Food for Thought Friday: The death of a college student, a friend, classmate, and community member, brings great grief to a campus. During these difficult times, campus ministry staff, faculty, and other campus staff provide care for students and help them process their grief. In an article published in the July 2016 issue of U.S. Catholic, writer Jessie Bazan, Director of Retreats and Social Outreach at Saint John’s University explores the impact of the liturgy, both memorial services and the Mass, on campus communities after the death of a student. In her own experience, she finds that although the liturgy does not reverse the situation, it often helps in the grieving process. She writes, “Our liturgy didn’t take away the hurt, but it gave us a safe space to hurt. It didn’t bring our dead classmate back to life, but it honored the life he had – and his life to come.” Read the full article here.
US Catholic
Resource on the GMO Debate from Catholic Rural Life
CRL’s role in monitoring the use of GMOs in America features prominently in a recent article from US Catholic. CRL executive director Jim Ennis is noted as emphasizing the need to evaluate GMOs through a moral lens, while board member Ron Rosmann, an Iowa farmer, challenges some of the prevailing wisdom about GMOs’ benefits.
As for the Catholic Church, it has remained somewhere in between– recognizing the potential for GMOs to address world hunger, yet reluctant to give full endorsement to their use. CRL will continue to follow the use of GMOs here in America, always emphasizing an approach to agriculture that takes into account the moral dimensions of food production.
ACCU Peace and Justice 