Pax Christi Minnesota

Saturday, October 3rd
Minneapolis Eagles Club, 25th Ave and 25th St, Minneapolis
The event is free: family friendly, free parking, great music, hobnob with the other good-timers for peace and change.

Musicians Bret Hesla and Linda Breitag are hosting a free CD release concert. The CD, What We Do: Good-Time Songs For Peace And Change is a collection of twelve original songs. It’s a blend of progressive politics and acoustic folk. With great vocals, hot fiddle, driving guitar, these joyful and sometimes poignant songs are a snapshot of life & themes in the vibrant Minnesota peace culture (Lake Street Bridge vigil, Hennepin Ave Peace march, CSAs, Mother’s Day at Lake Harriet, consumerism overload, etc.)
 
These seasoned song leaders have led music at many gatherings of peace, social change and faith over the past 15 years. You can hear the tunes, and find more concert details, at www.breitaghesla.com. Or call 612-729-7304.
 
It’s a long journey: let’s build up our community.

Wednesday, September 30
Room 64, Biological Sciences on the St. Paul campus of the University of Minnesota.
1445 Gortner Avenue in St. Paul, see this link for map: http://www1.umn.edu/twincities/maps/BioSci/index.html
 
According to a recent report by the United Nations, lack of access to clean water poses a significant threat to the health of Iraqi children. In the province of Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, a unique partnership has developed to help meet the challenge of providing clean water at schools, hospitals, and clinics. An Iraqi NGO, the Muslim Peacemaker Teams, has partnered with a Minnesota non-profit, the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project, to install water filtration systems in important public sites in Najaf. This program will bring together a multi-disciplinary panel of speakers to discuss the impact of clean water on education, health, and other aspects of public life, and how a bilateral community organizing effort can mobilize citizens to impact community health issues.

The program is sponsored by the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project, the Muslim Peacemaker Teams, and College of Education and Human Development and Office of International Programs at the University of Minnesota.

PC Twin Cities invites you to celebrate Arab Culture Night

Thursday, September 24
St. Joan of Arc Gym, 4537 3rd Ave. So. Minneapolis

More details on their visit can be found at the IARP website: http://www.reconciliationproject.org or Arab Night flier.

In celebration of the newly official Sister City relationship between Najaf, Iraq and Minneapolis, USA, a festive Arab Night will be jointly hosted by the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project and the Najaf delegation on Sept 24th, 2009 from 7pm-9pm. Arab Night will provide an opportunity for the delegates to share a taste of their city with the community through live music, food provided by Big Marina Grill and Deli, and a display of current joint projects between Minneapolis and Najaf, including water sanitation projects, art pieces and an opportunity for children to write to Iraqi kids. The public is invited to join us for an entertaining and friendship-building evening.

PC Twin Cities sponsored a water filter for a school in Najaf under the Water For Peace project. It is a great example of a local group working at a grassroots level towards reconciliation with Iraqis.

An Afternoon Reflection About Peace and Justice For Young Adults 

Sponsored by Pax Christi Minnesota and St. Kate’s Campus Ministry

WHEN: Sunday, September 27th, 2009

WHERE: St. Kate’s in the north sacristy behind the chapel.  This is at the College of St. Catherine and when you register you will be given directions if you need them.

HOW to register: call Chris at (507) 206-1347 or e-mail her at collage94601@yahoo.com with the information requested below.  The event is FREE.  Limited to 20 participants.

WHAT: Kairos is a day of reflection aimed at deepening Christian discipleship, discerning the signs of the times, and building a united Catholic student-young adult movement for peace and justice. Kairos is an ancient Greek word meaning the right or opportune moment.

Each day of reflection will include a keynote speaker or facilitator who will provide some context – theologically and politically – for the group to reflect on and discern courses of action for themselves individually and as communities.  During the afternoon, participants will have time to network and share their experiences in campus and faith-based organizing and their work on specific issues.

There will be opportunities for participants to hold caucuses or “roundtables” around specific themes, issues, concerns, etc. Individuals and groups are encouraged to bring any resources or information they would like to share with others. The day of reflection weaves together time for prayer and reflection, study and discussion, organizing and action.

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PC Twin Cities invites you to join them for their upcoming Meditation and Prayer Gathering.

Saturday, August 22
St. Joan of Arc Parish Center, 4537 3rd Ave. So. Minneapolis

These gatherings are open and welcoming to all who wish to join for reflection and prayer.  If you would like to volunteer to facilitate one of their upcoming monthly prayer/meditation gatherings, please let PC Twin Cities know and they would be happy to add you to their schedule.

Corinne Moncada will be the faciliator and attached is her reflection piece.

Also, please remember that there will be no gathering in September - instead please consider attending the Pax Christi MN State Assembly, Choosing the Non-Violent Way of Compassion, on Saturday, Sept. 26th at St. Frances Cabrini Church with keynote speaker Father Michael Crosby.

Creative Silence by Thomas Merton, OCSO

The following piece was originally published in The Baptist Student, the student newspaper of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky (vol. 48, no. 5, February 1969).

Imagine a man or a group of people who, alone or together in a quiet place where no radio, no background music can be heard, simply sit for an hour and a half in silence. They do not speak. They do not pray aloud. They do not have books or papers in their hands. They are not reading or writing. They are not busy with anything. They simply enter into themselves, not in order to think in an analytical way, not in order to examine, organize, plan, but simply in order to be. They want to synthesize, to integrate themselves, to rediscover themselves in a unity of thought, will, understanding, and love that go beyond words, beyond analysis, even beyond conscious thought. They want to pray not with their lips but with their silent hearts and, beyond that, with the very ground of their being.

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