Justice & Peace (NJPN)

'Act justly, Love tenderly, walk humbly with your God'. Micah 6.8

Visit https://www.justice-and-peace.org.uk to find out more about this small but important charity.  If you are concerned about injustice in our world, you can join or make a welcome donation to help in their work on that homepage. 

The latest NJPN e-Bulletin is available at 

https://www.justice-and-peace.org.uk/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/NJPN-E-Bulletin-11th-December-2022.pdf

The next NJPN networking day is 25th Feb. 2023, 10:45am (for 11:00 am)-3:30pm via Zoom.  Book via Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/njpn-networking-day-tickets-466226314457

“'Let us build the city of God' by Dan Shutte was the final hymn of the 2022 annual weekend conference of the National Justice and Peace Network (NJPN) on Sunday. It summed up a morning highlighting the work of NJPN members to build a more just, peaceful and sustainable world. And some of the 160 participants at NJPN's 44th conference 22-24 July in Derbyshire were dancing to the hymn at a gathering which took the theme: 'Hope is a verb with its sleeves rolled up.’ “Sunday morning was the final session chaired by Tim Livesey, CEO of Embrace the Middle East, which works with marginalised and excluded communities. It was uplifting, focusing on 'Signs of Hope' and introduced with, ‘four members will inform us what it means for hope to be a verb.’

“Aisling Griffin, Schools and Youth Worker Pax Christi, reported that, ‘injustice, peace, fairness and climate change are among the issues important for young people’ and ‘teachers find young people more interested in social justice than ever before.’ She said young people want practical ideas and she was ‘fortunate’ to work on peace education with networks such as the Columban Education programme, CAFOD, Christian Student Movement,…

“Ann Farr, Pax Christi's Chair, reported on solidarity work in the Middle East. She has worked with Palestinians and Israelis as an ecumenical accompanier. Ann reported that Palestinians see hope in the replanting of olive trees destroyed by settlers seeking to claim Palestinian land….

“Martin Birdseye of Christian CND talked of ‘many years working to end nuclear weapons,’ and lamented that there remain about 13,000 weapons around the world….

“John Paul de Quay of Journey to 2030 and the NJPN Environment Working Group talked of the focus on ‘ecological conversion’ inspired by 'Laudato Si' and the call of Pope Francis in 'Let Us Dream'. He said Journey to 2030, ‘is about reimagination and we need creative interventions.’…

“Ashley Ralston of the NJPN Environment Group introduced campaigning recommendations in the lead up to November's COP27 UN Climate talks in Egypt. The UK will be urged to fulfil pledges made in Glasgow last November on reducing carbon emissions and phase out fossil fuels….

“Keynote speakers throughout the weekend explored the conference theme of 'Hope'. Irish diplomat Philip McDonagh explored the meaning of hope, drawing on Pope Benedict's encyclical Spe Salvi, especially the statement that ‘all serious and upright conduct is hope in action.’ He felt ‘we should 'image' or visualise peace as the rightful possession of the human community as a whole,’ despite current global conflicts. He felt that, ‘through developing a culture of dialogue or encounter in national, regional, and global politics we can transform our understanding of effective action and create the conditions for a different kind of civilisation.’ He felt, ‘the National Peace and Justice Network is living proof that individual interventions in the name of justice and mercy reinforce one another and can support wider social objectives as well.’…"

Independent Catholic News, Ellen Teague, 24 July 2022, https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/45153

Gil and Tom Caple took part in this annual National Justice & Peace Network Conference. They have shared a summary report of the conference (see the Special Notices section of the Newsletter page on this website). Please share this information with others.

“Prior to the feast of Pentecost our international SHCJ prayer group - Society of the Holy Child Jesus - zoomed together greeting those from Africa and America and Ireland with extra pleasure as we marvelled at the way distance has vanished through this new technology. We reflected together on Pope Francis' musings on the Holy Spirit from 'Let us Dream':   

’The Spirit shows us new things through what the Church calls the signs of the times. Discerning the signs of the times allows us to make sense of change……In every age people experience ‘hunger and thirst for righteousness’, a cry that goes up from the margins of society. If we discern in such a yearning a movement of God's Spirit, it allows us to open up to that movement in thought and action, and so to create a new future ……allowing us to respond with the depth that only the Holy Spirit can give us.' (#57)   

“Reflecting, we considered the current 'signs of the times': war in Ukraine, increasing poverty amid the cost of living crisis, climate change and, more hopefully, the way communities had come together during the pandemic. But the cry of the Poor and the cry of the Earth were the dominant themes. How are we to respond to problems of this magnitude?   

“The next day a book, ordered by our younger son, was delivered to our house. It was George Monbiot's latest book entitled, 'Regenesis: feeding the world without devouring the planet'. Still looking for the Holy Spirit to show me the signs of the times I seized on it and it did not fail.   

“It comes with great acclaim. Greta Thunberg says Monbiot is one of the most important and fearless voices in the global climate movement today. Kate Raworth says: ‘Regenesis calls for nothing less than a revolution in the future of food - one that will quite literally transform the face of the Earth. This is Monbiot's masterpiece.’ Former Government Chief Scientific Adviser, David King, says, ‘it is, in my view, one of the two or three most important books this century.’ 

“'Regenesis' describes Monbiot's research journey… from examining a 'spit' of soil to a complete reversal of farming as a way of food production. The spit contains a microcosm of the richest ecosystem on earth which is 'hitched to everything else in the universe'. He says the soil might be the most complex of all living systems but we treat it like dirt through farming processes like ploughing. From the impoverished soil he moves on to the ways food production destroys rivers, wildlife, ecosystems and forests. It is also adversely affecting the climate. As we consume more meat and grow cereals using ploughing and annual planting we are laying waste vast stretches of land. The soil is deficient, fertilisers pollute and chicken factories desecrate rivers with their waste. We slaughter and kill, often brutally, to eat protein from meat.   

