The Writing on the Wall: Trump and the Shaking of the Kingdom

It was the evening of a grand celebration at the Trump Tower, where President Donald Trump and his allies were gathered to celebrate their latest political victory of passing his Big Beautiful Bill. 

The banquet hall gleamed with gold accents, and the air was thick with the scent of victory and opulence. Trump, now at the dawn of his second term, had managed to outmaneuver every challenger, securing his place at the center of American politics.

Among the guests were familiar faces—his closest allies and advisors, like JD Vance, Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth, Pam Bondi, Kristi Noem, Linda McMahon, Rudy Giuliani and Ivanka Trump, all seated at the lavish banquet table. The champagne flowed freely as they toasted to their accomplishments. Trump, dressed in his usual manner—bold, confident, and unmistakable—sat at the head of the table, the golden décor reflecting off his hair.

"To Making America Great Again…Again!” Trump said, raising his glass, a smirk tugging at his lips.

"To greatness!" Giuliani chimed in, his voice thick with the conviction of a man who believed his own hyperbole. 

Even with all the toadying up to Trump, some could not avoid a sense of weighty ominous guilt about how the Big Beautiful Bill was adding to the coffers of the rich as it gutted meager holdings of the most-in-need: tax cuts for the rich financed by cuts to Medicaid, reduction of government under the guise of eliminating fraud, waste and abuse, cutting grants to universities because they don’t kowtow to his agenda. And then there’s his executive order rewarding South Africans with refugee status while expelling allied Afghans who assisted U.S military, his mass deportation of “illegal immigrants” all of whom he considers “threats to public safety”—“killers, rapists gangbangers”, orderings deportation quotas to be fulfilled, even if it’s necessary for masked ICE agents invade spaces previously considered “off-limits” to their incursion. Many of those present were aware of how the rallies and protests proclaiming “Hands Off!” “No Kings!” and “Families First!”across the country were gaining exponential support.

So as the night wore on, an air of unease settled over the group. The music grew quieter, and the laughter less frequent. There was something in the air, something intangible, a feeling of impending change.

Suddenly, the lights flickered, and a cold gust of wind swept through the room, making the flags and banners tremble. In the midst of the revelry, the room fell silent. And there, on the wall above the golden throne where Trump sat, appeared strange letters—large, glowing characters, as though they had been written by a hand that wasn’t visible to anyone else in the room.

The letters were clear, but their meaning was indecipherable to all present.

"What's this?" Trump said, squinting at the wall. "Someone must be pulling a prank."

Vance, his face pale, looked at the letters with growing concern. "I... I don't know, sir. This... this is no ordinary writing."

Ivanka, looking perplexed, turned to Marco Rubio, "What does it mean?"

Rubio’s face was tense. He had seen this before—in the rise and fall of nations, in the stories of kings and empires. "It’s not a good omen, Mr. President."

Trump’s allies began to murmur among themselves. They were no strangers to controversy, but the sight of these mystical characters unsettled even the most seasoned political minds. The champagne that had been so freely poured seemed to sour in their mouths.

Just as confusion began to grip the room, the door to the hall opened, and a figure entered—the wise strategist, known for her cryptic wisdom. It was none other than Jonathan Cahn, a prophetic voice on YouTube who had spoken glowingly of the second inauguration. His biblically-based commentary has made his conservative messages admired by many who consider him reputed to have an ability to read the signs others overlooked.

"I’ve seen this before," he said softly, her voice carrying over the murmurs of the room. "The writing on the wall… it’s a warning."

"Jonathan, what does it mean?" Trump asked, leaning forward in his seat.

He studied the letters on the wall for a moment, his brow furrowed. "It’s as ancient as the message from the book of Daniel. It’s a message of judgment: the letters are 'M, T, P.’"

The room grew even quieter. Trump leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping against the armrest. "What do those letters mean?" he asked, though a part of him already knew that whatever it was wouldn’t be good.

“The letters represent," Jonathan continued, 'Minus, Truth, Perish.’ Minus means the MAGAverse is diminishing, T is for Truth which you have desecrated with your mendacity. P means that the “Competitive Sycophancy” you have created will come back on you and you will Perish. Your days are numbered, and the end is near."

Giuliani’s eyes widened. "So... you're saying the end of the Trump era of MAGA is coming?"

“Not just "coming" and perhaps an end," Jonathan clarified, "but certainly a reckoning. You’ve built a powerful empire, Sir, but you’ve ignored the signs, the warnings, the balance of power. There are consequences to every action."

Trump’s face hardened. "Are you saying I’ve failed? It's got to be fake news! My empire is strong, I’ve defeated the odds, and I’ve made America great again. The people love me."

