Oblate Thoughts Regarding Our Oblate Study for 2023-2024

Armida Lopez

The study of justice and peace helped me understand how we make a difference as we live our daily lives. We can practice justice and peace by following in the footsteps of Jesus. For example, how we meet and greet each person should be done with mercy and compassion.

Susan Lawhorn

John Dear’s book, "The Beatitudes of Peace" was challenging in that he is an unabashed pacifist who doesn't mince words or allow weak mortals excuses. He is prophetic.

"Arise and walk forth!" How enlightening is this Aramaic translation of "Blessed are.." The Beatitudes have become so much more hopeful to me. In our pragmatic society, John Dear's voice shines a light on our violent ways, directing us to follow Jesus more closely, actively pursuing and cultivating justice and peace – a lifelong mission. 

Gina Howell

I learned so many things that I carry with me as I look at how I want to further develop my volunteer part of my life. The single thing I learned was...

LOVE is the basis for all Peace and Justice.

 I used to believe I needed to approach challenges from a position of strength. Now I believe we need to approach all situations from a position of LOVE. Love brings God into the mix, where strength (as I saw it) brings in the ego. That shift in my consciousness I am more focused on the best way to invest my time and energy. I have more peace because I am better able to see what's important in life and how I can best serve others

Amy Carr

I was among many in our Oblate group who felt that John Dear equated Christianity with pacifism in an overly simplistic way, even an authoritarian one. As Bill Maakestad put it, "John Dear is very dualistic; you're either this, or that." Or as John Gruidl put it, "affirming the humanity of all people includes respecting conscience and moral complexity." Ironically, perhaps, given Dear's pacifism, thinking with his book The Beatitudes of Peace was meeting at a coffee shop every month with a cranky, bristly elder who had tons of stories and experiences and advice to share. I showed up for our meetings all the same. Our conversations reminded me that my own instinct is still to respect and morally support those who dedicate their lives to public service where it does involve the moral ambiguity of wielding weapons to protect others--such as in policing and military service. That turns my attention to feeling accountable for the domestic and foreign policies my country or state has with regard to the use of force, rather than to assessing whether each person is measuring up to pure pacifism (doing so would require ultimately committing to an anarchist political philosophy, which I respect; I was once married to an anarchist-pacifist; but I do not myself feel called to participate in reorganizing society in anarchist ways that could end up allowing gangs and militias to govern our comings and goings and economic exchanges). I think, too, about Brother Peter Eghwrudjkapor's quite different witness for peace from Nigeria in an AIM newsletter, where he says his Benedictine community used the story of "two swords" in Luke 22 ("That is enough," said Jesus in Luke 22:51) to reason towards keeping two guns in the community to respond to fire from bandits with rounds of fire into the sky to deter them (successfully). Brother Peter also spoke of Christians and Muslims circling one another when praying, to help protect one another from attacks by Boko Haram. That sort of moral discernment resonates with me more than absolute pacifism: the community still seeks peacemaking as a primary aim, and takes responsibility for the pathways taken to preserve life and peace as best as possible in their circumstances.

My favorite chapter from Dear's book was about the anti-beatitudes. Pondering the inverse of the beatitudes is a potent spiritual exercise. We do need to be called to account regularly about whether our thoughts and habits (individually and collectively) foster more the spirit of the beatitudes or their opposite. For instance--as Linda Jani put it one month--we can be more aware of the backpack of capitalism and materialism we are carrying. Gloria Huhr noted that "justice is often very expensive." As Chris Delaney-Barnum put it in his ever-hopeful way, "It's fun to stop and consider!" Opening our hearts rather than closing them: that invitation by John Dear I hope to take up again and again. The context of prayer is key. It might have been Susan Lawhorn who said in response to the question in March, "How can you build a more peaceful heart, a more peaceful community?" that "prayer can help you keep your cool."

Dierdre Redington

I was struck by the variety of views and “take offs” on the beatitudes. I especially observed that my best learning was from our group discussions on the readings and the use of the guides. In reading, I often skimmed over the material without much deep thought. However, listening to my fellow Oblates in the discussions gave me more understanding and a desire to more frequently examine the beatitudes in my own life. Gloria Hurh

This year’s theme of Peace and Justice as explained in The Beatitudes of Peace by John Dear challenged me to honestly reflect on how I am living Jesus's call to peace, justice, and nonviolence. The discussions and sharing of personal reflections on the readings during our virtual meetings were rich sources of spiritual reflection, encouragement, and support for me. Sharing compassion, mercy, love, and forgiveness in my daily life help me to live in the spirit of the Beatitudes. 

I especially appreciated the real-life examples of how other oblates exemplify the Beatitudes in their everyday, ordinary lives. It reminds me to listen carefully with the ear of my heart to discern the needs of others and then to do what I can to advocate for or serve those needs. I am very grateful that Sr. Ruth shared both the John Dear translation of The Beatitudes and the First Nation translation for us to discuss. John Dear’s translation is an urgent call to demonstrate my commitment to them by the way I live my life. The One Nation Beatitudes invoke Creator’s blessing as a gentle and reassuring call to honor one another with kindness, respect, patience and gratitude. I also appreciated the Lakota Prayer that Sr. Ruth shared with us. 

I have gained much insight about the spirituality of peace from the perspective of Indigenous people. Advocating for affordable housing as a participant in an interdenominational group of 26 congregations in our community, financially supporting the education of a student in Haiti through our parish, and supporting the work of Casa Alma, the Catholic Worker House in our community are ways that I am trying to do what I can to promote peace and justice. Also, I watched The Narrow Path featuring John Dear sharing his lifelong journey of peace, justice, and nonviolence on a DVD produced in 2007 which I purchased as a used copy online at a very reasonable price via Amazon. It was interesting to listen to him describe his life as a peace activist and difficult to watch some of the scenes of the result of violence in our world.

Terry Martz

I feel this year's study of Peace & Justice, thru John Dear's book, inspired me to want to learn more. I felt inspired to read books written by some amazing people I never knew about. It challenged me to incorporate some of these people's ideas into small things I could accomplish in my area. I enjoyed this year's study very much. I feel blessed to be involved with such a interesting group of Oblates. So many of our group bring inspiring ideas for me to learn from.

Gloria Hurh

I waited too long to write about my learning on the beatitudes this year, so my thoughts are not combining all our sessions very well. I was struck by the variety of views and “take offs” on the beatitudes. I especially observed that my best learning was from our group discussions on the readings and the use of the guides. In reading, I often skimmed over the material without much deep thought. However, listening to my fellow Oblates in the discussions gave me more understanding and a desire to more frequently examine the beatitudes in my own life.