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The hopes and fears of all the year

28 Dec 2008 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Nearly two years ago, in April 2007, an undergraduate art student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago unveiled a papier-mache sculpture of Barack Obama as a messianic figure, titled "Blessing." David Cordero, 24, made the sculpture for his senior show after noticing all the attention Obama had received since first hinting he might run for the presidency. Run Obama did, and win he did, and his election was overwhelmingly voted the top news story of the year by U.S. editors and news directors polled by the Associated Press. But as we prepare to celebrate the Savior's birth, Obama must contend with the almost messianic-like hope that many people hold for his presidency. Artist Cordero's explanation for creating his sculpture may prove a healthy cautionary tale: "All of this is a response to what I've been witnessing and hearing, this idea that Barack is sort of a potential savior that might come and absolve the country of all its sins. In a lot of ways it's about caution in assigning all these inflated expectations on one individual, and expecting them to change something that many hands have shaped." As Obama prepares to take office in a few weeks, he inherits a number of daunting challenges not of his own creation, not least of which is the nation's financial meltdown-voted the number-two story of the year in the AP poll. Obama will also be handed the long-running war in Iraq, another top-ten story of the year, not to mention the even longer-running war in Afghanistan. If that were not enough, the U.S. as well as other nations face the ongoing threat of terrorism, as demonstrated by another top story, the recent terrorist attack in Mumbai, India that killed 164 people. The historic political campaigns of two women-Hilary Clinton and Sarah Palin-also made the list of top-ten news stories. Though their campaigns were not victorious, both women finished the year with their political futures intact-Clinton as Obama's choice for U.S. Secretary of State, and Palin as a leading light of the conservative wing of the Republican Party. China and Russia were home to top stories of the year as well. China made the list for a triumph, its largely successful hosting of the Beijing Olympics, as well as a tragedy, a powerful earthquake in May that left more than 70,000 dead and led to the collapse of about 7,000 classrooms in shoddily built schools. The five-day Russian-Georgian war in August rounds out the list, a further reminder that Obama will inherit a number of complex and potentially volatile foreign-relations concerns. Stories that almost made the top ten included Cyclone Nargis, which killed more than 84,000 people in Myanmar; Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which wreaked deadly damage in the Caribbean and on the U.S. Gulf Coast; and the seesaw fate of same-sex marriage in California, where a court ruling approving it was later overturned by a ballot measure. Several write-in votes were cast for two developments that occurred too late to be included on the AP ballot: the indictment of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the efforts of struggling U.S. automakers to get a federal bailout. The alleged financial scam involving Bernard Madoff also was revealed too late to make the ballot. Several of the editors who voted commented on how two transcendent developments dominated the news in 2008. "As far as I am concerned, there were only two stories this year," wrote Linda Grist Cunningham of the Rockford (Illinois) Register Star. "Global economy collapses (sending every country into financial, political, and personal chaos) and Obama elected U.S. president, changing the way the America does business-financial, political, and personal." Source: Articles by Joel Roberts and David Crary for the Associated Press

automakers russia beijing olympics georgia cyclone nargis myanmar hurricane gustav hurricane ike same-sex marriage california bailout bernard madoff china sarah palin hilary clinton rod blagojevich barack obama david cordero school of the art institute of chicago associated press savior iraq war afghanistan war top-ten news stories terrorism mumbai global economy

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But a distant memory?

