Author: bcicirel

Newsnote: Vincentiana Purchase of the Week: 1/31/2015

bcicirel Vincentian History ,

 

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century there was a flood of French postcards that illustrated cultural and religious fascination with the “bonnes soeurs” who were such a feature of daily French life. During the 19th century French women in large numbers flocked to the new and established religious communities with active apostolates. As tensions with the anti-clerical Third Republic heightened these sisters became symbols in this struggle. The Daughters of Charity with their distinctive “cornette”, were spread across France and were often featured in such postcards. One sub-genre of these postcards include young girls dressed up in sisters habits, and repeating the themes portrayed by the “bonnes soeurs” genre. This black and white postcard is postmarked 1907.

A Jew on Two Wheels

bcicirel Judaism, Life, Reflection

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Interfaith Scholar Joel Gitskin shares how he connects to his faith through being a bike messenger 

The bike messenger community is an interesting one. In the last year and a half of my life, while I’ve been making money by carrying a bunch of stuff from one place to another on two wheels, I’ve met a strange and beautiful crowd of people. From young parents trying to provide for their children, to high school kids with a taste for adventure, artists working so they can do what they love, men in their forties who have been doing this job since I was in diapers, extremely well-read ex-train hoppers, suburban transplants trying to find their place in the world (like myself), young adults paying their way through college or graduate school (also like myself), and anybody in between. I can honestly say that this job has made me a better person, a better future educator, and a better Jew. I would be a vastly different person that I am now had I never wandered into Raptor Delivery on a lazy Friday afternoon my second year at DePaul and asked “are you looking for riders?”

One of the most important things for me that this “career path” brought about was in my Judaism. My job at Raptor Delivery was the first job I had where I told my boss that I wouldn’t work on Shabbat, and I said the same thing when I moved to Snap Courier, where I currently work. Though the initial reasoning was a bit more practical, I knew that if I didn’t force a day off upon myself that I’d run myself into the ground, there was definitely a spiritual undertone in the decision, even if it was subconscious. Keeping Friday night and Saturday separate has been really beneficial in my spiritual development and my overall mental health.

Being a messenger (or Shliach, if you will) has been a benefit to those I’ve met as well as myself. At Snap, I’ve become, in a way, “The Jewish Guy,” and sometimes, more broadly “the religious guy.” The one who sometimes has a yarmulke under his cycling cap, and had tzitzis strings hanging out from under my t-shirt. Being religious, and even more, being up-front about it and proud of it, is not a very common thing these days, especially in the young urban community that comprises most of the messengers I work with. I’ve been the butt of some good-hearted jokes, and the creator of some myself, pertaining to my faith. I once had a colleague say to me “You know, this might sound weird, or even a little mean, but you’re like the coolest religious person I’ve met. I never saw religious guys as people I’d like to be around.” It was a strange compliment to receive, but one I’ve really taken to heart. People tend far too often to keep to people who are like themselves. Jews stick with Jews, Muslims stick with Muslims, and so on. Nonbelievers are no different. This leads inevitably to preconceived notions about “the others” and leads to the shrinking of our personal worlds. When I, as a messenger, maintain my Judaism, I create a bridge for the people I meet in either world, and show them that really, we aren’t all that different. Sure, our Friday nights look different on the surface, but my reasons for going to Shabbat: family, friends, belonging, food (mostly food), aren’t too different from the reasons my messenger friends all hang out on the weekends and in their time off.

I’m thankful to G-d every day that I found my love for cycling, and that I found a way to profit from it without having to race in the Tour de France. But even more, I’m glad that I can be the “token Jew” to people who’ve never really talked to one before. I’ve found that many of my coworkers had questions about it that I was able to answer for them, or misconceptions that I was able to clear up. I like to think I affected their lives for the better, I know they did me. I believe, and my faith teaches, that we’re put in this world to leave it, and the people populating it, in a better state than when we arrived. This could mean keeping Shabbat, for me, or putting on Tefillin, doing any Mitzvah. But I think it also means that I should share myself and my faith with those I’m brought into contact with, so that I can leave them a little happier, a little more understanding, a little better off, than when I met them.

To the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Emulating Vincent

Video bcicirel Community, Media, Mission Resources, Seeds of Mission , , , ,

 

Fr. Jack Melito, C.M., offers a reflection on the appropriate choice by Blessed Frederic Ozanam of Vincent de Paul as the patron of his fledgling society in the 19th Century.  For Frederic, Vincent served as a model who established a contact with the life and works of Jesus first of all.  Secondly, Vincent’s life and works provided an example that must be carried on by continuing those same works.  Finally, Vincent’s heart, that burned so vigorously in the service of the poor, was a heart that would enkindle the hearts and zeal of those who would carry on that work in Frederic’s day.

