Monthly Archives: June 2017

Posted June 7, 2017

The following interview with Archbishop Charles Chaput, conducted by Australian writer Marilyn Rodrigues, appeared in slightly edited form on June 2 in The Catholic Weekly, newsweekly of the Archdiocese of Sydney.

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Archbishop Charles Chaput. (Photo by Sarah Webb)

Q. Your latest book is clearly written for the American Catholic people, but its relevance for us here in Australia is also very clear. Briefly, for those who are yet to read your book, in what ways do you understand us to be living in a post-Christian world?

A. Theres actually no such thing as post Christian as long as people anywhere believe in Jesus Christ and try to live accordingly. Jesus is the lord and meaning of history. And since he is, there can be no history after him. The Church has often found herself dying or extinguished in some places and thriving in others. Its no different today.

But we can do our best to ignore or diminish Jesus. So in that sense, much of the developed world, or at least its leadership class, makes itself post Christian by trying very hard to forget God.

Q. You paint a comprehensive picture of the historical philosophical, political, and social anti-Christian forces underpinning contemporary life. Much of your book is concerned with how we got to this point. Why is it not enough to simply get on with things why is it so important to understand the past?

A. The ability to remember and learn from the past sets humans uniquely apart. So a man with amnesia literally becomes a nobody. He loses his identity. Hes a blank slate for others to write on. Thats because his life story is shaped by the past, by his beliefs and experiences over time, and once forgotten, others can insert a new life story in its place.

The same applies to nations and communities. Thats why totalitarian systems and democracies, too, can be totalitarian always end up trying to erase or revise the past.

Q. You explain that Christian hope is the overcoming of despair, differentiating it from optimism which assumes things will always improve. In many ways we are witnessing a crisis of despair, maybe best manifested in Australia in unprecedented suicide rates. You clearly lay out the reality of, and good reason for, much despair and disquiet in our culture today. Would you say that the world we face today is crystallizing into precisely a most Christian moment of hope? What should this inspire? Where do you most see manifestations of hope today?

A. The Christian faith is growing rapidly in much of the world. But we rarely hear about it because it doesnt fit the standard secular narrative. So we over-focus on our own problems. Thats natural. But its also dangerous, because when we lose a sense of the larger picture, we can lose confidence in our own beliefs. The reality is this: Even in countries like the United States and Australia, God is raising up plenty of strong young clergy, religious and laypeople, and movements and communities committed to renewal. Theyre the future. They need to be encouraged. Thats where we need to focus. God will take care of the rest. Theres no reason to be bitter or afraid.

What believers are now experiencing in the developed world is equivalent to a cold shower. Its not fun, its not pleasant, but it does wake us up. It forces each of us into a choice. The indifferent may leave the Church, and thats a sadness. But those who stay with the Church will be more alert and intentional. Thats a good thing. Honesty and clarity are always good things. Confusion and ambiguity are never of God.

Q. In Australia, among other things we are seeing companies exerting pressure on the federal government to enact same-sex marriage laws. New South Wales has been facing a push for extreme abortion laws, and euthanasia is on the table in Victoria. Where do you see examples of Christians engaging well in political life? What are they doing successfully?

A. I cant speak to Australias situation, obviously. But in the United States, companies like Apple and Salesforce.com have been very aggressive in pushing same-sex marriage and similar issues, often in the face of strong popular resistance. They have no interest in the will of the people unless the economic and public relations cost of their actions is too high. So Christians need to get involved in the kind of political organizing and economic boycotts that inflict an appropriate penalty. That has to start at the local and regional level. Lots of people are already doing it. Even when good people lose a battle in the public square, they achieve something good. They witness to the truth, they clarify whats at stake in an issue, and they extract a cost from those who would do evil.

None of this should lead us to believe that politics is the most important part of a Christian life. Its not, by a long shot. And none of this absolves us from the Christian duty to act with good sense about strategy and tactics, or with the respect, justice, charity and prudence we owe to others including those with whom we disagree. But avoiding a fight on matters of real importance is never excusable.

Q. Increasingly, Christian values around marriage and family, reverence for life from conception until natural death, and are being understood to be archaic and nave at best, and inhibitory of human freedom and equality at worst. A Catholic mentality means different things by freedom and equality. What is happening here at the level of language of meaning? Is it more important than ever now for Christians to say what we mean and mean what we say?

