Tag Archives: African Americans

A Healing Community

Written by Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM on September 15, 2020

Wounded Healers A Healing Community Tuesday, September 15, 2020 While all Christians are called to follow Jesus, some communities have been brought deeper into the Paschal Mystery of death and resurrection through unjust and unrelenting collective suffering. Dr. Diana L. Hayes, an African American Catholic theologian and scholar, describes the “wounding” of the African American… Continue Reading A Healing Community

Posted in Daily Meditations | Also tagged Community, Diana Hayes, Dignity, healing, hope, oppression, solidarity, wounds

The Disorder of Dismantling Racism

Written by Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM on August 18, 2020

Order, Disorder, Reorder: Part Two The Disorder of Dismantling Racism Tuesday, August 18, 2020 The universal pattern of transformation I’m writing about these three weeks is not limited to religious or spiritual growth. Nor is it only individuals that are invited to make the journey. Whole churches and even cultures experience times of disorder and… Continue Reading The Disorder of Dismantling Racism

Posted in Daily Meditations | Also tagged Austin Channing Brown, Disorder, Holy Spirit, justice, race, racism, Truth

Contemplative Activists: Weekly Summary

Written by Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM on July 18, 2020

Contemplative Activists Saturday, July 18, 2020 Summary: Sunday, July 12—Friday, July 17, 2020 In order to have the capacity to move the world, we need some “social distancing” and detachment from the diversions and delusions of mass culture and our false self. (Sunday) Dorothy Day’s spirituality and her social witness were equally rooted in the… Continue Reading Contemplative Activists: Weekly Summary

Posted in Daily Meditations | Also tagged activism, Black Lives Matter Movement, Body, contemplative action, practice, solidarity, Walter Earl Fluker, witness

Civil Rights Contemplative

Written by Barbara Holmes on July 14, 2020

Contemplative Activists Civil Rights Contemplative Tuesday, July 14, 2020 Fannie Lou Hamer (1917–1977) is remembered for her strength and courage in the face of an oppressive system. During the Civil Rights Movement, she inspired others to reclaim their God-given dignity and demand full citizenship in the United States. CAC faculty member Barbara Holmes writes: [Fannie Lou Hamer is] a contemplative exemplar because… Continue Reading Civil Rights Contemplative

Posted in Daily Meditations | Also tagged activism, Barbara Holmes, Civil Rights Movement, contemplative action, Fannie Lou Hamer, rest, witness

Crisis Contemplation

Written by Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM on June 11, 2020

Contemplation and Racism Crisis Contemplation Thursday, June 11, 2020 Apart from a few monastic orders, Western Christianity neglected the systematic instruction of contemplative practice for hundreds of years. Yet many people naturally grow into nondual consciousness through great suffering or great love. Barbara Holmes suggests that “crisis contemplation” arose out of necessity during slavery, beginning… Continue Reading Crisis Contemplation

Posted in Daily Meditations | Also tagged Barbara Holmes, Contemplation, crisis, racism, Suffering

Contemplating Anger

Written by Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM on June 9, 2020

Contemplation and Racism Contemplating Anger Tuesday, June 9, 2020 I have learned to use my anger for good. . . . Without it, we would not be motivated to rise to a challenge. It is an energy that compels us to define what is just and unjust. —Gandhi Today my colleague and CAC faculty member… Continue Reading Contemplating Anger

Posted in Daily Meditations | Also tagged Anger, Barbara Holmes, grief, justice, racism, restoration

Am I Next?

Written by Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM on June 7, 2020

Contemplation and Racism Am I Next? Sunday, June 7, 2020 During this time of social unrest, I invite you to sit with the powerful and uncomfortable emotions, such as anger or grief, that you may be carrying. Welcome them in the presence of God. As I often say, if we do not transform our pain,… Continue Reading Am I Next?

Posted in Daily Meditations | Also tagged Leslye Colvin, oppression, perception, prayer, racism, violence, white privilege

The Third and Fourth Conversions

Written by Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM on May 27, 2020

Solidarity The Third and Fourth Conversions Wednesday, May 27, 2020 We continue our conversions to greater solidarity with the marginalized. The Third Conversion is when we idealize some of the virtues of the poor that we ourselves do not have. When the lens is cleared by our initial awakening to injustice, it is much easier… Continue Reading The Third and Fourth Conversions

Posted in Daily Meditations | Also tagged conversion, Layla Saad, oppression, Paulo Freire, relationship, solidarity, women

Community: Weekly Summary

Written by Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM on May 9, 2020

Community Saturday, May 9, 2020 Summary: Sunday, May 3 — Friday, May 9, 2020 How can the Center for Action and Contemplation continue to be of service, building on what God has already done with us? How can we offer something of further value that has authority and believability on its own? (Sunday) We learn… Continue Reading Community: Weekly Summary

Posted in Daily Meditations | Also tagged Africa, care, Community, Diana Hayes, Martin Luther King Jr., practice, relationship

The Beloved Community

Written by Barbara Holmes on May 8, 2020

Community The Beloved Community Friday, May 8, 2020 A contemplative person is someone who knows that they don’t know everything and trusts that they are being held by something much larger, wiser, and more loving than themselves. It is these very qualities that enable them to act on behalf of others and communities in need.… Continue Reading The Beloved Community

Posted in Daily Meditations | Also tagged Action, Barbara Holmes, Civil Rights Movement, Community, Contemplation, justice