Jonathan gave a small, sad smile. "It’s not just about the people, Mr. President. Your claim of a landslide vote that brought you to this office is based on some people liking you, not all if them. And that doesn’t have an impact on legacy. It’s about leadership. It's about knowing when to step back and when to move forward. You’re been riding on the estimation of a lot of “yes men and women” and they are not “the people” of “We, the People."

At that moment, as if on cue, the room seemed to vibrate with a deep, unsettling hum. Trump’s phone buzzed on the table. He looked down at it, and for a brief moment, he saw an image—a quick flash of his face superimposed over a map of the United States. And then, it was gone.

The room was silent as Trump’s allies looked to him for answers. Yet Trump, ever the showman, stood up with an exaggerated flourish.

"Well, it’s not over until it’s over!" he declared. "We’ll continue to make America great again. Again!"

But inside, a seed of doubt had been planted. The writing on the wall couldn’t be ignored.

As the evening went on, the party continued. Trump’s allies gathered in small groups, whispering among themselves. Some, like Vance and Giuliani, were determined to ride out the storm. Others, like Ivanka, knew that the walls were closing in.

And though the celebration continued late into the night, none of them could shake the feeling that something was coming—a reckoning, a shift, an end to the era they had built.

As the final guests left the tower, Trump stood alone in the grand hall, looking at the wall where the writing had appeared. His reflection stared back at him in the golden mirrors. The empire he had built, the political kingdom he had fought so fiercely to create, was now under judgment.

The writing on the wall was a message from the ages: Every empire, no matter how powerful, must one day face its end. And though Trump had defied the odds for years, the numbers, the lies, and the destiny of history was now finally beginning to catch up.

The end was near.

Editor’s Note

This fantasy grew out of a reflection on the Book of Daniel, Chapter 5. The consequences for Trump in this scenario are not as drastic as they were for Belshazzar who that very night “was slain.” Nor does Jonathan Cahn receive the reward Daniel did. 

This modern tale weaves together Trump's leadership, his allies, and a biblical warning, highlighting the impermanence of power and the eventual reckoning that comes to all rulers. How would you add to any part of this and/or take it in a different direction?

Calendars, Planning and Time

 Is it just me, or are not-for-profit organizations this year sending wall calendars more than in previous years? They may have their reasons for choosing to lead their funding campaigns with this free gift. But whatever their reason, it got me to thinking.

 

Calendars are used for keeping track of time. Oh sure, clocks do that, too, but calendars measure time on a larger scale. And, understood that way, they are instruments of hope. The very act of hanging up a calendar on the wall of a home or in the office cubicle posits the viewpoint that the days of each month will come to be. I mean, after all, there are those in our day who might be asking, “Who knows if there will be a tomorrow?” The optimist’s view is that keeping track of the days makes for order and planning.

That’s the view I tend to take. And that got me thinking. Do these organizations send these calendars as a way to promote that sense of hopefulness among those on their donor list? Are they really into making sure those donors plan ahead? Or do they have some other intention? Paging through some of the months of those calendars show those organizations working among the most deprived people pictured for each month. Those pages could give the impression that theirs is a campaign of hope. 

I’m not sure just why this calendar thing has come to my attention. Perhaps it’s because I’m coming up on the completion of five years as an octogenarian, making me conscious that I have more time behind me than in front of me. Or maybe it’s just that I know time is at a premium since I seem to have so much accumulation of “things” to get rid of before I depart this world lest I leave someone else to pickup after me. Whatever the reason, I know that time can be my friend rather than my opponent in this process. That’s up to me.

So back to hope: having just completed the season of hope called Advent and the joyful season of Christmas, looking back, looking to the present and looking forward, the calendar-reminder of the measure of time is making me conscious of the three-fold coming of the divine into life. In history, prophetically preparing for the birth of Jesus; in mystery, the each-day awareness of the presence of the divine all around me; in majesty, the future-bent coming of the omega-point toward which all existence tends. 

So keep those calendars coming, folks. I may not be able to use them all in the limited space of home. But hopeful forward-looking reminders are always accepted!  

 Epiphany Reflection

This feast in the Church celebrated since 1979. on the first Sunday of the calendar year, is one full of meaning. Unfortunately, history and tradition have colored the feasts meaning with layers of interpretation not originally intended. Scripture scholars tell us that the key to
understanding the message intended by the scriptures (exegesis—“the critical interpretation of the biblical text to discover its intended meaning) is to observe the reality from which the story arose. This process recognizes the “Sitz in Leben” (German meaning “the situation in life”. Over history much has been added to the Epiphany story that reflects a tendency to read into the story a meaning never intended (isogesis—the interpretation of a text by reading into it one's own ideas).

