Religious Studies at Marylhurst University

Prayers for the World In Honor of 911

2011-09-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

September 12, 2011

HuffPost Religion is proud to present this collection of original prayers, reflections and blessings written in honor of the 10th Anniversary of 9/11. Our hope is that these sacred words offered by leaders from diverse traditions might provide comfort to those who grieve; compassion to those alienated; and inspiration to all who seek an end to violence and hate in our world.
Peace. Paul Brandeis RaushenbushSenior Religion Editor, The Huffington Post
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A Christian Prayer
Fr. Richard Rohr

"It is not those who say, 'Lord, Lord!' who will enter the reign of God, but those who do God's will." (Matthew 7:21) God of all races, nations, and religions, You know that we cannot change others, Nor can we change the past. But we can change ourselves. We can join You in changing our only And common future where you 'reign' The same over all. Help us not to say, "Lord, Lord" to any tribal gods, But to hear the One God of all the earth, And to do God's good thing for this One World.
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A Baha'i Prayer
Jonathan Gandomi
O my God! O my God! Unite the hearts of Thy servants, and reveal to them Thy great purpose. May they follow Thy commandments and abide in Thy law. Help them, O God, in their endeavor, and grant them strength to serve Thee. O God! Leave them not to themselves, but guide their steps by the light of Thy knowledge, and cheer their hearts by Thy love. Verily, Thou art their Helper and their Lord. -- Baha'u'llah
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A Buddhist Reflection
Sharon Salzberg

Willa, my godchild, was three, and lived 2 blocks away from the WTC on Sept 11, 2001. She was 7 years old at the time of the London metro bombing. On being told about the London terrorism, her eyes ﬁlled with tears and she said, "Mom, we should say a prayer." Willa begin with, "May the bad people remember the love in their hearts." I think of Willa and her prayer -- when I have been hurt or harmed, when I myself make a mistake, when I feel the need to try to start over, however difficult that may feel. Whatever has happened or is happening in our lives, may we all remember the love in our hearts. Lovingkindness meditationYou can sit comfortably, or lie down if that seems preferable. Close your eyes, or leave them slightly open. This practice is done through the silent repetition of certain phrases. You need not try to force an emotion or a certain sentiment. The power of the practice comes from gathering all our attention around one phrase at a time. If your attention slips, gently let go of the distraction, and simply begin again repeating the phrases. Remember to repeat them with enough space and enough silence that the rhythm is pleasing to you. This is the song of your heart. We begin with directing the phrases towards ourselves, as though offering ourselves a gift. You can experiment with the wording, but it can be as simple as, "May I remember, and abide in the love in my heart." After a few minutes think of someone who has helped you -- a benefactor or a friend. You can repeat the same phrase as an offering to them, "May you remember, and abide in the love in your heart." When you feel ready, move on to someone you hardly know, a near stranger. Perhaps the checkout person at the grocery store you shop at, or a friend of a friend of a friend. "May you remember, and abide in the love in your heart." Then someone you are annoyed at, or have some difficulty with. "May you remember, and abide in the love in your heart." And ﬁnally, an immense expanse of loving-kindness. "May all beings remember, and abide in the love in our hearts." When you are ready, you can end the meditation, and see if you can bring some of this consciousness into your day.
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A Secular Reflection
Chris Stedman

Tragedy can teach us many lessons. From pain, we can learn compassion. From division, we can learn solidarity. And when our world is shattered, as it was on September 11, 2001, we can learn to seek understanding. On that violent day which shook us silent, America fractured. The lines between "us" and "them" grew thicker, darker, and harsher, muddying our shared humanity. We have since inhabited the shadows they cast, shouting at one another from across divides. On this, the tenth anniversary of that heartbreaking day, we mourn and remember those we lost and all who were affected. But we are also given an opportunity: to overcome the lie of "them" and "I" and learn to live together. The terrorists of 9/11 were guided by a narrative of intercultural incompatibility. But as people of diverse religious and secular identities, we can prove them wrong in our unity. By building bridges of understanding, we can emerge from the shadows and learn -- from one another -- how to be our best selves.
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Fr. James Martin, S.J. A
Christian Prayer

Be Close to Me Loving God, You know that I believe in you. You know that I trust in you. You know that I love you. But sometimes life is so painful, your ways impossible to understand, and your world so confusing. Sometimes I am overwhelmed with pain. Sometimes I feel tempted to despair. Sometimes I give way to hatred. Sometimes I doubt even you. In times of pain, give me comfort. In times of despair, give me hope. In times of hatred, give me love. In times of doubt, give me trust. And even when I feel far from you, be close to me, Loving God.
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Radhanath Swami
A Hindu Prayer

As glass shattered, cement crumbled and steel melted in the inferno of senseless cruelty, the heart of humanity screamed in anguish. September 11, 2001 -- a day when the evil potential of misguided ego was again exposed. While our landmarks collapsed in a cloud of smoke and debris, beneath a surge of shock and rage, something awakened in our hearts: compassion. Suddenly, our worldly obsessions faded away as we cried for the plight of others and were deeply affected by our ﬁremen's sacriﬁce. In memory of this tragic day, let us join hands and pray for God's grace to heal, unite and empower us to serve with love.
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Rabbi David Wolpe
A Jewish Prayer

