Perspectives
Articles, essays, and reflections from progressive Catholic voices.
To contribute to Perspectives, email Jason at: Jason@cta-usa.org
Bridge-Building and Radical Forgiveness: Standing Rock and Beyond
We're about to dive head-first into some deep and old historical traumas and wounds, and we're going to bleed in the process. But we're going to start the long work of healing.
Spirit Alive at Standing Rock: Nathan Holst's Experience
What is the legacy that we want to leave? What story do we want to give those who come seven generations after us? Though life can often be complex and simple answers sometimes elude us, the choice is still right in front of us, and those who come after us are waiting to see what we will do.
Call to Standing Rock
If we are to say we are working for justice in our church and world, if we are to take seriously the call of our faith to care for other creatures and the land, if we are to be disciples of Laudato Si, if we are to unearth and claim the deep thread of the Old Testament that ties our well-being with the flourishing of the places that sustain us, then we must be in solidarity with Standing Rock.
Lessons in Humility at AYA/ATF 2016
The face and emphasis of the Church is changing. It is becoming less European/American and more Asian, African, and Latino/a. While dialoging and learning from my incredible colleagues at this conference, I have grown more hopeful and excited about the future of my Church. I am now confident that this cultural transition will not only change the Church for the better, it will save it.
AYA/ATF: Call To Action and Catholic Worker in Asia
I am absolutely blown away by the participants and theologians attending the conference, and am so humbled to be among such incredibly prophetic speakers from all over Asia. Ms Kochurani Abraham spoke of feminist theology and transgender equality, and the importance of equality and freedom when doing all work within the Church.
AYA/ATF: Conference Begins with Focus on Neoliberalism
The Asian Youth Academy and Asian Theological Forum (AYA/ATF) opened Monday in Surat Thani, Thailand with Dr. Paul Hwang and Mr. Nicholas Chinnappan of India. It is unbelievably painful to sit with the knowledge that so many people in America do not question propaganda that says climate change is not a dire problem, caused by the plundering of the environment by the worldwide neoliberal economic system that makes a few rich and most of us poor.
AYA/ATF Conference: 2 days in Phuket
Thailand is a familiar country. The smells to me are of Nairobi and Cochabama, the people are friendlier than anywhere I’ve been.
AYA/ATF Day 2: Surat Thani welcome
The conference has about 60 young adults from all over Asia… with the common thread between all of us-Catholicism and a focus on social justice.
Asian Youth Academy/Asian Theological Conference Day 1: On the way to Thailand
“Nondual knowing is living in the naked now, the “sacrament of the present moment.” This consciousness will teach us how to actually experience our experiences, whether good, bad, or ugly, and how to let them transform us. Words by themselves will invariably divide and judge the moment; pure presence lets it be what it is, as it is.”