Passio Issue #10 – Autumn 2022
As we contemplate the signs of these current times, can we afford not to be moved to action on behalf of the crucified earth and its peoples in the name of the crucified one? We have to decide.
Published Oct 26 2022
Introduction
Joachim Rego CP (General Superior of the Passionists) recently reminded his fellow Passionists of the need to be contemplative-apostolic missionaries: “the twin poles of standing at the foot of the Crucified, contemplating the mystery and keeping memory of the Passion; and the consequent gaze and reaching out to the ‘crucified’ world with compassion and hope, arising from the power God’s love for the world exhibited in the Passion of Jesus.”
In our nation, public sentiment is spilling out into the streets—strikes across the public sector; rallies for political causes; and ever-inventive acts of nonviolent civil disobedience. Something about all this is apocalyptic—not in the popular sense of disaster, necessarily, but in the Biblical sense of a great ‘unveiling’. Our inner lives impacting the outside world; secret things being brought to the light, or so we might hope.
We are not all called to the same role in history.The late Passionist priest Fr Austin Smith preached caution when it came to activism, wary of a “terrible desire to manipulate, control God and the world.” Activist Fr John Dear, in the soon-to-be-republished Sacrament of Civil Disobedience, devotes two chapters to the importance of prayer and discernment ahead of action.
That all said, as we contemplate the signs of these current times, can we afford not to be moved to action on behalf of the crucified earth and its peoples in the name of the crucified one? We have to decide. In the end, Austin spent his life in service of the poorest in his community; John has been arrested over 85 times for nonviolent civil disobedience.
In these pages, we’re honoured to feature an extract from John’s Sacrament… ahead of its re-publication by our Lab/ora Press imprint (Jesus the Nonviolent Resister, p.36). Four protesters from different walks of life share the first time that they ‘crossed the line’ and risked arrest for a cause they believed in (There Comes a Time to Cross the Line, p.42). We see the very real costs being paid by a Madagascar community, fighting corruption and powerful mining companies (The Price of Ilmenite, p.15).
We talk to dancer, theologian, and therapist Claire Henderson-Davies about her performance piece All Creation Waits (St Clare, Incarnation & The Material World, p.52). And four different Passionist religious share their feelings and experience behind their monastic vows (Four Vows, p.70).
Whatever we are called to this season, may the Lord bring to completion the good work which he has begun in each of us.
Building Back Greener: The Green Christian Conference
Green Christian’s annual conference 'Building Back Greener', which took place in Birmingham on 7-8 October, explored the need for a new approach to economics.
…and Counting: Life inside the Calais refugee camp
Life in the Calais 'Jungle' so easily lapses into counting: days, weeks, years.
Andrew Lees Trust confront the true price of ilmenite
Yvonne Orengo, Director of the Andrew Lees Trust, describes the real costs being incurred 5,000 miles from Rio Tinto’s London headquarters.
The Learning Refuge: Life re-blooms in Cyprus
The Learning Refuge continues to expand at pace, taking on new initiatives and responsibilities in a bid to deal with the scale of need.
Jesus, the Nonviolent Resister
Read an extract from John Dear’s ‘The Sacrament of Civil Disobedience’, shortly being republished by our book imprint, Lab/ora Press.
An extract from Fr John Dear's 'The Sacrament of Civil Disobedience', shortly being republished by our imprint Lab/ora Press.
There Comes a Time to Cross the Line
We asked a number of protestors what caused them to ‘cross the line’ for the first time: to break the law, and risk arrest, for the sake of a higher form of justice.
What the four vows mean to us today
Passionist priests take vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and to keep alive the memory of the passion. Four Passionists explain what the vows mean to them today.
A new coming together for the Passionist family
After long thought and discussion, the Passionist family in England and Wales is becoming part of St Patrick’s Province (Ireland and Scotland).
St Clare, Incarnation and the Material World
Claire Henderson Davis speaks about her latest dance theatre production All Creation Waits, & a living practice of incarnation and liturgy.
What does it mean to imagine our way outside of our 'own little world', as Pope Francis put it?
Aisling Griffin, from Pax Christi, searches for the spark that gives us hope, while still acknowledging the challenges we face.