In addition, reading the Infancy Narratives of Matthew can be understood better with an understanding of a literary device called midrash. The scholarly paper by John Wijngaards defines this best in the third observation he makes.  

The Matthew tradition would have recognized the elements included in the Epiphany passage based on their knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures. So where did the references come from? 

Star: despite people today looking for the “star of Bethlehem,” the Matthew community may have been thinking of the prophesy of Balaam that said “A star shall advance from Jacob” (Num 24:17).  

Three: That there were three gifts gave rise to the thought that there were three magi. Matthew’s gospel done not indicate how many came. Indeed, Isaiah 60:6, from which many references in the Epiphany account arise, refers to “A multitude of camels will cover you, The young camels of Midian and Ephah; All those from Sheba will come; They will bring gold and frankincense, And proclaim good news of the praises of the LORD.”

Gifts:  In addition to the citation above, Myrrh was mentioned in various places in the Hebrew Scriptures in relation to weddings and anointing (Ps 45:8, Ex 30:28).

Kings: As early as the 3rd century the visitors were considered to be kings, probably interpreted as the fulfillment of the prophecy in Ps 72:11.

Names: In about the 8th century the names of three Magi—Bithisarea, Melichior, and Gathaspa—appear in a chronicle known as the Excerpta latina barbari. They have become known most commonly as Balthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar (or Casper). According to Western church tradition, Balthasar is often represented as a king of Arabia or sometimes Ethiopia, Melchior as a king of Persia, and Gaspar as a king of India.

    

Looking at the Epiphany story from the viewpoint of its Sitz in Leben would invite us to see the Matthean community conveying their challenges of being Jewish in the early history of Christianity and their reflection on the sayings of Jesus meant when he said “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations…” (Mt 28, 19). The rejection—all Jerusalem greatly troubled (Mt 2:3) mirrors the Pharaoh’s concern about a usurper who would deliver Israel from slavery. If that early Christian community has the "new-born King of the Jews" sought after by these foreigners—Gentile astrologers, at that—it's that they recognized this message that these non-Jews were more ready to interpret the signs of the times, the coming of a king, in nature and were moved to make the arduous journey from the East more readily than the residents of "all Jerusalem" and its officialdom—Herod, the chief priests and scribes of the covenanted people. Of all people, those who were living just 25 miles north of "the place where the child was” recognizing the fulfillment of Isaiah 60 and all the other scriptures referring to the coming of the anointed one, should have been hurrying out “to do him homage” (Mt 2:20).

An isogesis of this event might interpret it this way: Sometimes the person just down the street, around the corner or right next to us has a message we can learn if only we read the signs of the times.

LITURGICAL RENEWAL THROUGH THE YEARS — FORMATIONAL EXPERIENCES and RECENT PAST REFORMS

They probably didn’t know how much he influenced my interest in the liturgy. Long before Vatican II, Bill Thompson and Bill O’Shea were champions of liturgical renewal, at least locally in the confines of St. Mary of the Lake Seminary, as far back as the late 1950s. I owe a good amount of my liturgical spirituality (not to be confused with the excellent works by Louis Bouyer) to the example offered by the two Bills.

Several years before that, in 1951, I’d received my first daily missal—The St. Andrew Daily Missal—complete with woodcuts of the saints and symbols of the sacraments sprinkled throughout the pages. I’d started serving as an altar boy in 1948, and daily mass had become part of my life by eighth grade. And that missal got a lot of use from then on through high school seminary.

Though that formation may have been my introduction to liturgy, I remember a more concrete  experience of liturgical renewal at St. Mary of the Lake during college years—Philosophy in seminary terms. In those day such renewal was in the form of “active participation.” Up to that time, Fr. Edward Fitzgerald, prefect of the philosophy hall had “said low mass” each day as we seminarians followed silently except for an occasional “Et cum spiritu tuo” and “Amen.” Bill Thompson and Bill O’Shea were the fomenters of a request made to “Fitz.” The request was an apparently simple one: the inclusion of four hymns in our Mass on a few days a week—processional, offertory, communion and recessional. One would have thought this was some revolutionary effort to take away the mass from the priest. On the first day “Fitz” allowed this addition. But as he opened the communion rail gate to go to the sacristy to vest for mass, he turned to us as we were completing our half-hour of morning meditation in our assigned places in the pews of the Philosophy Chapel, announcing,  “We will begin singing these hymns as part of the mass, but, remember, this is my mass.” 

