Mary van Balen

Today is the International Day of Peace, originally declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 1981 to be celebrated each year on the third Tuesday of September by a cessation of acts of war and access for humanitarian aid access in areas affected by war. In 2002 the date was fixed on September 21, and in subsequent years, a call to non-violence was included in the twenty-four hour observance.

People worldwide observe a minute of silence at noon, and various ways of honoring the day have emerged around the globe.

Today is also the feast of St. Matthew, evangelist, whose gospel includes the Beatitudes and the parable of the final judgement when all are judged on their love and charity to others. The reading from Ephesians 4 for today's Mass as well as the gospel reading (Mt 9,9-13), stress love, mercy, and peace. Paul writes< "...I...urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the hone hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all..."

As I spent time in quiet prayer this morning the words "one God of all, who is over all and through all, and in all" lodged in my heart. Before we can bring peace, we must, as Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh writes, be peace.  Read More 

Today's headlines include an AP article about the increase of poverty in the US. According to census figures, 1 in 2 people in the US are poor or low income. The figures are not surprising since the economy has been struggling for years, and government programs that act as safety nets have been decreased. My job, fulltime at a large department store, would put me in the low income range even though I work 35-39 hours per week. It does provide good benefits, and many of those who work there are not the sole income earners for themselves or their families. Still, I am blessed to have other sources of revenue to supplement my pay check. All are not so fortunate.

I am well educated and have a wide variety of experience and a strong social network that gives me support. What about those who have less education? Who have young children to support? Who are single parents? Who have been out of work for years? If I had difficulty finding a job, imagine the plight of so many others. As I said, the figures were not surprising.

What bothered me in the article was a comment by Robert Rector, a research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation. He questioned whether those classified as poor or low-income in the census report actually suffered material hardship. He thinks the safety-net governmental programs offered to such people have been overdone. His rationale? Some of them have cars, decent sized homes, and widescreen TVs. Read More 

Four saints are mentioned for remembrance today on Universalis The first, St. Elizabeth of Hungary was daughter of a king and became the loving wife of Ludwig, a count, and mother of three which is cause for sainthood itself. Ludwig supported what some considered her extravagant generosity to the poor and the sick. After her husband's death, Elizabeth continued her life of service.

St. HIlda, also mentioned today, shared Elizabeth's eagerness to reach out to all regardless of status. She is known as a woman of great learning and wisdom who was the founding abbess of the famous monastery of Whitby, a double monastery that had both women and men as members. They lived together in small houses of two or three people, and the men and women came together to worship. All types of people sought her out for guidance, including royalty. She gave freely of her gifts to all, and I imagine, teaching women to read and study Scripture, as well as to pray with it, was not common in her time.

She encouraged the man who cared for the animals, Caedmon, in his poetry and song. He became a brother at Whitby and is the first English poet that we know by name.

St Hugh of Lincoln is another mentioned today. He was a Carthusian at the monastery of La Grande Chartreuse until, asked by King Henry II of England, he became prior of a Carthusian house in England. Later he was named bishop, a position he accepted only when directed to do so by the abbot of La Grande Chartreuse. He worked with his hands helping to extend the cathedral building, but is known primarily for his commitment to justice and service to the poor.

These three saints stood out to me as I read readings from Amos for the Hours today. Amos was prophet in the 700's BCE, when both Israel and Judah knew times of great prosperity and excess. The rich lived lavishly at the expense of the poor, and Amos spoke out forcefully against that, reminding them of God's vengeance against those who do not keep his commands Read More 

What is good has been explained to you; this is what the Lord asks of you: only this, to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8 Afternoon reading (None)






Most days, walking to the grocery means passing a beggar sitting at the top of the steps that lead to the metal walkway across the busy street. He is a young barefoot man with a scraggly goatee and dirty clothes. Sometimes he holds a throw away plastic cup. At other times he lays beside the cup and covers his face with his shirt. I don't know whether it is a sign of humility, shame, or just an attempt to keep the bright sun off. I pass by making a mental note to keep some change in my hand on my walk back, but often I forget. Carrying plastic sacks of food, I walk past without adding to his daily take since unzipping my purse and rummaging through it to find coins or small bills is too awkward.

Poverty is all around this city. Families live in metal huts with no plumbing that sprout along alleys and streets behind store fronts and the plastic table and chair restaurants that spill out onto the sidewalks in the evening. Some street vendors have lovely carts refrigerated or piled with ice to keep fruits and meats cold. Some set up stands where they fry batter dipped bananas or bamboo and greens stuffed pastry. Others have little to sell and customers are few. How do they make a living? I wonder. Read More 

PHOTO: The Living End
I weep and my eyes dissolve in tears, since the comforter who could revive me is far away. My sons are in despair, the enemy has proved too strong. Mid-morning reading Lamentations 1:16

This feast was always difficult for me, offended as I was by the injustice of these senseless deaths: countless young boys killed because they were born at the wrong time and place.

The birth of Jesus, Love incarnate, occasioned this slaughter, which is both foreshadowing of fear-induced violence engendered in some by his message, and a metaphor for those throughout history who suffer because of circumstance rather than consequence.