22 Feb 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In this Sunday's reading from the Book of Isaiah, the Lord tells the people of Israel: "Remember not the events of the past." When it comes to past unpleasant events, however, research suggests that bad memories linger longer than pleasant ones. Scientists now have discovered that certain drugs associated with the regulation of blood pressure can be used to weaken or erase fearful memories. They hope there may be applications of these findings for people with post-traumatic stress disorders. Studies in animal models have shown that fearful memories sometimes change when recalled, a process known as reconsolidation, and that this reconsolidation stage is vulnerable to the blood pressure drugs called beta-adrenergic receptor blockers. Some ethicists, however, see problems. "An interesting complexity is the possibility that victims, say of violence, might wish to erase the painful memory and with it their ability to give evidence against assailants," said Professor John Harris, an expert in biological ethics at the University of Manchester. "Similarly criminals and witnesses to crime may, under the guise of erasing a painful memory, render themselves unable to give evidence." There's apparently a natural way to rid yourself of bad memories, too. A 2007 study involving brain scans found that test subjects had the ability to suppress specific memories at a particular moment in time through repeated practice. Source: An article by Robert Roy Britt for LiveScience.com

memories blood pressure medication post-traumatic stress disorder reconsolidation john harris

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The human cost of war comes home

19 Jul 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Even walking in a dark valley, the psalmist fears no evil with the Lord at his side. Growing numbers of U.S. military veterans, however, report being plagued by fears, nightmares, angry outbursts, and other psychological problems. Their disability claims have created a huge backlog of cases for the Department of Veterans Affairs. The number of unprocessed claims for those disabilities is now more than 400,000, up from 253,000 six years ago. The department said its average time for processing those claims, 162 days, is better than it has been in at least eight years. But it did not deny that it has a major problem, with some claims languishing for many months in the department's overtaxed bureaucracy. "There are some positive signs in terms of what we're doing," said Michael Walcoff, deputy undersecretary for benefits in the Veterans Benefits Administration. "But we know that veterans deserve better." Walcoff said the vast majority of the 82,000 claims the department received each month were not from veterans returning from the current wars. "We're still getting a lot of Vietnam vets," he said. Post-traumatic stress disorder has emerged as one of the most prevalent disability claims, after ailments like back pain and knee injuries. Not only are many new veterans receiving a diagnosis of the disorder, but an increasing number of Vietnam veterans are also reporting symptoms for the first time, officials and advocates said. One group, Veterans for Common Sense, has obtained records showing that some veterans are calling suicide hotlines to talk about their delayed disability claims. The group has called on the department to replace processors who take exceedingly long to handle claims. "We're not saying vets are threatening to commit suicide over the claims issues," said Paul Sullivan, executive director of the group. "We're saying V.A.'s claim situation is so bad that it is exacerbating veterans' already difficult situations." Source: An article by James Dao for the New York Times

suicide veterans for common sense vietnam war veterans benefits administration michael walcoff claims disabilities department of veterans affairs veterans post-traumatic stress disorder paul sullivan

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Vocation study reveals changing face and habits of new entrants

16 Aug 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

This Sunday's psalm seems ready-made for those who in recent years have chosen to "taste and see" for themselves what Catholic religious life is like. In keeping with the psalmist's desire to bless and praise the Lord at all times, a landmark vocations study reveals that newer recruits place a high priority on shared prayer and worship, communal living, and Catholic identity. The newest generation of religious priests, brothers, sisters, and nuns are more ethnically diverse than their predecessors and also drawn to more traditional expressions of piety, according to the "Study of Recent Vocations to Religious Life" conducted by Georgetown University's Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) for the National Religious Vocation Conference (NRVC). "We've heard anecdotally that the youngest people coming to religious life are distinctive, and they really are," said Sister Mary Bendyna, executive director of CARA. "They're more attracted to a traditional style of religious life, where there is community living, common prayer, having Mass together, praying the Liturgy of the Hours together. They are much more likely to say fidelity to the church is important to them. And they really are looking for communities where members wear habits," said Bendyna. "This younger generation is seeking an identity, a religious identity as well as a Catholic identity," said Brother Paul Bednarczyk, executive director of the Chicago-based NRVC, a professional organization of Catholic religious vocation directors. "Symbolism, images, and ritual are all very important to this generation, and they want to give witness to their faith." The study also found that non-Hispanic whites account for 94 percent of current nuns and priests but only 58 percent of those in the process of joining orders, including 21 percent who are Hispanic, 14 percent Asian or Pacific Islander, and 6 percent African or African American. In addition, the study revealed that the graying of American religious is more pronounced than many Catholics might have realized. Ninety-one percent of nuns and 75 percent of priests are 60 or older, and most of the rest are at least 50. And finding new members remains a struggle for many orders. Thirty-four percent of women's orders and 22 percent of men's orders surveyed had no candidates. Almost half the orders that do have someone on the early path toward his or her vows have no more than one or two in the pipeline. Bednarczyk drew reason to hope from the fact that 43 percent of those in the early stages of joining an order are under 30. "Younger people are re-looking at religious life as a viable life option," he said. "It does speak of a future." A full summary and review of study results, as well as a list of best practices that foster vocations, can be found at the NRVC's website, www.nrvc.net. Source: Articles by Eric Gorksi for the Associated Press and Laurie Goodstein for the New York Times

