Are we having an argument?

Earlier this year, someone sent me an e-mail that asked the question, "Are we having a discussion or an argument?" The gist of the e-mail was that, if we are having an argument, I don’t need to listen to you because you are just concerned with telling me that I am wrong. However, if we are having a discussion, I need to listen because that indicates that you are willing to listen to my side.


That e-mail came to mind after I received a flier about an upcoming presentation by the Consultation Center, which is sponsoring a 2-hour workshop in ‘Non-Violent Communications’ (NVC).

The workshop is based on the work of Dr. Marshall Rosenberg, who founded the Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC.org) from the work he did with civil rights activists in the early 1960's. During that period, he mediated between rioting students and college administrators and worked to peacefully desegregate public schools in long-segregated regions of the Country. Since then, Dr. Rosenberg has traveled the world sharing this technique.


The presenter is Steve Andersen, who teaches NVC in the Albany area. He recently returned from Israel, where he participated in a joint NVC workshop between Palestinians and Israelis.


According to the flier:
You will receive an overview of the non-violent communications technique, including factually observing, acknowledging personal feelings, connecting with your needs, and making a request. There will be a mixture of intriguing presentation, dynamic discussion, enthusiastic demos, and short videos.

When you leave this workshop, you are likely to have additional insights on how to:


1 - Hear deeply what people that you work with are saying;
2 - Clarify your own feelings and needs, especially if you become upset; and
3 - Make a clear and specific request that acknowledges both your needs and those of your co-workers.


There is no charge for the session, which will be on Tuesday, October 28 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at St. Michael’s Church, 175 Williams Road, Troy. For more information contact the Consultation Center at 489-4431.


The program is Co-Sponsored by the Consultation Center and the Diocesan Commission on Peace and Justice.

Talking Poverty

The Consultation Center, Siena College, the Commission on Peace and Justice, and several local parishes are presenting panel discussions that will allow attendees to:

- Appreciate the totality of issues that must be explored when Catholics consider voting and ongoing political advocacy;  

- Understand how Catholic Social Teaching speaks to the totality of issues;  

- Gain some sense of how economic issues in particular are impacting people, especially the poor and vulnerable.

This panel will be offered in three locations from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.:

Wednesday, September 19 St. Pius X Parish 23 Crumitie Road, Loudonville

Thursday, September 20 St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish 2216 Rosa Road, Schenectady

 Thursday, September 27 St. Michael the Archangel Parish 175 Williams Road, Troy

For more information, please call the Consultation Center at 518-489-4431.

Scarves for Africa

Sister Marian Hamwey, DC, a member of the Commission on Peace and Justice who spent 31 years ministering in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, formerly called Zaire), writes in The Evangelist about the current situation there and what we can do to help.

Tragically, in the eastern part of the country, the rebel factions, the Congolese army and even "peacekeepers" are perpetrating some of the most heinous violence and sexual abuse in human history against women and children: Rape and torture have become ordinary means of revenge or of exercising control in many villages.

Our sisters from the area as well as human rights advocates do their best to make public these ongoing atrocities, which occur far from the media's cameras.

Toward the end of 2011, representatives to the United Nations from the Sisters of Charity in the U.S. and Canada formed a project to support the violated women and girls of Eastern Congo: Since, by their mid-teens, most girls in the DRC wear a head covering, we took the simple step of collecting and distributing colorful scarves to express our solidarity with them and affirm their dignity and value at a time when their self-esteem is profoundly wounded.

The Women of Charity are not saving the whole world, but they surely are giving solace and joy to our Congolese sisters during their personal crises. Numerous other groups in the U.S. and Canada have joined in this project, sending scarves of all sizes and colors, purchased or handmade, and contributions to assist with shipping.

As part of your Lenten observance, I invite you to send a scarf or monetary donation to the Albany Diocese's Commission on Peace and Justice. The commission will ensure that the scarves reach their destination.

The entire article is here.

The four churchwomen

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the death of four U.S. churchwomen, Dorothy Kazel, Maura Clarke, Ita Ford and Jean Donovan, who were brutally murdered in El Salvador in 1980. Dorothy, Maura and Ita were nuns, Jean was a layworker.

According to Catholic News Service:

El Salvador was experiencing civil unrest, repeated military coups and finally civil war. Amid the death squads and countless disappearances, the four churchwomen attempted to bring life to the communities they served.

Ita Ford wrote about her experience in El Salvador: "Am I willing to suffer with the people here, the suffering of the powerless? Can I say to my neighbors, 'I have no solutions to this situation; I don't know the answers, but I will walk with you, search with you, be with you.' Can I let myself be evangelized by this opportunity? Can I look at and accept my own poorness as I learn it from the poor ones?"

The Commission on Peace and Justice will have a memorial of these brave women on Saturday, December 4 at noon in the Hubbard Interfaith Sanctuary at the College of Saint Rose, 959 Madison Avenue in Albany.

More information about the churchwomen is available here and here.