The two Bills had taken part in the annual Liturgical Conference at Notre Dame for a number of years and were far ahead of most in what was being recommended in those interVatican I-Vatican II days. Actually Vatican II was not even a glimmer on the horizon in those days.  In those days the two Bills and anyone else who was interested in liturgy or subscribed to Worship magazine received from their peers the epithetical dub of “liturgy bugs.” 

You see, Monsignor Reynold Hillenbrand, the former rector of the seminary, had invited such social advocates and liturgical lights of the time as Virgil Michel, Martin Hellriegel, Catherine DeHuech Doherty, Godfrey Diekmann and Dorothy Day to speak to the seminarians, placing the seminary at the forefront of liturgical theology and social thought and forming a generation of Chicago priests. In 1949 after a serious auto accident, Hillenbrand, who had served as rector for 14 years, was replaced by Monsignor Malachy P. Foley, who took it upon himself to bring the seminary back to the “fortress” mentality of the times. During his rectorship, the seminary earned the nickname “the Rock” the name given Alcatraz by its inmates. Like that infamous penal institution, St. Mary of the Lake confined its seminarians throughout the scholastic year, allowing no one to leave the grounds of the seminary except on rare occasions, like attending the funeral of a family member. The mentality of preventing what’s happening in the “real world” from seeping into seminary life was the order of the day even regarding the liturgy. Active participation and “dialogue Mass”—the extent of liturgical renewal in those days—were seen as something from the outside world. And such renewal was as foreign to seminary life as subscriptions by seminarians to Time or Newsweek. Even the Feehan Memorial Library of the seminary which Cardinal Mundelein hoped would become the “Catholic University of the West” had only year-old news magazines available to the seminarians, newer issues kept behind locked wire-threaded gates and only with rare exceptions to be used in any student research. The motto on the frieze of the library in Latin reads: “Wisdom has built her house” (Pro. 9:1). One might have responded in those days, “But she’s been locked out of it.” What can one say? It was a different time.

  

It was in 1958 when I first attended the National Liturgical Week at Notre Dame. These events were sponsored by the Liturgical Conference—founded in 1940 as the Benedictine Liturgical Conference—which grew and changed its name to The Liturgical Conference to reflect the increased interest of all Catholics and Christians of other denominations. What an experience! 

In 1959 I transferred from St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein to Mt. St, Mary’s of the West, Norwood, Ohio—affectionately referred to by the student body as "The Rock” for its isolating Alcatraz-like atmosphere. Having experienced both the Lake and the Mount, I contend that there was a great deal more isolation at Mundelein than at the Mount. Leaving the grounds of St. Mary of the Lake was near impossible, whereas at “The Mount” there were regular off-campus activities during those 4 years: from weekly opportunities  to go skating at the Cincinnati Gardens (Home of the Cincinnati Bengals) to the annual “Fort Myers Day” outing.

The five-volume work by Dr. Pius Parsch The Church’s Year of Grace, originally published in German, began to be translated by William Heidt, OSB with the assistance of other monks of St. John’s Abby Collegeville, Minnesota, with the first volume published in 1962. The illustrations were rendered by Brother Placid Lawrence Stuckenschneider, OSB. Each subsequent year, a new volume came out. Awaited each year with great anticipation, those volumes became the source of my daily mediation during the four years of the study of Theology at the Mount. 

I also took part in the 1960 Liturgical Conference—themed “Liturgy and Unity” in deference to the mission adopted by the newly-elected Pope John XXIII—at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh. And the following year, I also attended the Conference held in Oklahoma City with classmates from Cincinnati. It may have been the year when one of the workshops was a “Demonstration of Holy Mass in English” presented by a group under the direction of Dennis Fitzpatrick, one of the young visionary liturgical reformers of the day. A sample of the common chants composed for this event can be heard by clicking here. This was four years before the first liturgical reforms would be implemented in parishes. As I listen to the music now, I remember how singing the texts in English was such an encouraging thrill. Were a video of that “demonstration mass” available, the presentation would appear not far off from what we experience today.

Though I wasn’t able to take part in 1964—that first year after ordination—it was at the Liturgical Conference in St. Louis that Bill Thompson attended. I remember his telling of taking part in the meeting of the Vernacular Society of America whose meeting had coincided with the Conference each year. Co-founded by Msgr. Reynold Hillenbrand in the late 1920’s, the Vernacular Society’s members worked together for promoting the use of the vernacular in liturgical worship.  This year’s conference being held in St. Louis was the first one following the promulgation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy by Vatican II. Bill later recounted how a declaration seldom heard in any organization was heard there.  