“Monbiot looks at the alternatives which are being tried out experimentally on a small scale by visionaries like Tolly, like Ian, like Tim. They become real people to us as they discuss the pros and cons of their experimental 'farming' with George. Nothing provides the perfect answer - nothing ever will be - but there is a growing urgency for the world to move away from farming as we know it. This means the Big Farmer, and for governments to understand that the huge financial subsidies they sink into farming are creating some of the very problems they need to resolve….”

                With permission, Independent Catholic News, Celia Capstick, 8 June 2022

                            https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/44858  

Working with Adult Faith Formation (AFF) 

AFF is a group that has come together to work together in their spiritual development. They meet monthly on Thursday evenings and Tuesday lunchtimes for prayer, talks by invited speakers and study sessions. 

In February the J&P led an event on Intercessions.  AFF members took part in an interactive session involving discussion, practice in composing intentions and reflection.  The papers supporting the session can be obtained from Tom Caple.  Participants said that the session was helpful.

The session was repeated (with suitable adjustments) for the Tuesday Lunch Club.  It also got a positive response.

Stations of the Cross 

We led a poetry-based Station service at OLISE on Palm Sunday.   Each participant read a relevant poem at each station. Across the echoing church, each reading draped us with insights and reverence for Christ’s gift of sacrifice. It proved a very moving way of remembering Jesus’s journey. 

“The Pope has thrown his weight behind an international campaign praying for peace in Ukraine and other war-torn regions of the world. … Pope Francis congratulated all the young people joining in today's rosary prayer campaign.

“He said: ‘This Tuesday, 18th October, the foundation Aid to the Church in Need is promoting the campaign “A Million Children Praying the Rosary”.  I thank all the children who are participating.’

“The pontiff asked those taking part to remember Ukraine and all countries experiencing conflict.

“He said: ‘Let us unite ourselves to them and entrust the suffering people of Ukraine, and other people who are suffering due to war and any form of violence and misery, to Our Lady's intercession.’…

“Now in its seventeenth year, 'A Million Children Praying the Rosary' began in Venezuela's capital Caracas in 2005, when a group of children came together to pray.

“It was inspired by the words of Padre Pio: ‘When a million children pray the Rosary, the world will change.’

“ACN started supporting the campaign in 2008 and began running it in 2018.”

 Independent Catholic News, John Newton, 18 Oct 2022, Source: CAN.   https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/45718

“Justice & Peace Scotland has produced a daily reflection for Refugee Week 20 June - 26 June entitled, ‘They Have Not Looked You In The Eye’. The words were used by Pope Francis when he met with refugees at the Mytilene reception centre on Lesbos, Greece in December 2021. The world is seeing the highest numbers of displaced people in human history, and the causes - war, persecution, extreme poverty and the climate crisis - remain unaddressed. 

“Refugee Week takes place around World Refugee Day on 20 June. It is an annual festival which celebrates the contribution of refugees to society and enables people from different backgrounds to connect beyond labels, as well as encouraging understanding of why people are displaced, and the challenges they face when seeking safety. 

“The five reflections in this resource are intended to highlight the experiences and challenges of people seeking asylum. They are designed for use in Catholic schools for Refugee Week, however they are also ideal for personal/group reflection. Each one is accompanied by quotations from Pope Francis, and a short prayer, which could be used for form time or assemblies each morning. 

“Danny Sweeney of J&P Scotland, who wrote the resource, has said: 

"’A few weeks ago this government broke international law, and over 70 years' commitment to the Refugee Convention. It now refuses to hear claims for international protection, forcing vulnerable people to choose between returning to the warzones they have fled, or going to Rwanda, a country with a questionable human rights record. Last year, in Mytilene, Pope Francis reminded us that it is only those who have never looked into the eyes of refugees who want to abandon them. We hope this resource means that students across schools can take five minutes each morning to look at the faces, hear their experiences of our brothers and sisters, and pray with Pope Francis for them: the families who live never knowing the fate of their loved ones, and for the change of heart which we need in this country to address the crisis of hospitality which we have allowed to take hold.’ 

“You can download "They Have Not Looked You In The Eye" from the Justice & Peace Scotland website: www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/refugee%20week%202022%20reflections.pdf

                     With permission, Independent Catholic News, Source: J&P Scotland, 13 June 2022,

                                              https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/44893 

“…Regarding AI [Artificial Intelligence] the Pope writes: we ‘cannot presume a priori [from logical reasoning based on self-evident truths] that its development will make a beneficial contribution to the future of humanity and to peace among peoples.… We thus have a duty to broaden our gaze and to direct techno-scientific research towards the pursuit of peace and the common good, in the service of the integral development of individuals and communities,’ writes the pope.…”

Independent Catholic News, Tony Magliano, 31 Dec 2023 (updated 3 Jan 2024). Full article at https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/48824

“At the forefront of our minds today is the ongoing war in Israel/Palestine, but worldwide, many others continue. In fact, according to UNICEF, ‘The number of countries experiencing violent conflict is the highest it has been in the last 30 years.’ And with these are the continuous attacks on children. The protection of children is low on the list of priorities….Needs like safety, nutrition, health care and education are unmet. Birthdays, parties, and religious celebrations are forgotten….”

Independent Catholic News, Gillian Hugo, Source: Jesuit Institute, South Africa; 21 Dec 2023.  Full article: https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/48755