A. Those who control the language of a debate largely control the outcome. Words shape thought. An expression like marriage equality is deeply misleading and arguably dishonest. But its also very effective. It bypasses serious thought and goes straight to the emotions that surround the word equality. So its vital for Catholics to know and understand what their faith teaches, to speak the truth, and to challenge the words of a public debate when they mask lies and ambiguities.

Q. You express some sympathy for, but dont advocate for, the Benedict option the idea that people wanting to preserve Christian culture might need to withdraw into alternative communities. You would rather see Catholics as healthy cells within society. Why is this this the better option, and why do you think the idea of the Benedict option is so appealing to many people?

A. Rod Dreher the author of the recent book The Benedict Option is a man I know and admire, and Im quite sure he doesnt mean the Benedict Option as a call to withdraw to a religious bomb shelter. He does mean, and I think hes right, that we Christians need to find better ways to build intentional communities of faith and separate ourselves mentally from the bad things in our culture. But this isnt a new message. And Benedict probably isnt the best model for our age. Augustine is.

Augustine never ran or hid from adversity. He was a bishop for and with his people, people who had to continue their everyday lives even as the Roman world around them fell apart. Augustine knew that the City of God and the City of Man overlap and interpenetrate. He wanted Christians to realize that their real home, their real loyalty, is heaven, but we get there by passing through the City of Man. So we need to seed this world with as much good as we can while were here.

Like anything else, the Benedict Option is unhelpful when its over-marketed and poorly understood. People are always attracted to escape hatches in trying times. But there arent any escape hatches. The world follows us. The world is in us, so we need to deal with it. Jesus accepted the cross, and if we claim to be his disciples, why would we try to avoid it? And even if we could hide from the world, we shouldnt, because we have the mandate to heal and convert it.

Q. What can young parents do, who are worried about their children being exposed to toxic elements of culture at younger ages, from which its becoming increasingly impossible to shield them at younger ages?

A. Turn off the electronics. Unplug the devices. Read to them. Pray with them. Play with them. Teach them the value of silence. Develop their critical skills in examining the daily life around them. These things sound simple, and in a sense they are. But try to do them for a couple of weeks and youll see that theyre actually quite radical. Most of all, love each other as a couple and show it, because the love, tenderness and fidelity between parents has a profoundly formative effect on children. Theyre watching their parents every waking minute of every day.

Q. You write that the fundamental crisis of our time, and the special crisis of todays Christians, is a crisis of faith. Could you offer some thoughts about the continuing disunity among Christians, and within the Catholic community (as manifested by the disagreements over Pope Francis ministry and Amoris Laetitia) on how this relates to the crisis of faith?

A. Any current disunity we have in the Catholic Church and we can easily overstate it comes down to how much we want to accommodate the world; how much were willing to bend; how much we want to gloss the hard edges of the Gospel message and Church teaching. I was a Capuchin Franciscan before I was a bishop, so Francis of Assisi has always had a big influence on my thinking. Francis had no use at all for glosses, so I think we need to be more radically faithful to the uncomfortable parts of our faith and teaching, not less.

Numbers arent essential for the Church. Fidelity is. Charity is. A commitment to truth is. And thats because the Church doesnt finally belong to us, but to Jesus Christ. Its his Church, not ours.

As for our relations with other Christians: The disdain often shown toward religion today has the ironic effect of drawing many believing Christians together across lines that once divided them. I have more friends who are pastors, scholars and persons I deeply admire in other, non-Catholic Christian communities than I ever thought possible 45 years ago as a young priest. Denominational labels are often less important than whether a person really believes in Jesus Christ, the Word of God and the core of the Christian faith. Our differences are important. They cant be minimized. But the common faith we share in Jesus Christ is equally important.

Q. You recommend an effort to live the beatitudes, in their radicalness, for people who live in the world of mortgages, tough jobs, and complaining children all Christians in their daily lives. Theyre meant for plumbers and doctors, teachers and salesmen, mothers and fathers. It reminded me of GK Chestertons comment, that Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and not tried. Can you give an example, perhaps from your own family or friends, where you have seen someone (not a priest or religious) has really tried to live this way? What impact has that made on you?

A. Dorothy Day had a huge impact on my life. And there are many other invisible people like her in the Catholic Worker movement, the Neo-Catechumenal Way, the [Protestant] Bruderhof communities, Communion and Liberation, and a dozen other renewal movements and communities. And there are thousands of similar examples of ordinary people doing extraordinary things in local parishes.