As I remember Bill’s recounting of the meeting of the Vernacular Society that year, Msgr. Martin Hellriegel, who was celebrating his 50th anniversary of ordination, stood at the podium before the gathering of hundreds of Society members. With due decorum and solemnity, he raised his voice and gloriously proclaimed, “I declare this Society disbanded; its mission is complete.” It was a vindication of the apostolate he carried out so single-heartedly, often at the cost of both private and public criticism. 

The liturgical formation of those earlier days may cause some to wonder, with reinstallation of the Tridentine Mass and the 2013 replacement of the English translation of the liturgical prayers and responses “to conform with the original Latin texts of the Missale Romanum” whether we may be at a point to pick up the banner again proclaiming, “Mission complete  in your day, Monsignor; forty-six years later, perhaps not.” The new translation, now so accepted in parish worship, must be causing giants of the Liturgical Movement of the 20^th century, like Virgil Michel, the Monsignori Martin Hellriegel, Reynold Hillenbrand and Frederick McManus, Clifford Howell, S.J., Bishop Bernard Sheil, Msgr. Dan Cantwell as well as a whole army of monks of St. John Abbey, Collegeville, and other holy women and men, to roll over in their graves causing a quake that should be felt in the Vatican. An equal army of living women and men today are in harmony with that quaking. This quake should counteract this seismic shift toward the "Jesus-and-me, priest-doing-magic, monolithic, sanctuary-distant, pay-pray-n-obey, know-your-place-and-keep-quiet, clerical culture" liturgical mentality. We thought we’d matured away from that.

There are a great many more catastrophic events going on in our world than liturgical revisionism so well covered in the fine blog by Tom Woods, Jr. "Benedict's Revolution: The Return to the Old Latin Mass." So forgive this added comment on B16’s retro-liturgical changes. But I can’t help feeling a sense of deep disappointment bordering on despair seeing this 21st century Benedict bent on undoing what the followers of the earlier Benedict have spearheaded in the 20th century. Perhaps the aforementioned living army needs to call upon the spirits of these departed people to re-establish a new Liturgical Conference and Vernacular Society of America to counteract the growing impact of organizations like “The New Liturgical Movement” [I cringe to even write it in the present context! (Novus Motus Liturgicus - http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/).] 

Many may fear that the call of the Gospel Jesus that his followers be Eucharist in our world is being snuffed out. The call of Jesus to works of compassion and justice, being emphasized by Pope Francis offers hope that the outpouring of care for the marginalized will replace the threat of our parish liturgies being replaced with a devotional service forgetful of the Gospel call—incorporated by an earlier Benedict into the motto of his Order—to both “pray and work”, praying for the poor and neglected while at the same time working for social change through advocacy. Only in that way can we be assured that our liturgies with its "Let Us Build a House" will not be replaced by the old Jesus-and-me mentality of "O Lord, I Am Not Worthy."

In the light of these event we have now weathered and moved on to the Pope Francis guiding the bark of Peter, all this concern has faded and more important issues have arisen. Still, I remain grateful for the interest in liturgy and the formation in liturgical spirituality the two Bills inspired in me.

A Third Way of Observing Non-Violent Resistance: Mt. 5:38-42

John Dear reflected back in 2007 on the Sermon on the Mount text (Mt. 5: 38-42) in the light Walter Wink’s interpretation of Jesus' teachings on nonviolent resistance:

“You have heard, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,' but I say, Offer no violent resistance to one who does evil.”

…But does that mean sit back, be passive, and suffer violence? No! The world tells us there are only two options in the face of violence: fight back with violence or run away and do nothing. But Wink explains how Jesus offers a third alternative, "a third way": active nonviolence resistance.

Illustration courtesy of Dave Maynard https://bsssb-llc.com/turn-the-other-cheek/

Since the beginning of Lent this year, I’ve been reading the scripture texts for each weekday and continued that practice from then on to Trinity Sunday and beyond. On the Monday of the 11th Week in Ordinary Time (June 15th), we hear the Gospel segment of the Sermon on the Mount from Mt. 5 recounting the message about the other cheek, the cloak and the extra mile—but seldom do we hear in homilies the revolutionary injunction behind these words of that groundbreaking sermon. Wink says it this way:

Just on the grounds of sheer originality, the examples of unarmed direct action in Matt. 5:39-41 would appear to have originated with Jesus. No one, not only in the first century but in all of human history, ever advocated defiance of oppressors by turning the cheek, stripping oneself naked in court, or jeopardizing a soldier by carrying his pack a second mile. For three centuries, the early church observed Jesus' command to nonviolence. But nowhere in the early church, to say nothing of the early fathers, do we find statements similar to these in their humor and originality. These sayings are, in fact, so radical, so unprecedented, and so threatening, that it has taken all these centuries just to begin to grasp their implications. 