Dear God, how do we pray for what was lost? We cannot pray for deliverance or a miracle, for the tragedy has already burned itself into our souls. Children have grown fatherless. Families are long since bereaved. We know there is no prayer to change the past. So we pray to live with memory, with constant love, with the promise both to combat evil and to cherish goodness. Do not let our pain cloud our hopes or crush our hearts. Help us grow through this tragedy, keep faith with its victims, and sustain our trust in You.
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Deepak Chopra
A Spiritual Reflection

Every person can recall what it was like. In the massive unfolding tragedy you looked at television or to the sky, and you felt inside your skin the death of hope that anyone would survive. A shadow blotted out joy, and behind the shadow, evil worked to make sure that joy never returned. Of course that can't happen. No one can be in pain forever. Fear isn't here to stay. It just felt that way. Suffering can be defined as the pain that makes life seem meaningless. Animals suffer, of course, and often deeply. Some are capable of mourning for their kind if one dies. Humans, however, are subject to complex inner pain that includes fear, guilt, shame, grief, rage and hopelessness. It was an illusion to think that our society was immune to such suffering. That illusion abruptly burst on Sept. 11.Around me people reached out, beseechingly, for how to cope with their suffering. I offered this: "Don't be afraid to ask for contact. Reach out and tell your loved ones that you do love them, don't let it be taken for granted. Feel your fear. Be with it and allow it to be released naturally. Pray. Grieve with others if you can, alone if you must." I would offer the same today.
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Rev. Joel Hunter
A Christian Prayer

Lord, we remember the old hymn, "O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home." In these days, help us return not only to our hurt but to Your help, and let us go on to help others because of what we have been through together. O God of resurrection, from the destruction of precious lives and presumed security, bring forth faith, hope, and courage. From safety weapons cannot offer, let us find security in Your arms. And let us follow You all the way Home.
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Rabbi Laura Geller
A Jewish Prayer

The tenth anniversary of 9/11 falls during Elul, the month of preparation for the New Year. Our work is chesbon ha nefesh, an accounting of the soul, as individuals and as a community. Where have we been? Where are we now? What is the vision of the future we long to create? We hear the sounds of the shofar, the ram's horn. May these sounds remind us of those whose lives were lost, and bring comfort to those who loved them. May these sounds challenge us to ask what we have done over these years to bring healing to our world. May these sounds empower us to work together for peace.
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Varun Soni
A Hindu Prayer

As we remember 9/11 ten years later, let us recognize that true peace is an internal process and introspective journey. Let us vow to transform our world by transforming ourselves. And let us take to heart the ancient invocation from the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad:"May we move from ignorance to truth,May we move from darkness to light,May we move from death to immorality,And may all beings find peace."Om Shanti Shanti Om...
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Imam Abdullah Antepli
A Muslim Prayer

God of all nations, look with favor upon this great nation as we remember the tragic terrorist attacks of 9/11 in its 10th anniversary. Be our source of strength, healing and comfort as our wounds still bleed. God of wisdom and compassion, You create eventual blessings out of every kind of evil. Make us instruments and agents of such creation as we strive to turn the post-9/11 challenges into opportunities and blessings for others and ourselves. God of mercy and grace, we bring up the immediate victims and their loved ones of these heinous acts into your attention. Be their light in these moments of darkness and difficulty. God of hope and glory, do not let our hopes overcome by our fears. Do not let our souls crippled by despair. Be our source of hope and guidance in these times of sorrow and mourning. Oh God, if we forget You. Do not forget us. In your most Holy and Beautiful names we pray. Amen.
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Rev. Dr. Jacqueline Lewis
A Christian Prayer

Loving God of Peace: On this anniversary of unbelievable sorrow, comfort those who mourn, and guide our hearts toward healing and hope. Remind us of the love of Christ, love which leapt over cultural and ethnic boundaries to feed the hungry, seek the lost and care for the least. Make of Your children, no matter how we name You, one human family, bound together in the work of justice and peacemaking. Make us one with the Light that shines in the darkness and illumines a path toward understanding and reconciliation. Let love be our genuine call. Amen.
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Dr. Satpal Singh
A Sikh Prayer

The One Universal Creator of all, our Divine Mother and Father In Your blessings we find true and lasting comfort and peace Grant healing and solace to our wounded hearts Grant us strength to bear the loss of loved ones and to live in Your Will Grant us resilience in the face of hate, and the courage to face it with dignity May we all unite and share one another's pain and tears May the hatred in the world melt away in Your boundless and everlasting love And living in Your Will, may all find peace, harmony and serenity.
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Bishop T.D. Jakes
A Christian Prayer