No one lives the Beatitudes perfectly. We all fail. Its in our deliberate, persistent efforts in trying to live them that God remakes us, and through us, provides a witness of holiness to others which is the only way a culture really changes for the better.

Continued here:

Archbishop: In 'post-Christian world' fidelity, charity, truth stand out - CatholicPhilly.com

Power Street Theatre Company (PSTC) was founded out of rage.

Gabriela Sanchezstarted the theatre company the only one in Philly run by all women of color, she said in 2012 while studying theater and communications at Temple University. It was there where she felt the frustration of knowing that it wasnt for a lack of she skill she wasnt getting more opportunities on stage. Rather, it was because her stories as a Latinx woman werent being represented and as weve heard before, representation is everything.

Sanchez realized if she was feeling this way, there must be others around her who also felt the same way, and soon enough, she met and collaborated with Erlina Ortiz, a classmate at Temple, to start PSTC, where Ortiz is now the resident playwright.

Five years later, the theatre company is going strong with its main focus of providing accessible theater and arts to the North Philly communities, through which Sanchez said theyve engaged more than 3,000 audience members through seven productions and six contract performances.

That focus on serving the North Philly area, where Sanchez has deep familial ties to having been born and raised in Philly, is an intentional effort in promoting diversity and inclusion, which are values Sanchez said are still just buzzwords in the theater industry.

Im very intentional about the work that I produce, the relationships that I build and knowing that it takes time, Sanchez said. My work is very rooted in the communities that I care about, that I serve, that I come from.

PSTCs most recent production series, Theatre en Las Parcelas, is currently underway through a partnership with the Norris Square Neighborhood Project, where she is the education director for the organization that aims to make social change by engaging youth in education, leadership and the arts. The second show of the series, Out of Orbit, will feature Sanchez and two other women tackling the topic of privilege, among other things, through the lens of space and the universe.

The free performance will take on June 10 at the Las Parcelas garden, where the last event, an open mic garden party, will also take place on Aug. 12.

Working in tandem with community and social change organizations is nothing new for PSTC, like when it partnered with Women Organized Against Rape and Warrior Writers to produce She Wore Those Shoes, a production that looked at sexual assault in the military.

The art-for-social-change effort is also something Sanchez herself has personally been involved in with since she was 15 years old, when her first full-time job for six years was being part of the City of Philadelphias Conflict Resolution Theatre, part of a series of Strength-Based (Trauma-Informed) Leadership Programs hosted throughout the city.

I saw a need in my city, I saw a need in communities that were disenfranchised and young people that didnt have access to the arts, she said.

Location and pricing of tickets are bothaccessibility factors PSTC has givenattention to, whichSanchez says shes proud of. All youth under the age of 18 get free access to any shows, college students and senior citizens get half-off their tickets and community residents just pay $5. All in all, inclusivity is key to keep theatre alive, Sanchez said.

Theres this stigma that people of color dont like theater, but the reality is that thats not true were storytellers, its ingrained in who we are, she said. We just dont have the platform or the resources or the accessibility to access theatre because its an expensive and secluded art form in some ways.

Even as a student, Sanchez felt that her studies would often not teach her how to sustain the art, thus prompting her to learn how to run a theatre company through experience, whether it be writing grants or fostering those relationships with community organizations. She hopes to grow PSTC into a full-time company within the next two years, and in that effort, teach and grow other women and people of color in the theater world.

Sanchez credits the success of PSTC so far to her team Ortiz; Asaki Kuruma, Diana Rodriguez and Lexi White who have often volunteered much of the administrative labor, and its through listening to other communities PSTC may have not yet reached out to where they hope to find more stories.

Creating art and social change arent on one person, Sanchez said. I believe its about dialogue, about reflection, about asking questions and having conversations. In order for all of us to get on the same page, we have to start listening to each others stories.

Albert Hong is Generocity's contributing reporter. He started hanging around the Technically Media office as a summer intern for Technical.ly and eventually made his way to freelancing for both news sites. While technology and video games are two of his main interests, he's grown to love Philadelphia as a city and is always excited to hear someone else's story.

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How Power Street Theatre Company is taking on representation in the arts - Generocity

From homemade sauces to local artwork, North Asheville residents now haveanother place to shop on Saturday mornings: Anew community market debuted June 3 outside Gan Shan Station on Charlotte Street.