I know that I heard this, as it's described here, in a presentation by Dear at a Call To Action Conference some years ago, but never in a homily in any parish. 

John Dear originally offered this message in the historical context of the Bush “rush-to-war” on Iraq. But today’s demonstrations—be they promoting justice for Blacks or for the Undocumented—might well take this text and its revolutionary counsel to heart.

Rather than reviewing the commentary by John Dear in summary form, I recommend clicking on the citation to access the article for a reading (or for some, a re-reading) as it appeared in the National Catholic Reporter, July 10, 2007.

Nostalgia for An Army of Youth Flying the Standards of Truth While Seeking Peace

My brother Tom is a raconteur of sorts and, in his 80s like I am, he’s remembering things from his earlier years more vividly than where he left his glasses. On a visit a while back, something caused him to remember the words to the Catholic Action Song from his years at St.Thomas High School in Rockford.

It’s a rousing piece composed by Father Daniel Lord, S.J. (pictured) back in 1932. Newly ordained in 1923, He'd  reluctantly accepted the task of revivifying the Jesuit-led Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He came to the conclusion that the new name of Student Catholic Action was needed. His creativity led him to draft a theme song—The Catholic Action Hymn.

Tom was able to break out in song and remembered most of the words so well, he proved the saying “Long term memory is the last to go.”

Chorus:
An army of youth flying the standards of truth,
We’re fighting for Christ, our Lord.
Heads lifted high, Christian action our cry,
And God’s word our only sword.
On earth’s battlefield never a vantage we’ll yield
As dauntlessly on we sing.
Christians true, dare and do ’neath the King’s white and blue,
For our God, for our faith, for Christ the King.

Christ lifts His hands; the King commands;
His challenge, “Come and follow Me.”
From every side, With eager stride,
We form in the lines of victory.
Let foe-men lurk, and laggards shirk,
We throw our fortunes with the Lord,
God’s own son, till the world is won.
We have pledged you our loyal word.

Chorus

Our hearts are pure, our minds are sure;

No sin our gleaming helmet taints.

No foe-man fierce our shield shall pierce;

We’re captained by God’s unconquered Son.

Yet peace we bring, and a gentle King,

Whose law is light and life and love?

God’s own son, may thy will be done

Here on earth as it is above.

Chorus

Daniel Lord, S.J. The Queen’s Work, St. Louis, MO © 1932

It’s interesting to note how the words of this rally cry shows up in various works.

An autobiographical remembrance of the CSA in the Philippines in 2011 on the occasion of the 75th anniversary, the Diamond Jubilee, of Student Catholic Action (SCA) recalls the impact of the organization and its theme song.

On page 125 of the David Hajdu’s The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and How It Changed America, the author has the song as background to a fictional comic book burning. 

What’s particularly interesting is that most of us who remember the song know little or nothing of the life of its composer. The 2005 article about Daniel Lord writes 55 years after his death is linked above. It indicates some of the criticism Lord received from his Jesuit confreres and other for his popularizing approach to the serious work of education. But also catalogued are the volumes of works he wrote capturing the imagination of young people. His works taken as a whole sold 25 million copies by the 1960s.

The military imagery the song doesn’t click with kids today, but in our day of growing up in the 1940s and 50s the song’s “jaunty march tune and lofty sentiments about duty, honor and devotion made it a hit with its intended youth audience.” 

That militaristic terminology of the past has yielded to a concept of the Church that recognizes that

The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. [Gaudium et Spes §1] 

Today those confirmed are no longer spoken of soldiers of Christ, but as receiving the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgment and courage, the spirit of knowledge and reverence.…filling them with the spirit of wonder and awe in your presence through a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit as once granted to the apostles on the day of Pentecost [Catechism of the Catholic Church §. 1299 & 1302]. 

Welcome change for advocates for social justice and peace!

Perhaps the idealistic phrase of the first line’s “flying the banner of truth” still calls to all of us in our day to avoid being taken in by Barnum-esque peddlers of half truths and lies.

And the nostalgia that warms the heart of my brother and so many others looking back to former times will keep us remembering the song that captured our imagination during those younger days when we needed the kind of idealism expressed in the words of the song of that time long ago.

Bridging the Past and Present through the Progressive Catholic Coalition at the School of the Americas Watch — Commemorating the Massacre at UCA and Working for Justice in Latin America and the Church

On the morning of November 16, 1989, the Atlacatl Battalion of this Salvadoran Army, led by 19 graduates of the School of the Americas (SOA) entered the grounds of the University of Central America and brutally assassinated Elba Ramos, her 16-year-old daughter and six Jesuit priests--among them Father Ignacio Ellacuría, an outspoken critic of El Salvador’s military dictatorship. The SOA Watch movement initially formed to denounce this massacre—one of the many atrocities that occurred in Central America as the United States funded civil wars and trained military at the SOA/WHINSEC.