Dear God: Thou who has been our help in ages past, thou who dispenses your comfort to all those who mourn. We seek your grace to strengthen us as we commemorate the lives of loved ones who have been lost on this day of anguish for our country and our world. Wipe away the blinding tears that plummet down our cheeks like gushing streams of an overflowing riverbank. Our heavy hearts still search for the solace of your guidance through the maze of pain and the myriad of complex issues such tragedy releases. Though hurt, we are compelled to commemorate those who are fallen on this day. Remember those who may not have lost a life but instead they lost a limb, those who gave their health for our wholeness, those who lost their emotional stability to help us regain our national security. From first responders to heroic citizens we ask for your grace for these hurting heroes who often suffer in total silence. Fill the arms of mothers left empty and heal the hearts of fathers whose ears strain to remember the sound of fading laughter and frolic of children now gone. Wrap your arms around those who lost wives and husbands, parents, friends and confidantes on this day of terroristic espionage. Let that day which exhibited the worst in man be the catalyst of also revealing the best in our human hearts to love each other. In spite of such pain we honor you as the God and guide who has enabled us to endure what we thought was impossible. Thank you for your sovereign grace that guides us beyond one moment of terror to a collective and individual destiny beyond that moment. Thank you for the occasional smile, the splendor of sunsets and the brilliance of sunrise. Since then you have granted us new friends and a renewed sense of purpose. Like stars in our night you have given us light in the midst of dark places for which we are so grateful. Watch over us with your omniscient eye grating us your continued protection. Our enemies remain unrelenting. In the true spirit of our faith, we also pray for our enemies. Let the message of your love and light extend not only to those who mourn but to those who hate, that they might realize that hate will not replace the better choice of debate nor will destruction reconstruct the common chord of our shared brotherhood as human beings. Have mercy on the pain and misguidance that would make them seek the horrific option of destruction. Guide them to the light of your love. Teach us collectively, the power of that love, the simple riches of your peace. Show us that the indomitable spirit of self-preservation need not lead us to the selfish indulgence of blind devastation and the malicious disregard for each other. You are the God of all people, the father of every soul. Lord, teach your children to love each other as much as they profess to love you. In Jesus Christ's name we pray.
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Grove Harris
A Pagan Blessing

By the Earth that is Her body By the Air that is Her breath By the Fire of Her bright spirit By the Waters of her living womb Let the Peace of the Goddess grow in our hearts. Peace as we honor our dead with undying memory. Peace as the tears of grief are shed. Peace as we remember the world sharing our pain. Peace as the flood waters are receding. Peace as we understand that we are all mostly water. Literally. Let the waters of compassion flow. Let the healing continue. We are whole. Blessed be.
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Fr. Alberto Cutie
A Christian Prayer

God of love we place in your loving arms the thousands of innocent lives that were lost on that unforgettable morning of September 11, 2001. We also remember the courage of the countless men and women who put their lives at risk in order to rescue, alleviate and bring solace to the afflicted. Help us to continue to work for a world free from every form of hatred, violence and ignorance. May terrorism -- in all its forms -- disappear from the face of the earth. Amen.

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Blessings,
Sheila

Dead Sea Scrolls Go Public and Digital

2011-03-01T09:53:00.000-08:00

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) is cooperating with Google Israel on a huge project: the creation of an online digital library that will finally display the Dead Sea scrolls to the general public, more than 50 years after their discovery. The scrolls include all of the books of the Bible and date from the late Second Temple period.
The project – The Leon Levy Digital Library of the Judean Desert Scrolls – will display 900 manuscripts online. The manuscripts are made up of about 30,000 pieces of different sizes. Besides a grant from the Leon Levy Fund, it is being underwritten by the Arcadia Fund and Yad HaNadiv Fund.
The images of the scrolls will be created using innovative imaging technology by scanning each fragment with light in different wavelengths. The scrolls have been reconstructed by researchers, who put the fragments together in a way that they believe reflects the original. However, once the project is complete, online researchers and lay viewers will be able to use the library's online tools to select a fragment and move it around on their computer screen, to try and see if it fits better in another place. All the text will also come with transcriptions and translations.

The new scans may also reveal letters that have faded over the years, leading to more discoveries.
IAA Director Shuka Dorfman said that the project is “a historical connection that we have made with progress, in order to preserve heritage for future generations.”
Prof. Yossi Mattias, Director of Google Israel Research and Development Center, said: “We are proud to take part in a project that makes the IAA's rich collection available to the entire world. This project will enrich and preserve an important part of the world's cultural heritage by making it available for web users everywhere.”
The director of the project for the IAA is Pnina Shor, who has been assisted by leading experts from Israel, the US and Italy.
For decades, the Dead Sea Scrolls were the subject of intense academic dispute, not just because of varying interpretations of their content but also because only a select group of researchers had access to them, causing great frustration and anger among those who did not.

