential to the poor and vulnerable while protecting the financial security of the wealthiest members of our society. This is a grave violation to the dignity of life. Nearly two-thirds of the huge budget cuts that are being proposed come directly from programs for lower-income Americans. The chart provided by the Center on budget and Policy Priorities indicate the programs that Chairman Ryan intends to cut. These cuts are done with the argument that the primary responsibility of government is to reduce the deficit, a responsibility that we dare not pass on to another generation. Deficit reduction is indeed an important issue and the Bishops and Catholic theologians agree that a responsible budget must address this priority. However what makes the Republican budget immoral is that while it claims to make service cuts with the purpose of reducing the deficit the proposed personal and corporate tax cuts that they propose almost completely undermine deficit reduction. This report by James Horney who was the Deputy Democratic staff director at the Senate Budget Committee offers this report through an analysis of the Congressional Budget Office study on Ryan’s budget. This report demonstrates that the Ryan plan will cut services to the poor and vulnerable in order to provide further tax reductions to the wealthy five percent of Americans. This is what makes Chairman Ryan’s budget proposal an immoral policy.

Economic equity and the fair distribution of wealth is not only a component of Catholic social teaching (Compendium #328) it is also a principle grounded in scripture and our Catholic tradition. Chapter 15 in the book of Deuteronomy offers instruction to the performance of wealth distribution through its application of the jubilee social obligation whereby the wealthy periodically redistribute back to those who they have taken from. The Prophets tradition has always backed this position of economic justice. With the early Christian community in Corinth St. Paul the Apostle finds himself defending this biblical economic policy to a gentile community that seems to find this obligation a bit hard to swallow.

I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of fair balance between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. As it is written, “The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.” (2 Cor. 8: 13-15)

The Catholic Church recognizes that it is the moral obligation of the State to ensure that “tax revenues and public spending… is directed to the common good” (Compendium #355). The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church also offers the following principles that the State must observe in ensuring the common good:

• “The payment of taxes as part of the duty of solidarity”
• “A reasonable and fair application of taxes”
• “Precision and integrity in administrating and distributing public resources”

The Church participates in offering the State moral guidance through the wisdom of scripture and tradition. If we believe that our faith has a deep moral value then we must allow ourselves to see how the wisdom of our moral tradition can inform this debate. A budget is a moral document. Our public spending is the moral measure of our nations’ values and priorities. In the next blog post related to the budget we will consider some of the positions taken in this debate and explore the delicate compromises that will need to be made as we participate in the challenge of considering a creative solutions to develop a just and responsible budget.

At the May 18^th shareholder meeting of Northrop Grumman, a small but dedicated group of religious investors took up this gauntlet and brought to the floor a proposal to do just that. The shareholder proposal requested that the company provide a detailed report that disclosed to the shareholders the monetary and non-monetary political contributions that would influence the general public in support or opposition to any political candidate. I moved this resolution on behalf of the Congregation of the Passion and other religious investors at the shareholder meeting where it was well received by the shareholders even though the Board of Directors requested a vote against the resolution. The vote failed but there was enough support to keep this resolution moving and we hope to engage with the company on a discussion over promoting transparency on their political contributions.

In the wake of Citizen’s United many socially responsible investors have brought these resolutions to the floor at a number of different companies. Although many of us were displeased with the ruling of Citizen’s United in that it empowered the corporate community to have further influence in the political system we were pleased by the Security and Exchange Commission’s ensuing support for shareholder action on developing accountability on issues like political spending. It is in this judicial environment that socially responsible investors have come together to promote corporate accountability on political contributions.

As with so many other issues regarding corporate governance this issue remains an uphill battle but we have noticed a recent surge of shareholder support for the promotion of corporate accountability. With our federal government having relinquished this level of regulation many shareholders recognize that the further collusion of multinational businesses with the political system could further erode our representative system of government to the powerful special interest of corporations. We recognize that businesses like Northrop Grumman lobby the government with their interest in mind and as shareholders we also recognize that their business interest becomes our financial gain. But as Catholic religious communities we also recognize a moral responsibility to be responsible stewards so that our financial gain does not
become the cause for unintended social consequences. With that in mind the United States Catholic Bishops offered guidelines for socially responsible investments reminding us of the proper social role of our investments.

Individual Christians who are shareholders and those responsible within church institutions that own stocks in U.S. corporations must see to it that the invested funds are used responsibly. Although it is a moral and legal fiduciary responsibility of the trustees to ensure an adequate return on investment for the support of the work of the church, their stewardship embraces broader moral concerns. As part owners, they must cooperate in shaping the policies of those companies through dialogue with management, through votes at corporate meetings, through the introduction of resolutions and through participation in investment decisions. (U.S. Catholic Bishops, Economic Justice For All, 354)

While it is good that the shareholder community is becoming more engaged with promoting responsible corporate governance some of us continue to question the wisdom of the Supreme Court in deregulating the financial influence of the business sector within the American political system. Even if we succeed in establishing internal mechanisms of corporate accountability we must nevertheless recognize that many other stakeholders will remain disenfranchised from the development of corporate policies. In the long run we cannot hope to be an effective substitute for promoting the common good which is a principle responsibility of government. Catholic social teaching recognizes that “the free market can have a beneficial influence on the general public only when the State is organized in such a manner that it defines and gives direction to economic development.” (Compendium, #353) The State cannot be said to be “organized in such a manner” if it is under the influence of the corporations.