The market was created to give localbrick-and-mortar businesses an alternativeplace to sell their goods, says Jade Pombrio, director of the new project. Currently, most areatailgate markets are producer-only, meaning that you can only sell things that you produce, saysMolly Nicholie, program director at ASAP Connections.

Weve been wanting for a while for a venue to be able to sell all of our hot sauces and rib glaze, Pombrio says. So it kind of started as someone else wanting to sell stuff realizing that, Oh, we do have a good space. We really wanted to make this a community restaurant and make it a place with lots of community engagement, and a market seems like a natural symptom of that.

In addition to Gan Shans products, the market will feature fresh bread and pastries from The Rhu, handmade sausage and ethical meats from Intentional Swine, flowers from Paper Crane Farms and a food pantry with items from Lees Asian Market. Pombrio also plansto have a rotating weekly schedule of featured artists from the community.

The Gan Shan Market joins the North Asheville Tailgate Market as a Saturday morning shopping destination for North Asheville residents. Competition amongmarkets can be challenging, Nicholie says, as markets tend to attract similar vendors and customer bases. However, Pombrio thinks the Gan Shan market will appeal toresidents in the immediate Charlotte Street neighborhood and shoppers who are looking for items they cant get at other markets.

Coffee, pastries, breads, sauces this is going to be more pantry items because theres already so much produce, there are already so many farmers here, Pombrio says.

Gan Shan Station isnt the only business to embrace the idea of community farmers markets. Breweries have also jumped at the chance to offer their establishments as potential locations, with the intent of strengthening ties within the immediate community and bringing in a new set of customers.

Several months ago, Highland Brewing Co. reached out to offer its Meadowspace to the Oakley Farmers Market. Themarket declined the offer at the time, but when itsprevious Fairview Road sitebacked out just days before the 2017 season opened, the Oakley Farmers Market relocated toHighland on May 4.

While the market has been operating at Highland for only a few weeks,Oakley Farmers Market directorLexi Binns-Cravensays shehas received positive feedback from both vendors and visitors.

Our new location is a lot more child-friendly, where [vendors] can just bring their children, Binns-Craven says. People bring their dogs to the Meadow, and weve had a lot more families come. They bring their children, the kids are playing around as the parents shop, and its just a much more child-friendly atmosphere.

The current popularity of farmers markets is causing people to try and align their mindsets and shopping needs with local vendors, Nicholie says. Over the years, there have been amazing partnerships between businesses and farmers markets, she says. One thing I dont think the public realizes is how farmers markets serve as an incubator for businesses many cant necessarily afford a brick-and-mortar building but can sell their product at a farmers market.

Highland Brewing Co. President Leah Ashburn says the community-focused market fits well with the brewerys community-oriented mindset and that partnerships between businesses and local grassroots effortsare important for growth.

Asheville, in general, has so many wonderful resources for people that grow or bake or make things, and farmers markets are such a nice way for residents to connect directly to those growers, Ashburn says. Theres a similarity to directly connecting with brewers they are both crafting a product, and there are individual people behind that. And those individual people that make beer and craft beer are going to be shopping and buying baked goods and produce at local farmers markets, and that just feels good.

New Belgium Brewing Co. also extended an offer to house the West Asheville Tailgate Market, says market director Quinn Asteak. Although the market decided not to change locations, Asteak appreciates the offer.

While we all think it would be great to have a market at New Belgium for so many reasons they are a beautiful space and a great organization and theres a lot of great appeal we wont be leaving Grace Baptist Church, Asteak says. When the conversations started, everyones ears perked up. Theres a lot of benefits to it; its definitely a thing where it would help both businesses for markets to exist at their locations.

Despite the fact that New Belgium will not host the West Asheville Tailgate Market, the brewery remains a great place for local community involvement, says Suzanne Hackett, communications specialist at New Belgium.

What weve heard from the community is that they love to meet here and see our neighbors here, which feels really good to us, Hackett says. Supporting farmers, for us, is more than just interacting with communities; its essential to our business. Without sustainable agriculture, we dont exist, so its very important to us.

The Gan Shan Farmers Market happens 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdaysthrough midfall. The Oakley Farmers Market operates 3:30-6:30 p.m.Thursdays through the end of September at The Meadow at Highland Brewing Co.

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Local ties: New tailgate market locations highlight business and community connections - Mountain Xpress