vocations cara studies national religious vocation conference nrvc mary bendyna religious orders study of recent vocations to religious life paul bednarczyk religious life center for applied research in the apostolate

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Cubans not all singing in harmony

27 Sep 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Jesus takes a stand for inclusiveness when he says in this Sunday's gospel reading that "whoever is not against us is for us." Emotions ran high over a huge open air "Peace Without Borders" concert held in Havana, Cuba last Sunday. Cuban exiles in Miami claimed the concert endorsed the island's communist system, but prominent dissidents jailed in Cuba said it offered an opportunity for reconciliation. Concert organizers said the concert was about peace and tolerance, not politics, telling the audience that "the important thing is to swap hate for love." Cuba hosted the biggest open-air concert since the 1959 revolution, featuring some 15 top Latin American, Spanish, and Cuban performers. An estimated 1 million people, many wearing white for peace, attended the free event in Havana's Revolution Square. Colombian singer Juanes, who organized the concert, received death threats from Miami-based critics of the Cuban regime. One Miami group protesting the concert crushed Juanes CDs using a small steamroller. "There has been a lot of blood spilled in Cuba and people executed by firing squad," said 77-year-old Hernán Gonzalez, who said he spent six years in a Cuban prison for his opposition to Fidel Castro in the 1960s. "He [Juanes] is singing over dead bodies." The location of the Havana concert was highly symbolic. The headquarters of the communist party is in Revolution Square along with a giant metal sculpture of Che Guevara's head. The square was used over the years by Fidel Castro to give five-hour speeches and is also where Pope John Paul II celebrated a historic open-air Mass in 1998. U.S. President Barack Obama said he understood Juanes to be a "terrific musician," but he was cautious about the impact of the concert. "I certainly don't think it hurts U.S.-Cuban relations," he said, but, he added, "These kinds of cultural exchanges--I wouldn't overstate the degree that it helps." Source: An article by Michael Voss for BBC News

barack obama cuba fidel castro havana peace without borders concerts revolution square juanes

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Trusted truckers step out of line at the border

29 Nov 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

"Be vigilant at all times," Jesus counsels his disciples in this Sunday's gospel. Guards at the U.S.-Mexico border vigilantly search for contraband but worry that a program that offers trusted trucking companies speedy passage across U.S. borders is being hijacked by Mexican drug smugglers. Large shipments of illegal drugs have been discovered in recent months. Most trucks enrolled in the program pause at the border for only 20 seconds before entering the United States. And nine out of ten of them do so without anyone looking at their cargo. But among the small fraction of trucks that are inspected, authorities have found multiple loads of contraband, including nearly 13 tons of marijuana seized in a three-week period last spring. Some experts now question whether the program makes sense in an environment where drug traffickers are willing to do almost anything to smuggle their shipments into the U.S. The trusted-shipper system "just tells the bad guys who to target," said Dave McIntyre, former director of the Integrative Center for Homeland Security at Texas A&M University. The government keeps the list of participants hidden, citing national security and trade secrets. But some of the 9,500 companies who are part of the system advertise their membership to drum up business, making them targets for smugglers who can then threaten drivers or offer them bribes. More than half of all U.S. imports now come from companies in the program, called the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, or C-TPAT. Mexican trucking companies make up only 6 percent of global membership in the system but they account for half of its 71 security violations during the past two years. Stephen Flynn, senior fellow for Counterterrorism and National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said truckers do not feel safe rejecting bribes, no matter what agreements their companies have made with the U.S. government. "The basic vulnerability for a truck driver remains the 'plata-or-plomo' dilemma," Flynn said, using Spanish shorthand for taking a bribe or a bullet. Source: An article by Christopher Sherman for the Associated Press

