UN Briefing: Is the UN Worth the Effort?
“By now I suspect that many of you have read the article in the March 20th New York Times Sunday Review entitled I Love the UN, but It Is Failing, by Anthony Banbury, a former assistant secretary general for field support. He poignantly begins by saying “I care deeply for the principles the United Nations is designed to uphold. And that is why I have decided to leave.” He goes on to cite a number of significant deficits in the UN system, including the dysfunctional and inefficient personnel system, which is unable to attract and deploy the best talent to those parts of the world where it is needed the most – the Ebola crisis in Western Africa being a case in point; the incompetency of a number of international field staff members; the overall lack of accountability; and the fact that too many decisions are driven by political expediency, rather than by the principles upon which the UN was established and the facts on the ground.”
Read article by Sister Margaret Mayce, OP
Dominican Sisters Recommend Prayer with Your Ballot
The Dominican Sisters Conference invites you to spend a few moments with God before you go into the voting booth.
We are making available a reflection tool called Take it to Prayer: A Spiritual Reflection for Voters. The brief guide is meant to help busy people prepare themselves spiritually before they vote. It was developed by the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Ill.
“Voting is one of our primary responsibilities as U.S. citizens,” explained Sister Marcelline Koch, OP, who is the justice coordinator for the Springfield Dominican Sisters as well as the North American Co-Promoter for Justice and Peace. “‘Why does my ballot matter?’ you might think. Because we are citizens of the most powerful nation on earth, the tiny pebble that is my ballot can make big waves around the universe, especially when we consider that the health of Creation, our common home, may depend on it.”
Take it to Prayer was inspired by the Catholic tradition of examination of conscience. Often used by Catholics as a prayer at the end of the day or before going to confession, and examination of conscience is a way to discern where and how a person has acted in accord with God’s grace, or not, in the course of a day.
Copies of Take it to Prayer are available free here and at dominicansistersconference.org
Composer Dan Schutte to Give Concert and Retreat at Sinsinawa Mound
SINSINAWA, Wis.—Composer, artist and author Dan Schutte will be at Sinsinawa Mound for a concert Friday, April 22, and a retreat Saturday, April 23. Both are open to the public, with a freewill offering being accepted. Schutte has been composing worship music for more than 40 years. Many of his most celebrated pieces, including “Here I Am, Lord”; “City of God”; and “Sing a New Song,” come from his years of collaboration with the St. Louis Jesuits. The concert is at 7 p.m. Friday.
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Faith and Film: Zootopia
Movie Review by Fr. Tom Condon, O.P.
Zootopia is another example of the originality and creativity in contemporary animated films (e.g. Inside Out, The LEGGO Movie). I admit that it took me a few minutes to get into this story of a young rabbit named Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin), who wants to leave her family farm and become a police officer in the large neighboring city, Zootopia. A word play on Thomas More’s Utopia, the city of Zootopia is a place where anthropomorphic animals of all kinds live and work together in harmony.
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