Gil Ronen~ IsraelNationalNews.com)

Raimon Panikkar, 'apostle of inter-faith dialogue'

2010-08-31T11:49:00.000-07:00

Raimon Panikkar, 'apostle of inter-faith dialogue,' dies
'Overcoming tribal Christology,' he said, is task of third Christian millennium
Aug. 31, 2010
By Joseph Prabhu (National Catholic Reporter)

Raimon Panikkar (photo by Ilvio Gallo)
Professor Raimon Panikkar, one of the greatest scholars of the 20th century in the areas of comparative religion, theology, and inter-religious dialogue, died at his home in Tavertet, near Barcelona, Spain, Aug. 26. He was 91.
Panikkar taught and lived in the United States from 1966-1987 and was known to generations of students here and around the world through both his lectures and his many books. What they heard and read were the arresting reflections of a multi-dimensional person, who was simultaneously a philosopher, theologian, mystic, priest and poet.
Panikkar was born the son of an Indian Hindu father and a Spanish Catholic mother Nov. 3, 1918. He received a conventional Catholic education at a Jesuit high school in Barcelona before launching his university studies in the natural sciences, philosophy, and theology, first in Barcelona and then in Madrid. Shortly thereafter, the Spanish Civil War broke out, and Panikkar was able to take advantage of his status as the son of a father who was a British citizen to go to the University of Bonn in Germany to continue his studies. When World War II started in 1939, Panikkar returned to Spain and completed the first of his three doctorates, this one in philosophy, at the University of Madrid in 1946.
It was around 1940 that he met Escriva de Balaguer, the founder of Opus Dei, with whom he had a close relationship. It was at Escriva's urging that he trained for the Catholic priesthood and was ordained in 1946. Panikkar continued to be associated with Opus Dei for about twenty years, breaking effectively with the organization only in the early 1960s. He was tight-lipped about this period of his life, saying only that he did not regret it. It is clear, however, when one compares the Panikkar of the 1940s and the early 1950s with the later Panikkar better known to the world as a pioneer of inter-religious dialogue, that he had moved a long way from his early roots.
In late 1954 when he was already 36, Panikkar visited India, the land of his father, for the first time. It proved to be a watershed, a decisive reorientation of his interests and of his theology.
He had entered a dramatically new world, religious and cultural, from the Catholic Europe of his youth. The transformation was aided by his meetings and close friendship with three monks, who like him were attempting to live and to incarnate the Christian life in Indian, predominantly Hindu and Buddhist forms: Jules Monchanin (1895-1957), Henri Le Saux, also know as Swami Abhishiktananda (1910-1973), and Bede Griffiths, the English Benedictine monk (1906-1993). All four of them, in different ways, discovered and cherished the riches and the deep spiritual wisdom of the Indic traditions, and attempted to live out and express their core Christian convictions in Hindu and Buddhist forms. To some extent this multiple belonging was made possible by their embrace of Advaita, the Indic idea of non-dualism, which sees the deep, often hidden, connections between traditions without in any way minimizing the differences between them.
One of Panikkar's many striking sentences looking back on his life's journey asserts: "I left Europe [for India] as a Christian, I discovered I was a Hindu and returned as a Buddhist without ever having ceased to be a Christian." A wealth of meaning lies in that assertion. Christianity in its historical evolution began as a Jewish tradition and then spread to the Greco-Roman world, acquiring along the way Greek and Roman cultural expressions which have given it a certain form and character. Panikkar, having grown up and having been trained in a traditional Catholic and neo-Thomist environment, had a profound knowledge of, and respect for, that tradition. This knowledge prepared him for discussions with some of the great minds of 20th-century Catholicism: Jean Danielou, Yves Congar, Hans Urs von Balthazar, and others. He was also invited to take part in the Synod of Rome and the Second Vatical Council. But Panikkar did not confuse or conflate historical contingency with spiritual truth. In Hinduism and Buddhism Panikkar found other languages, in addition to Biblical Hebrew, Greek philosophy, and Latin Christianity, to express the core convictions (the kerygma) of the Christian tradition.
That was the main thesis of The Unknown Christ of Hinduism, which Panikkar originally presented as a doctoral thesis to the Lateran University in Rome in 1961, based as it was on a close textual comparison between Thomas Aquinas and Sankara's interpretation of a canonical Hindu scripture, the Brahma-Sutras. Christ and his teaching are not, so Panikkar argues, the monopoly or exclusive property of Christianity seen as a historical religion. Rather, Christ is the universal symbol of divine-human unity, the human face of God. Christianity approaches Christ in a particular and unique way, informed by its own history and spiritual evolution. But Christ vastly transcends Christianity. Panikkar calls the name "Christ" the "Supername," in line with St. Paul's "name above every name" (Phil 2:9), because it is a name that can and must assume other names, like Rama or Krishna or Ishvara.
This theological insight was crucial for Panikkar because it provided the basis of the inter-religious dialogue that he and Abhishiktananda and Bede Griffiths were both advocating and practicing themselves. Far from diluting or in any way watering down core Christian beliefs and practices, such dialogue, in addition to fostering inter-religious understanding and harmony provided an indispensable medium for deepening the Christian faith. Such dialogue provides an insight and entry point into other, non-Christian names and manifestations of Christ. This was particularly important for Panikkar because together with other Asian theologians he saw how historical Christianity had attempted, especially during its colonial periods, to convert Christ into an imperial God, with a license to conquer and triumph over other Gods. This for Panikkar is the challenge of the post-colonial period inaugurated in the mid-to-late twentieth century and continuing into our present and the future. In his words, "To the third Christian millennium is reserved the task of overcoming a tribal Christology by a Christophany which allows Christians to see the work of Christ everywhere, without assuming that they have a better grasp or a monopoly of that Mystery, which has been revealed to them in a unique way."
Needless-to-say, such striking ideas carefully and rigorously argued and dramatically expressed got the attention of religious thinkers and secular institutions around the world. Panikkar was invited to teach in Rome and then at Harvard (1966-1971) and the University of California, Santa Barbara (1971-1987). He was now, as Leonard Swidler, occupant of the Chair of Catholic Thought at Temple University, called him, "the apostle of inter-faith dialogue and inter-cultural understanding."
Conversant in a dozen or so languages and fluent in at least six, he traveled tirelessly around the world, lecturing, writing, preaching, and conducting retreats. His famous Easter service in his Santa Barbara days would attract visitors from all corners of the globe. Well before dawn they would climb up the mountain near his home in Montecito, meditate quietly in the darkness once they reached the top, and then salute the sun as it arose over the horizon. Panikkar would bless the elements — air, earth, water and fire — and all the surrounding forms of life — plant, animal, and human — and then celebrate Mass and the Eucharist. It was a profound "cosmotheandric" celebration with the human, cosmic, and divine dimensions of life being affirmed, reverenced, and brought into a deep harmony. The celebration after the formal service at Panikkar's home resembled in some respects the feast of Pentecost as described in the New Testament, where peoples of many tongues engaged in animated conversation.
At the center of these celebrations, retreats, and lectures stood Panikkar himself and his arresting personality. People who heard or encountered him could not help but be struck by this physically small man who packed a punch and who managed to combine the quiet dignity of a sage, the profundity of a scholar, the depth of a contemplative, and the warmth and charm of a friend in his sparkling personality.
Not surprisingly, universities around the world, Catholic and non-Catholic, invited him to give lectures. To mention just a few among hundreds delivered, he was invited to give the William Noble Lecture at Harvard in 1973, the Thomas Merton Lecture at Columbia in 1982, and the Cardinal Bellarmine Lecture at the University of St. Louis in 1991. The most prestigious invitation, however, came from the University of Edinburgh, where Panikkar delivered the Gifford Lectures in 1989. These have recently been published by Orbis Books as The Rhythm of Being. Panikkar thus joined the select company of William James, Karl Barth, Albert Schweitzer, and Reinhold Niebuhr to mention just a few of the most famous Gifford lecturers. He was in fact the first Indian and the first Asian invited to give these lectures.
Some of Panikkar's other well-known books are The Vedic Experience; The Intrareligious Dialogue; Myth, Faith, and Hermeneutics; The Silence of God; The Cosmotheandric Experience; and The Invisible Harmony. Jaca Books in Italy is bringing out his collected works (Omnia Opera) in some 30 volumes, and Continuum Books in England and the Untied States is planning an English edition. There is also a helpful Web site www.raimonpanikkar.org.
Ours is a new era in world history, where thanks to globalization and the increasing communication between cultures and religions it is vital that there be a well-developed Catholic theology of religions. Panikkar was one of the pioneering and paradigmatic theologians of this new era. He has left us a rich and many-sided legacy from the liturgical and pastoral to the theological and sapiential. It behooves us who follow him to notice, absorb, and extend that legacy.
[Joseph Prabhu is a professor of philosophy and comparative religion at California State University, Los Angeles. He is editor of the book from Orbis, The Rhythm of Being.]