united states c-tpat customs-trade partnership against terrorism trusted-shipper dave mcintyre trucking contraband us-mexico border smuggling drug trafficking mexico stephen flynn

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Lively Catholic debate over health-care bill abortion provisions

21 Mar 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Differences over complex questions is nothing new to religious groups, as we see in the Sunday gospel's debate between Jesus and Jewish religious leaders about the woman caught in adultery. Leaders of Catholic women's orders representing 59,000 nuns sent lawmakers a letter Wednesday urging them to pass the Senate health-care bill. The measure contains abortion funding restrictions that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) said don't go far enough."Despite false claims to the contrary, the Senate bill will not provide taxpayer funding for elective abortions," said the letter signed by 60 leaders of women's religious orders. "It will uphold longstanding conscience protections and it will make historic new investments . . . in support of pregnant women. This is the real pro-life stance, and we as Catholics are all for it."The USCCB and the National Right to Life Committee have denounced the bill as containing a backdoor subsidy for abortion. But the nuns and the Catholic Health Association--representing some 600 hospitals--said restrictions in the Senate bill would still prevent taxpayer funding for abortion, although the legal mechanism for doing so is different from what the bishops prefer."This is politics; this isn't a question of faith and morals," said Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of Network, a national Catholic social activism lobby. "We are the ones who work every day with people who are suffering because they don't have health care. We cannot turn our backs on them, so for us, health care reform is a faith-based response to human need." Source: An article by Erica Werner for the Associated Press

abortion funding usccb national right to life committee catholic health association simone campbell network united states conference of catholic bishops religious orders health care reform abortion nuns

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Media watchdogs press for freedom

09 May 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In this Sunday's gospel Jesus promises his disciples that the Advocate will teach them everything. Advocacy journalism is at risk around the world, warns Paris-based Reporters Without Borders in their annual report to mark World Media Freedom Day. The leaders of China, Russia, and Rwanda are among the worst "predators of press freedom," they reported. A number of world leaders are on the list. Gilles Lordet, director of research at the media watchdog, says one of the worst offenders is President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, where an election is to take place in August."He does not respect the work of the journalists, he does not want to have press freedom in his country and he is pressuring and he can be very intimidating with journalists and censoring very regularly media and press that do not share his point of view," Lordet said.New additions to the list included Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov and Yemeni President Ali Abdulah Saleh. Lordet says media rights in Yemen are rapidly eroding."Since May 2009 we observed a very bad evolution, with a lot of trials, with a lot of journalists in prison, a lot of journalists harassed and it is really the worst evolution of media freedom in the world," Lordet said.Another new addition to the list was Taliban leader Mullah Omar. "It is important sometimes to really point at an individual like with Mullah Omar because he has really an influence on his group. Sometimes we can really identify one man, one person, who concentrates the reason that there is so much violence against journalists," Lordet said.Some names have been dropped from last year's list. A number of Iraqi Islamist groups were taken off. Reporters Without Borders says violence remains high but journalists are no longer a specific target.But overall, says Lordet, the picture has not changed much from last year. "If we compare the list with last year, we think on a global scale there is no improvement. There [are] still the same predators, there [are] still the same countries where the situation is very bad," Lordet said.In Mexico, named as one of the most dangerous countries for the media, 62 journalists have been killed in the past 10 years. The Philippines were also highlighted as a particularly dangerous place for journalists; 30 were killed there in a single attack by gunman last November. Source: An article by Selah Hennessy for VOANews.com

journalists freedom of the press reporters paul kagame gilles lordet world media freedom day reporters without borders