Who are today's Holy Innocents?  Read More 

The news and images coming out of Haiti are devastating. How does a country,even with the help of nations around the world, cope with a natural disaster of this magnitude? Once aid arrives - food, water, medicine, personnel - how will it reach those who need it when Haiti's infrastructure, poor to begin with, is buried and tangled with rubble?

How do organizations and people charged with coordinating rescue and aid efforts put one foot in front of the other when chaos surrounds them? Where do they start? Do they work like Mother Teresa did, going out and picking up one dying person among hundreds of others?

This earthquake and its human toll focuses attention again on true poverty in our world, forcing those in wealthy countries to look at the uncomfortable truth of injustice and poverty that is easy to ignore most of the time. Our personal concerns pale in comparison to those of the people of Port au Prince tonight.

In Haiti, dead pile up in morgues and along the streets. Many survivors are afraid to go into homes and buildings left standing, fearing they, too, might collapse when aftershocks hit. Dazed,people wander the streets with no place to go. How do they cope in this country, poorest in the Western Hemisphere, and least equipped to handle this catastrophe? How does hope survive?

At times like these, when victims and those who seek to help both are overwhelmed, can we remember that God walks with us? Or believe that God exists? Even in the midst of unspeakable suffering some in Port au Prince must. In an AP article (Jan 14), correspondent Jonathan Katz writes of song rising from those huddled together as night falls. Their prayer is an unexpected one, like Job's from the dung heap: “Beni Swa Leternel.” “Blessed be the Lord.”


Many organizations are accepting monetary donations. Click here to make donation: Catholic Relief Services
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The Common Good received a "yea" vote last night when the healthcare bill passed the House. It is a beginning.

One Republican crossed party lines to vote with the majority of Democrats, Anh "Joseph" Cao. Who is he? Why would he make such a courageous move? A little Googling gave me an idea.

He is a Vietnamese who escaped from Vietnam when he was eight years old. Successful in school, he felt called to the priesthood and studied at a Jesuit seminary for six years before discerning that was not his call. He did share the Jesuit passion for social justice, and carried that with him through law school and eventually into a political career.

He is in his first term in the U.S. House of Representatives, the first Republican to be elected in Louisiana's 2nd Congressional District since the late 1800's, representing a predominately Democratic constituency with a large African American population.

Joseph Cao's heart seems to be with those living in poverty, those not well severed by the government or other agencies like those in his own district (including himself and his family) who were devastated by hurricane Katrina, and refugees. I imagine we will hear more about him in the weeks to come. Read More 

Links: Searchable text provided by the Library of Congress Sect. 259: Nondiscrimination on Abortion and Respect for Rights of Conscience Op Ed Nicholas Kristof "Unhealthy America" An interesting article, on "The American Catholic" exploring healthcare and Catholic social teachings Pope John XXIII's Pacem in Terris addresses the right to health care in paragraph 11


Tomorrow is the big day: House Representatives in Washington DC will vote on H.R.3962: Affordable Healthcare for America Act. I pray a sense of the common good will prevail and representatives will pass the legislation that will put America on the path to a long overdue reform of a badly broken healthcare system.

The vote will also put to rest, at least for a precious moment, the outrageous verbiage that has accompanied the public debate. I am weary of hearing that the USA has the best health care on the planet (it doesn't), that the bill is the beginning of a government takeover of healthcare in particular and any variety of freedoms in general, and that it will force providers and hospitals to perform abortions. These are just a few bits of misinformation that have me seeing red and ready for a break from tea parties and hateful speech comparing Obama and this administration to any number of social pariahs including Hitler, Mao, and Communism.

I started responding to the above issues in this blog, but I am still writing an hour and a half later. I will say this: The bill isn't perfect, but it is much better than what we have now. The public option is important because private companies have had decades to do what is right, and in many, many cases they have not. (Simple math: The more premiums, the less care, the more profits.) The poor and marginalized, children growing up in poverty pay a horrible price for our broken system. You may not want to fund abortion with taxes and health premiums (This bill has a non-discrimination clause for those doctors and hospitals that do not perform abortions...see link), but I don't want to fund executions, wars, military research, and immoral denial of services even to those who are insured, with my taxes or health premiums either.

This is not a perfect bill. It is not a perfect world. But, passing this bill is one step in beginning to reclaim in this country a sense of solidarity, a sense of the common good that is essential to a just society. It is also an essential part of the Catholic Church's teachings on social justice.
It is time to do something. On Saturday, for the first time in sixty years the full house will vote on a healthcare reform bill. May the common good win.



11. But first We must speak of man's rights. Man has the right to live. He has the right to bodily integrity and to the means necessary for the proper development of life, particularly food, clothing, shelter, medical care, rest, and, finally, the necessary social services. In consequence, he has the right to be looked after in the event of illhealth; disability stemming from his work; widowhood; old age; enforced unemployment; or whenever through no fault of his own he is deprived of the means of livelihood. (8) from Pacem in Terris
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