“To the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Emulating Vincent” is a chapter in the book Saint Vincent de Paul: His Mind and His Manner, published in 2010 by the Vincentian Studies Institute at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois.  Unfortunately, the book is currently out of print.

New Year’s Resolutions

bcicirel Life

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Interfaith Scholar Olivia Hollman  share some of her New Year’s Resolutions She has been practicing . 

With a new calendar year starting, creating a New Year’s resolution seems to be a popular thing to do. Resolutions that I have had in the past have included: to exercise more and eat healthy, find inner peace, be nicer to my family, and make my bed every day. However, I always found it difficult to stick with these because I would either forget or I never made any concrete plans; they were always just abstract ideas in my head. Now I’ve learned that the best way to stick with something is to make a game plan and physically put it into my schedule (my agenda and calendar on my phone really help with this).

This year, part of my resolution is to grow spiritually and become more involved in my faith. When I decided this, I realized how abstract the idea sounded. How can I make this a concrete thing? Maybe you have decided on a similar resolution and are facing the same dilemma I did. Well, have no fear! With some brainstorming, I came up with seven possible ways to grow spiritually.

  1. Read sacred scripture. Pull out some texts associated with your own faith. As a Catholic, the Bible is pretty important and I love reading it, because I learn something new about the teachings of Jesus or the ministry of the prophets. On the flip side, one of the items on my “to-do list” for this year is to read from texts important to other faiths. In doing so, I hope to gain insight and knowledge of other faiths, which can help me strengthen my own through both differences and similarities.
  2. Read a piece of literature that is faith-based. A few years ago I read the book The Shack by William P. Young, which was a really interesting and entertaining book about a man’s encounter with God as he went searching for his daughter’s killer. The Shack kept me entertained and made me think: the two things I am looking for when I read a faith-related book. This year, I am going to read C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity, Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life, and Donald Miller’s Blue Like Jazz, among others.
  3. Go to an event hosted by a group of a different faith or an interfaith event. Learning about another faith can be a really enlightening experience. As an Interfaith Scholar, learning about various faith traditions during our weekly meetings and at the QIRCs (Quarterly Inter-Religious Celebrations) has been a highlight of this school year and I plan to attend other services or events.
  4. Take a “faith field trip”. Take some time to go visit museums or places of worship from various faiths. Go alone, take some friends with you, make a day out of it, or just spend a few minutes there. Make it educational. Make it enlightening. Make it fun. Especially in the Chicago area, there are plenty of places to go. A few on my list to visit are: Holy Name Cathedral, Bahai Temple, the National Shrine of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini and the Chicago Temple. (For some other suggestions of sacred spaces to visit: http://www-tc.pbs.org/godinamerica/art/chi_cityguide.pdf)
  5. Do some research or take a class. Ever wondered about an important faith figure like St. Paul, Buddha, Confucius, Moses, or Martin Luther? Take some time to do some research at the nearest library or see if Google has anything or maybe even take a class. DePaul offers several classes that can fill Elective, Understanding the Past, Arts and Literature, and Religious Dimensions requirements, such as “Women in the Bible”, “Islam in Global Contexts”, and “Hindu Thought and Culture” (and there are so many other options as well).
  6. Join a group. Groups are great ways to get connected with people to share experiences and beliefs. Being a part of Catholic Campus Ministry (more of a community than a “group”) has helped me find a community where I can be myself and express my faith with friends. DePaul has several groups out there for a range of faiths: United Muslims Moving Ahead, Buddhist and Meditation Club, DePaul Alliance for Free Thought, DePaul Hillel, Orthodox Christian Fellowship of DePaul University, Tepeyac, and Young Life College to name a few.
  7. Reflect. I’ve found that in my life, doing a daily reflection and personal inventory are great ways to help keep me on track. This can be as simple as taking a few moments to think about the highs and lows of the day, looking at my calendar to see what all I accomplished for the day, or writing in a journal.

Charlie Hebdo Reflection

bcicirel Reflection

Interfaith ScholarJulian Vasyl Hayda  gives his thoughts on the recent Charlie Hebdo attacks and response.

While by no means do I condone or even try to excuse Wednesday’s terror attack on Charlie Hebdo, I find it difficult to excuse the content that provoked it. Charlie Hebdo, according to its editors, is openly “anti-religion” and “very racist,” and the buck doesn’t stop with Islam – they also disgrace Christianity, Judaism, and other religions. While people are free not to practice a religion, it still is incredibly important and very sensitive to many others. I agree that sometimes people are overly sensitive to their religions, but this cover, for example, crosses even liberal lines. It reads “Parisians who love the Pope are as dumb as Negroes.” There is another that’s supposed to depict the Holy Trinity in a threesome, and another with the Prophet Mohammed popping into his own mouth.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think they should have been banned, or sued, and certainly no less killed. I’m a big believer of artistic expression and freedom of press. However, this was neither for sake of art, nor was it journalism – it was provocation. This is a case of a group of people being offensive for the sake of being offensive. Honest social commentary doesn’t have to be that offensive.
Now, this publication which treats and depicts people with below the least respect, is being treated like a martyr. For a paper that few people paid attention to or heard of, with a news stand circulation of 30,000, its message of intolerance has reached a massive new audience, and I find that very troubling. A mature person, who lives in the modern world, and no matter how offended he may be, knows that the best way to handle this situation is to ignore it. As pope Francis said, it’s best to be Teflon – let nothing stick, let it roll off.