Changing Lives -Our Own Carey

2010-05-21T17:31:00.001-07:00

Healing Invisible Wounds
Suzanne Carey dedicates her career to helping homecoming veterans
BY CLIFF NEWELL
The West Linn Tidings, May 13, 2010,

Suzanne Carey served in the U.S. Army and is now entering a new battlefield – helping veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. To accomplish this, Carey is seeking to earn her master’s of divinity degree at Marylhurst University.
VERN UYETAKE / west linn tidings
Call her Carey, not Suzanne.
As she says, “Old Army habits die hard.”
In any case, it seems like Suzanne Carey never really left the U.S. Army anyway, even though her enlistment ended in 2005.
It’s just that she is going onto another battlefield: Helping veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan heal from wounds that don’t show on the outside. Injuries to the spirit, mind and soul.
“I feel it’s important to give back to veterans, as a veteran myself,” Carey said, who lives in Woodside, Calif. “I understand the culture, the lingo and the community.
“For me it makes sense. I’ve seen a lot of struggles and mental health issues and problems with returning home,” Carey said. “With my background in the Army and with counseling, I think I am uniquely qualified to help veterans.
“Plus, I really care about veterans.”
To accomplish her goals, Carey is seeking to earn her a master’s of divinity degree at Marylhurst University, which she believes is the perfect place to help her attain her career aspirations.
“Marylhurst is small, it has a spiritual base if you want it, and I love the professors,” Carey said. “They’ve done all kinds of ministry and they’re great mentors. They really believe what they teach.”
Carey’s teachers think just as highly of her.
“What I love about Carey is her radical sense of commitment,” said Dr. Sheila O’Connell-Roussell, “to her God, her country and humanity. She is transparent in her sense of mission … She wants to give the gift of faith to all whom she serves.”