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U.S.-Mexican border rocked by shooting

13 Jun 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

A person is not justified by works of the law, the reading from the Letter to the Galatians tells us this Sunday. Outraged Mexican authorities say there is no justification for the killing of a 15-year-old Mexican boy shot to death by a U.S. border patrol agent for throwing rocks at him from the Mexican side of the border. The shooting of Sergio Adrian Hernandez Guereca of Juarez happened Monday when a group of individuals threw rocks at U.S. border agents taking two men into custody for illegally crossing the border at El Paso, U.S. authorities said. Mexican President Felipe Calderon condemned the shooting and called for the incident “to be thoroughly investigated and those responsible punished,” his office said. “Using firearms to respond to an attack with rocks is a disproportionate use of force, particularly coming from officials that are specially trained,” the Mexican foreign ministry said in a statement. The U.S. State Department acknowledged in a statement that an agent had fired his weapon, killing “one of the suspects” allegedly hurling rocks. “We regret the loss of life,” the statement said, but claimed that the agent, whose name wasn’t released, was defending himself. The Border Patrol says it is subjected to hundreds of rock attacks during its patrols. In the past year there were 604 reported rock-throwing incidents involving agents, officials said. The government of the Mexican state of Chihuahua, where the teen died, condemned the killing, calling it a blow to all Mexicans and an example of the xenophobia that the anti-immigration law in Arizona has fomented in the United States. Last week Mexico made similar protests over the death of a Mexican migrant after he was given electric shocks by U.S. agents trying to deport him. Mexico’s foreign ministry says its records so far this year show 17 Mexican nationals have been killed or injured by U.S. immigration authorities, up from 12 last year and five in 2008. Source: Articles by Marc Lacey for the New York Times, the Associated Press, United Press International, and BBC News

mexico us-mexico border border patrol sergio adrian hernandez guereca migrants

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U.S.-Mexican border rocked by shooting

13 Jun 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

A person is not justified by works of the law, the reading from the Letter to the Galatians tells us this Sunday. Outraged Mexican authorities say there is no justification for the killing of a 15-year-old Mexican boy shot to death by a U.S. border patrol agent for throwing rocks at him from the Mexican side of the border. The shooting of Sergio Adrian Hernandez Guereca of Juarez happened Monday when a group of individuals threw rocks at U.S. border agents taking two men into custody for illegally crossing the border at El Paso, U.S. authorities said. Mexican President Felipe Calderon condemned the shooting and called for the incident “to be thoroughly investigated and those responsible punished,” his office said. “Using firearms to respond to an attack with rocks is a disproportionate use of force, particularly coming from officials that are specially trained,” the Mexican foreign ministry said in a statement. The U.S. State Department acknowledged in a statement that an agent had fired his weapon, killing “one of the suspects” allegedly hurling rocks. “We regret the loss of life,” the statement said, but claimed that the agent, whose name wasn’t released, was defending himself. The Border Patrol says it is subjected to hundreds of rock attacks during its patrols. In the past year there were 604 reported rock-throwing incidents involving agents, officials said. The government of the Mexican state of Chihuahua, where the teen died, condemned the killing, calling it a blow to all Mexicans and an example of the xenophobia that the anti-immigration law in Arizona has fomented in the United States. Last week Mexico made similar protests over the death of a Mexican migrant after he was given electric shocks by U.S. agents trying to deport him. Mexico’s foreign ministry says its records so far this year show 17 Mexican nationals have been killed or injured by U.S. immigration authorities, up from 12 last year and five in 2008. Source: Articles by Marc Lacey for the New York Times, the Associated Press, United Press International, and BBC News

mexico us-mexico border border patrol sergio adrian hernandez guereca migrants

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