Urged on by Father Roy Bourgeoise, founder of the SOAWatch, and informed by activist contacts in Latin America countries affected by U.S. policy in their countries, the SOAWatch has gathered each year since 1990 on the third weekend in November to continue raising a rallying cry opposing U.S. militarism. Seeking to bridge the intersections of the past with the present in memory and resistance, SOA Watch returned to the gates of Ft. Benning, Georgia where the U.S. Army school is located to both mark this milestone year of gathering by the movement and commemorating the atrocity that impelled the beginning of the movement as well as to re-pledge itself to continue resistance to expanding militarization by the U.S. plaguing Latin America, and more recently along the border.

The Progressive Catholic Coalition has been gathering at the School of the Americas Watch (SOAW) each year since 2004. 

Six Catholic reform organizations continue to be contributing sponsors of the PCC each year. The coalition brings a justice-based Church-reform presence to the gathering of hundreds of activists from across the country at the School of the Americas Watch [SOAW] each year. From 2016 to 2018, that gathering took place at the U.S./Mexico border in Nogales, on both sides of the border wall.

Presently the PCC includes these sponsoring organizations working for justice in Church and world: Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests (ARCWP), Call to Action-usa, CITI [Celibacy is the Issue-Community is the Intent] Ministries Inc., the Federation of Christian Ministries (FCM), CORPUS and Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC). 

The context for the PCC presence this year, as in the past, is this gathering, like a family reunion. Familiar faces, needing reintroductions; new faces needing to be introduced. And all in one unified spirit of warm sharing stories of what’s been happening since the previous year, recounting what’s being done back home to further the efforts of the SOAW movement. 

SOAW 2019

The SOAW program for the weekend offers themes that resurface each year: updates of what  the movement staff have been working to communicate to its activists. Plans for the future. And after 29 years of converging as a movement, mostly in Columbus, Georgia, at the gates of Ft. Benning, but more recently at the border in Nogales, Arizona/Sonora, Mexico, there is much to review. 

On Saturday, two panels shared thoughts on “Bridging the Past and the Present of the Organization”—some of the history of what the movement has managed over the years and what’s next. 

Panel I: “Lessons Learned over 30 Years of Resistance”

• Between 2009 and 2012, a resolution to close the school while an investigation of the record of graduates was begun was introduced by Rep. McGovern of Massachusetts had gained added co-signers. However, the resolution was not introduced for a vote on the floor. Following the change of the name from SOA to WHINSEC, legislators were of the pinion that the school should have time to rove itself. 
• More recently garnering legislative sponsors to back the present Berta Caceres Bill (HR 1945) to end military funding in Honduras.  
• By 2016, Venezuela, Argentina, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Bolivia and Uruguay publicly committed to no longer sending soldiers, nor police to the institution.
• November 13, 2012: Meeting of Denis McDonough, deputy national security adviser to President Barack Obama with a delegation from the the SOAWatch.
• Legislative action of the past to close the U.S. Army school where so many graduates have been implicated in committing atrocities against their own people,

Panel II: “Effective Organizing Strategies in the face of U.S.-led and -supported Violence

The weekend might be summed up in remembering and re-commitment for both SOAW and the sponsoring members of the PCC. 

Further information about the speakers at these panels and t\heir topics can be found at 

https://www.soaw.org/biographies/

An evening program by Pax Christi—Solidarity, Resistance and Hope: The spirituality of Nonviolence Lived Out in the Central American Martyrs and Struggles of Justice Today—topped off the day.

THE RE-COMMITMENT OF THE MOVEMENT

The list of SOA graduates who engaged in massacres, assassinations, torture and disappearances of Indigenous, union and community leaders, and who launched coups and became military dictators, is long. From El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala to Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Colombia, there is an SOA connection to the repression and brutality committed against the masses of people

If there was any doubt about the timeliness of the message of the gathering of the SOAWatch movement at this time, the coup in Bolivia and the news at the border validate the effort.

The knowledge that at least seven leaders of the recent coup in Bolivia against democratically-elected Indigenous President Evo Morales were SOA graduates — such as General Williams Kaliman Romero who trained at SOA in 2003 — underscored the continuing need to win the demand: “Close the SOA!”

That ICE agents and Border patrol officers are being trained at Ft. Benning shows how this facility is a tool of U.S. militarism being used against people forced from their homelands by the actions of trainees from the SOA/WHINSEC.