The spiritual aspect is extremely important to Carey because it is why she joined the Army in the first place in 2001. On the surface, the move was baffling, because she had already earned a master’s of science in counseling and was experienced in marriage and family counseling, mental health, and suicide/crisis counseling. With her educational background, she was even qualified to be an officer. But she chose not to take that option.
Carey was definitely not a typical Army recruit. Yet she came to strongly believe she should sign up, for reasons that she did not understand at the time. So she did. Just a few weeks before Sept. 11, 2001.

“I was at Fort Dix, New Jersey for basic training,” Carey said. “When September 11 happened, that changed everything. We were put in lockdown and put on 24-hour watch. We didn’t know what was happening. We thought they were using scare tactics. I thought, ‘This can’t be real.’”
But it was real, and gradually Carey began to understand why she had felt such a strong desire to join the Army. Her fellow soldiers helped her understand.
“I kind of hung back in the shadows during basic training,” Carey said. “I was 24 years old then and most of the other new soldiers were 18 or 19. But no matter how much I stayed in the shadows, people always sought me out.”
She even earned a nickname for the spiritual qualities she could not disguise – “Nun Lady.”
“The sergeant called me that,” Carey said. “It made me laugh inside. But it was also validation that I was supposed to do something with my skills and desires.
“If I had not joined the Army, I would not have the same foundation I have today.”
Carey just missed being sent to the battlefront, but people like her are now badly needed by soldiers returning to the U.S. in ever-increasing numbers. Their problems are almost overwhelming.
“These soldiers are broken. They’ve lost a lot,” Carey said. “Being in the military will change someone’s life. There are the invisible scars – suicide, post-traumatic stress disorder, fatigue. A lot of citizens don’t understand this, which is a double whammy. There’s a huge readjustment to make among civilians who don’t understand.
“Often a returning veteran is isolated emotionally and turns to destructive behaviors, just looking for a way to cope.”
One more important factor drastically increases the chances for post-service problems. Due to lack of personnel, soldiers have been called on to make multiple tours of duty, from 8 months to 1½ years at a time.
“They don’t have enough time to heal, and we don’t have many resources to help them,” Carey said.
Now, Carey is stepping out of the shadows. She is planning to undergo intensive training to become an Army chaplain, and it is likely she soon will be serving at a VA hospital, giving a unique “veteran to veteran” kind of healing.
But this extremely goal-oriented young woman has something else in mind. Someday she wants to teach religion at Marylhurst University. It’s another way of “giving back.”
“That requires a PhD,” Carey said. “But I’m up for the challenge.”

Garrison Keillor of A Prairie Home Companion- on Applied Theology.

2010-05-14T16:31:00.000-07:00

Our MAAT candidate, Jeanne E. P. Posted this question to Garrison Keillor on his blog-

http://www.publicradio.org/columns/prairiehome/posthost/2010/05/13/useless_degrees.php#more

You do a masterful job of presenting the life-long woes of the English major. However, I will graduate next month with a degree that I believe is far more employment-challenged. Might you have career suggestions for someone with a Master's degree in Applied Theology?
Jeanne E. P.
Talent, OR

Mr. Keillor’s Response is quite thoughtful! --
My dear theologian, The world is waiting for you. Economists are bewildered, politicians are confused, we humorists are less and less funny, the American people seem more devoted to unreality than ever before, and it's time for theology to clear things up for the rest of us. I assume that the "Applied" means that you won't be looking for a church job. You'll be heading out into the everyday world where the theological rubber meets the pavement. I think you should send your resume to Goldman Sachs and tell them in a hundred words why they need a theologian on staff. An applied theologian. You. It is still a Judeo-Christian world they operate in and nine out of ten Americans say they believe in God, so a big company ought to have a place for you — when in Rome, go with someone who speaks Italian. If Goldman Sachs turns you down, try UBS, try WalMart. We do not have a staff theologian at PHC but it wouldn't be a bad idea. What is the good of all those sad songs, the lost cowboys, the lascivious private eye, the languorous tales of prairie life? How does this contribute to the soul? You could guide us down these murky pathways, Jeanne. And I hope you wouldn't mind answering the phone and listening to audition CDs and popping popcorn. All part of the job.

2009-11-13T15:08:00.000-08:00

....

The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.

It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others—even our enemies—is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.

We therefore call upon all men and women ~ to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion ~ to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate ~ to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures ~ to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity ~ to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings—even those regarded as enemies.

We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensible to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.