I pray for the families of those killed, and am horrified at what happened to them. Nobody should be killed for their beliefs, offensive or provocative as they may be. However, I will not defend Charlie Hebdo’s actions, or people standing in solidarity with them and their message. To quote a fellow Facebooker, “emphatically, je NE suis Charlie.”

Suis-je Charlie? My Free Thoughts about Free Speech

bcicirel Seeds of Mission, Social Justice, Spirituality , , , , ,

SUIS - JE

 Fr.Guillermo “Memo” Campuzano, C.M., currently serves as Priest Chaplain for DePaul’s Catholic Campus Ministry.  He has worked on behalf of social justice on several continents and often works with religious communities around issues of faith and mission.  Students adore him and his challenging, humorous, realistic and loving approach to life and relationships as well as his absolute passion for justice on behalf of those who are marginalized. Let’s hope all are inspired to share their thoughts in the wake of his – he loves a lively diálogo.

This is my first blog post ever.  So my readers need to be very gentle and compassionate with my disorganized, free thoughts that I intend to share.  My intention in accepting the challenge to write a blog about Charlie Hebdo is to be thought provoking and not in any way to dogmatize about something that needs to be analyzed very carefully (not just from one perspective).

This week I have read in several magazines and newspapers around the globe about something that deeply captured my attention:  the right to blaspheme – which can mean many things.  In a way, it’s what many in our society consider an absolute right – the right to say anything we want with no limits whatsoever.  The right to blaspheme is the right to say whatever we want about what others consider sacred/absolute in their lives.  Religious people who believe in God are people with an absolute that they call Hashem, Allah, El Shaddai – just to mention the three monotheistic Abrahamic religious experiences.  I am aware that on behalf of this absolute, many acts of inhumanity have been and continue to be made in our society.

For me the paradox is that many people are claiming – after the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack – that they believe in another absolute:  free speech, which gives them the right to say anything they want about other people’s absolutes, even if it is offensive.  That absolute (free speech) is so absolute that they are willing to risk their lives for it.  I say, “What?!?!”  My question:  Is this a battle between secular and religious absolutists?  Does this reoccurring god of the intellectual world have any ethical limits?  Or is it an absolute absolutism?

I am a religious man – and I humbly think I am an intellectual man.  I like to say what I think – that is what I am doing on this blog.  From both perspectives, as a religious man and as a pseudo-intellectual man, I believe that both my faith and my free speech have limits – my absolute respect for life.  I absolutely deny, in my life, the possibility to kill or harm in the name of God.  But I also deny the possibility to risk my life or put other people’s lives at risk just for me to have the right to say whatever I want.  From an ethical perspective I think there is a moment when I morally can risk my life religiously or secularly:  it is when I would give my life to protect the life of others.  This is martyrdom in religious terms – to protect the life of others – or the most radical act of humanity in secular terms.  Is this an absolute where religious and secular worlds can meet?  I hope so.

In our humanity, what is absolute?  To what do we give that value?  What are willing to do to protect it?

Newsnote: Book Purchase of the Week: 1744 Rule for a Confraternity of Charity , Monaciglione, Italy

bcicirel Vincentian History , ,

This very rare Italian volume is the rule for a parish-based Confraternity of Charity modeled after those established by Vincent de Paul in France. The parish was at Monaciglione a small town 31 kilometres northeast of Campobasso, Italy. This volume was purchased for the Vincentian collection in the Special Collections of DePaul University’s Richardson Library.

Newsnote: The Daughters of Charity and the outbreak of World War I

bcicirel Vincentian History , ,

With the outbreak of war in August of 1914, the Germans implemented their battle plans and quickly invaded France. The Battle of Longwy took place on August 22-23, 1914 and the fort of Longwy was captured by the Germans. Longwy was the first French fort to be taken by the Germans in the Weltkrieg. Much of the town was destroyed. Including the Asile Margaine run by the Daughters of Charity pictured in the contemporary postcard above. The postcard was recently acquired by the Vincentiana collections in Archives and Special Collections at DePaul University. The postcard bears a military postmark dated May 24, 1915. It was sent home by a German soldier.