THE PRESENCE OF THE PCC at SOAW 2019

Each year the PCC has two opportunities for participants in the SOAW: an information table with materials about the sponsoring organizations and a Eucharist led by both women and men priests.

At the PCC Information Table: Young people from around the country were more evident this year. Eight of them from St. Charles Borromeo Church, Skillmen, New Jersey, gathered around the PCC information table to ask about the sponsoring organizations. 

One of them commented how welcome they have been made to feel among the people from around the country. To these young people, being recognized by so many “gray hairs” was unexpected. And the older members of the movement were encouraged by the presence of these dedicated young people. 

Inclusive Liturgy: Kathy Butler  and Janet Sevre-Duszynska, both of ARCWP—a sponsor of the PCC—composed the Liturgy which was led by Katy Zatsick and Diane Dougherty, also of ARCWP. About 30 people made their way to a beautiful Victorian home on Broad Street near the Chattahoochee River for the celebration on Saturday evening. 

The home, an AirBNB, was secured by Jeannette Mulherin, formerly a board member of WOC and long-time supporter of the PCC. The liturgy was modeled on the way communities in El Salvador allow time for everyone to include their comments so that the Spirit is respected in the gathered believers before the prayer continues. 

The announcements following the liturgy included the urging by Fr. Roy Bourgeois to gather on July 16th at the Vatican Embassy in Washington—or for those who cannot travel the distance, at their chancery office— to demonstrate for the ordination of women. The other announcement was an invitation to pass to the kitchen where pizza and refreshments await an informal opportunity to socialize. Most did and departed full of the Spirit, good conversation and appetites satisfied by pizza.

AFFIRMATION OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PCC PRESENCE

Two comments during the weekend bridge the past and present affirm the value of the presence of the Progressive Catholic Coalition.

Following the liturgy on Saturday evening, a high school student from Stillmen, New Jersey, expressed her opinion about the womanpriest-led service: “I miss the usual readings and homily that helps me apply the readings to everyday life. But it was nice having priests who are women leading the mass.”

The other comment came as the Sunday Solemn Procession was ending. Erin from Pennsylvania, reading the message on my wearable “sandwich board” banner told me, ““Thank you so much for doing this,” she said enthusiastically, “my mother has been alienated from the Church because if inaction about  these same issues. I’m going to show her the pictures of the message you’re wearing to show her that there are groups working for the same issues she advocates for.”

The wording on the banner that grabbed Erin’s attention read:

The Progressive Catholic Coalition 

• Denounces Militarism--both exported and at the border
• Supports the Amazon Synod Recommendations:

                - Reinstating ordination of women as deacons

                - Restoring a married priesthood

                      - Protecting the Amazon Rain Forest and

                    its Indigenous Peoples.

        SAVE THE CHURCH! ORDAIN WOMEN!

The PCC, recognizing the SOAW emphasis on the effect of militarism at the border, has for the past 3 years brought the presence of its sponsoring organizations to the SOA Watch Border Encuentro in Nogales. This year that presence returned to the gates of Ft. Benning to display the PCC banner listing the names of sponsoring organizations at its information table and at the Sunday Solemn Procession. These services provide SOAW participants—especially young people—with a clear message that there exists a "reforming Church" dedicated to promoting justice and peace on the level of both church and world—topics they do not hear about in their home parishes—that touch their hearts and lives.

The SOAW program on Sunday concludes with the Solemn Procession during which the names and ages of those killed by SOA/WHINSEC graduates are read to which the gathering raises their crosses inscribed with names of the dead as they respond "PRESENTE", indicating that they are present in mind and heart and in the continued struggle to end the militarism that has caused their deaths.

The blessing all invoked at the beginning of the Solemn Procession  prays:

May love and courage go with us as we do the work of building community and transforming injustice. May memory and wisdom root us as we face the radical violence of a failing empire. 

May humility and gratitude guide us as we join in solidarity with people all over the world fighting for their lives. 

May joy and beauty nourish us as we vision past failed structures and institutions into another world. May awe and imagination teach us how to listen for the voices of our ancestors who know the way back home.

Together we cry.  You are not alone. Together we are making liberation. No están solas, no están solos, juntos hacemos la liberación.

The comments of people—from young people unaccustomed to being welcomed among adults and unfamiliar with informal liturgy to a daughter whose mother, alienated from the a church she sees as out of touch, encouraged to see a reform presence at the SOA Watch event, all brought together in the struggle for justice—demonstrate that there is good reason for the sponsoring organizations of the PCC to be present at the SOAWatch gathering.

Please like the PCC on Facebook @ppc4churchjustice. The SOAW website is found at www.soaw.org