Religious Studies Department Mission

2009-10-16T15:21:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Religious Studies department blog. We invite you to use this web site for scholarly religious, spiritual, and philosophical studies. We dedicate this site to all the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, faculty, and students who have gone before us. We pledge ourselves to their legacy and their mission trusting in God’s eternal guidance.

Dr. Jerry Roussell, Jr., Chairperson

RELIGIOUS STUDIES DEPARTMENT MISSION STATEMENT:
Through studying sacred scriptures, origins, histories, pastoral and spiritual care skills, and theological frames of Western and Eastern religious traditions, students are encouraged to discover ways of living their religious beliefs and values and serving others with compassion and care. The program seeks to help students to understand and express human experiences of connectedness with the Sacred in their everyday lives through addressing questions of healing, meaning, purpose, ethics, and spirituality. The program offers ways of integrating theology through application and ministerial settings.

The Religious Studies graduate programs’ offer broad curriculum breadth and provide the highest quality of theological training and preparation within an educational, professional, and spiritual context catalyzing growth in knowledge of self, others, and the Divine. The programs offer a life-changing experience educational and transformative academic, professional, personal, and integrative experience. These programs serve a preparation for doctoral degrees.

Bachelor of Arts Mission Statement (2008-2010 catalog, page 129)
The Department of Religious Studies addresses questions of healing, meaning, purpose, and the good. The Sacred Scriptures of religious traditions are examined, and students begin to learn their sacred paths and to find their spiritual home. Students also discover ways of living their religious beliefs and values and serving others with compassion and
care. Because of the challenges of the world today, people are recognizing the value of the foundational texts of religious traditions, human wholeness, meaning, and purpose. For instance, studies in medicine have demonstrated the effects of prayer in healing and corporations have prospered while doing good things in the community.

THE PURPOSE OF THE BACHELOR OF ARTS DEGREE IN RELIGIOUS STUDIES
The purpose of Religious Studies is to understand and express the original human experiences of connectedness with the Sacred and all of reality. People express understanding in words and concepts, and then they engage their understandings
as principles of life and action for a community. Spirituality is the acting out of religion in every aspect of daily life; it includes the experience of communication (prayer) with
the Divine. Morality refers to the right behavior that springs from a sense of belonging to a group and of being connected to the entire cosmos. Theology is the study of God, in which the intellect is called on to reflect on personal and communal religious experience and Sacred texts.

People study philosophy to better understand religious studies. Philosophical issues explore their deepest desires and cares in a disciplined, reflective way. What does it mean
to be, for example, and not to be? What makes life worth living? Or, what values have stood the test of time, and how might I incorporate them into my own struggles to be good? What is the moral worth of the earth, and of the non-human creatures that live here too? These are philosophical and ethical questions, as important today as they have been
in all ages and cultures. By studying the classics of various philosophical traditions, we learn to think and quest

Master of Arts: Applied Theology Mission Statement (2008-2010 catalog, page 188)
The Master of Arts in Applied Theology (MAAT) is a life-changing experience. People
participate in this intensive ministry preparation program to become more effective care
providers. Participants grow in their knowledge of self, others, and the Holy. Through personal and group reflection students strengthen their sense of personal and spiritual integration and gain an awareness of ministerial strengths and weaknesses.

PURPOSE OF the MASTER OF ARTS Degree IN APPLIED THEOLOGY: An Interfaith Pastoral and Spiritual Care Degree
The Master of Arts in Applied Theology is a cohort approach that provides grounding in how to put theology into practice in a diversity of situations and scenarios. It emphasizes
the pastoral and spiritual care implications with a Judeo-Christian, interfaith focus within a Catholic institution. The program develops a broad and fundamental comprehension of the social, cultural, and behavioral factors that impact theological application.
The program helps individuals define their images of the Divine, their practice of spirituality, and their commitment to service. Through pastoral practice and theological reflection on that experience, students learn pastoral presence, communication skills, and assessment methods. The program addresses issues of pastoral counseling, liturgy and symbol, scriptural resources, and prayer. Through readings, discussion, lecture, writing, reflection, supervision, and pastoral application, participants develop their own theologies and methods of exercising pastoral and spiritual care. Marylhurst University
welcomes students of all faiths and cultures.

Master of Divinity Mission Statement (2008-2010 catalog, page 192)
The Master of Divinity is a transformative and life engaging experience. People participate in this comprehensive ministry preparation program to grow in their effectiveness as care providers and in their theological competence.
This program assists people in reaching their dreams. People grow in wholeness through a greater understanding of self, their connection with others, the universe, and the Divine.
The program enhances full human potential through developing unity with others along their spiritual paths. As Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher, the Founder of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, says: “Since we tread along the same way, let us extend a hand to one another to help surmount the difficulties that present themselves.”

The M.Div. develops a strong and balanced theological foundation within an educational,
professional, and spiritual context. Individuals deepen their sense of personal and spiritual integration through an appropriation and awareness of ministerial strengths and
weaknesses.

The Master of Divinity provides a wide ranging curriculum through theological, biblical,
historical, pastoral care, ethical, and spirituality courses.

THE PURPOSE OF the MASTER OF DIVINITY (M.Div.) Degree (2008-2010 catalog, page 192)
The program assists individuals to articulate with greater clarity their theological and scriptural perspectives, their practice of spirituality, and their commitment to service.
Individuals develop greater insights in theology, religious history, scriptural understanding, pastoral care, and spirituality. The program addresses issues of pastoral counseling, liturgy and ritual, theological resources and assessment, and prayer. Through readings, interactive exercises, discussion, lecture, writing, reflection, supervision, and pastoral application, students engage their own theologies and applications in ministerial settings.

Homecoming- In Gratitude for 150 Years of Service of the Sisters of the Holy Names

2009-10-16T10:52:00.000-07:00

We Are One Body by Carla Sue carlasue88's Youtube Channel

2009-09-18T10:27:00.000-07:00

Caritas in Veritate Charity in Truth published in the Catholic Sentinel

2009-08-20T18:03:00.001-07:00

Charity in truth is a commentary written by Archbishop John Vlazny on Pope Benedict XVI's new social Encyclical....

Earlier this summer Pope Benedict XVI promulgated his new social encyclical, Caritas in Veritate Charity in Truth. This occurred at the same time that we were experiencing a change in leadership here in the archdiocese in our Office of Peace and Justice. The Pope’s encyclical should give us much to ponder as we attempt to maintain an appropriate involvement of our faith community in these important matters that so significantly affect the lives of our people. Pope Benedict, as a teacher of faith, understandably stresses the need for spiritual development as an essential component for all development. In all circumstances we must turn to God’s love as the ultimate solution of all our problems.

This papal letter is lengthy, more than 30,000 words. Pope Benedict analyzes our current global economic crisis in light of some traditional moral principles. He acknowledges that progress has been made in world development but notes that other challenges exist as the result of newly emerging problems in today’s world. In his letter, the Pope urges us to heed the relationship between human and environmental ecologies. He asks us to link charity and truth in the pursuit of justice, the common good and authentic human development. He goes on to state that “the current crisis obliges us to re-plan our journey, to set ourselves new rules and to discover new forms of commitment to build on positive experiences and to reject negative ones. The crisis thus becomes an opportunity for discernment, in which to shape a new vision for the future.”

Some people might be surprised when the Pope states that charity is to be at the heart of the church’s social doctrine. He states that “it is the principle not only of micro-relationships (with friends, with family members or within small groups) but also of macro-relationships (social, economic and political ones).” We tend to separate charity from justice, but the Pope brings them together and reminds us that charity must be understood and practiced in the light of truth, hence the title of the encyclical.

Pope Benedict notes that the world’s wealth is growing in absolute terms, but inequalities are on the increase. Even in rich countries, many are becoming impoverished, often in new forms. Even in poor nations there are those whose wasteful and consumerist behaviors result in an unacceptable contrast with the ongoing situations of dehumanizing deprivation.

Pope Benedict also encourages wealthy people to look upon themselves as stewards of the wealth they possess and to be eager to put it in service for the good of others. This, of course, is a strong biblical theme, one that can be so easily forgotten when surrounded by the blessings of life. Affluence is a blessing, but one that can be deceptive when people ponder its impact.

Justice demands right relationships between people. In this respect, the Pope clearly supports labor organizations but, at the same time, he stresses the need for responsibility on the part of both management and labor to care for and be responsible for all persons involved. He also calls for sharing the earth’s resources equitably. This is necessary if we are to safeguard the environment for future generations. He criticizes all those who would horde non-renewable fossil fuels. He advocates greater energy efficiency, using alternate forms of energy and cutting fossil fuel use. This should help free up enough energy resources for poor nations to use toward development.

The Pope does not subscribe to concerns about excessive population. He says there’s enough room for all of us, including future generations, to live with dignity. Furthermore, the Pope states that if society doesn’t respect human life from conception to its natural end, “if human conception, gestation and birth are made artificial, if human embryos are sacrificed for research, the conscience of society ends up losing the concept of human ecology and, along with it, that of environmental ecology.”

Recently some here in the archdiocese have been critical of my efforts to promote respect for life as a justice issue. They do not want our Office of Peace and Justice to be involved in calling for respect for all human life from conception to natural death. They prefer a separate Pro-Life office. They are probably surprised that the Pope in his encyclical points out the inner-connectedness of life issues and justice issues.
Frankly, as a church, we have not done a good job of promoting the gospel of life. In my judgment we fail because we allow the opposition to describe our human life values as simply religious ones, not to be “imposed” upon today’s secular world. This, of course, is a terribly misguided approach. All destruction of human life is wrong, not because of religious values but because of the demands of justice which are clearly relevant, even in a highly secular society, when dealing with matters of life and death.

Before the summer ends, I encourage you to take the time to review the Pope’s latest message “to the bishops, priests and deacons, men and women Religious, the lay faithful, and all people of good will on integral human development in Charity and Truth.” For him, true human development definitely requires the involvement of Christians with their arms raised toward God in prayer. In all such critical matters we wisely turn to God’s love.