Tag: tony

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Tony Magliano

Longing for peace in the Holy Land

During this wonderful time of the year, when Christians throughout the world focus minds and hearts on the coming of God himself upon the earth as one of us, our attention naturally turns to the place where the incarnation occurred.

While all the earth is a holy creation of the Almighty, Bethlehem and the surrounding lands that Jesus walked upon, taught upon, miraculously acted upon, suffered and died upon, and gloriously resurrected upon is uniquely holy, and thus deserving of the title Holy Land.

The way to true peace

In the Holy Land, the Prince of Peace taught humanity the way to true peace.

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Tony Magliano

Jerusalem Bishop gives insights on peacemaking

Recently I emailed questions to the auxiliary bishop of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Bishop William Shomali, asking him to share his first-hand insights regarding the many injustices and violent environment in the land of the Prince of Peace. He sent back a recorded audio response upon which this column is based.

Bishop Shomali said one of the most pressing problems facing Palestinians is Israeli-imposed restrictions on movement. For example, he said Palestinians living in Bethlehem or Ramallah need to obtain a permit to go just six miles to Jerusalem. And permits are only given during principle feasts. He said the ongoing illegal building of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land in the Occupied Territories is an extremely serious roadblock to a peaceful solution.

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Kevin Wondrash

Columnist Tony Magliano to speak

MADISON — Tony Magliano, a writer whose column appears regularly in the Catholic Herald, will speak at Our Lady Queen of Peace Church in Madison on Thursday Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. in the church gathering space.

The title of his talk is “Advancing the Kingdom of God in the 21st Century.” He will speak on the spectrum of life issues, including abortion, poverty/hunger, war, capital punishment, and environmental degradation.

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Tony Magliano

Remembering an encounter with a living saint

Allow me to share with you one of the high points of my life — a short, yet deeply enriching encounter with a saint.

Nearly 30 years ago, I worked at Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington’s emergency food warehouse. Missionaries of Charity Sisters caring for HIV/AIDS patients at their Gift of Peace House in Washington, D.C., used to regularly stop by for food assistance.

Since I helped with food distribution, I got to know the Sisters. One day while picking up food, one of the Sisters said to me, “Mother is coming.”

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Tony Magliano

Running for their lives

Imagine, right now at this very moment you and your loved ones need to run for your lives!

With hardly more than the clothes on your backs, you and your family must flee from an invading armed force.

Or imagine your quick exodus is due to the fact that gang members have threatened to kill your family because your teenage son or grandson has refused to join their murderous drug gang.

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Tony Magliano

‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me’

Over 37 years-ago when Annunciation House — a sanctuary and home of hospitality that has served over 100,000 refugees, homeless poor, and undocumented workers — was started in El Paso, Texas, founding director Ruben Garcia and a few friends wanted to place themselves among the poor, to see where the poor would lead them. He said, “They took us to the undocumented — the most vulnerable.”

Garcia explained to me that since the undocumented have no legal status in the United States, they are forced to take undesirable, poorly paid jobs, which offer no benefits. Unlike poor U.S. citizens, undocumented workers and their families cannot receive food stamps, Medicaid, or housing assistance. They are at the lowest rung of American life.

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Tony Magliano

We can transform the world

You are the light of the world. Don’t take my word for it, that’s Gospel truth from Jesus himself (Mt 5:14). And it’s a tall order, indeed.

Now on the other hand in John’s Gospel, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” Now that at first glance makes far more sense. After all, Jesus — God in the flesh — is obviously “the light of the world.”

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Tony Magliano

How marvelous is the miracle of life

I experienced a miracle! A few days ago, I held in my arms my first grandbaby — newly born Faith Annmarie.

Thank God she’s healthy and perfectly formed. And as I was looking at her, I reflected how wonderfully she is made: arms, hands, fingers, legs, feet, toes, eyes, mouth, nose, ears, as well as what I couldn’t see but was just as real — hundreds of different tissues, dozens of organs including the remarkable brain, and trillions of cells.

And then I reflected on her divinely infused eternal soul.

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Tony Magliano

Moving from ‘just war’ to ‘just peace’ strategy

For the first 300 years of Christianity, followers of the nonviolent Jesus — imitating his example — practiced total nonviolence.

But after Christianity was legalized and later made the official religion of the Roman Empire, Christians began fighting for the empire. And sadly, Christians have been fighting for empires ever since.

The “just war” theory was developed to offer criteria — like protecting civilians from attack — that had to be met before war could be theoretically morally justified and continued. Most unfortunately, this led to the Catholic Church’s abandonment of total Christ-like nonviolence.

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Tony Magliano

Support efforts to protect creation at conference

“A very solid scientific consensus indicates that we are presently witnessing a disturbing warming of the climatic system,” warns Pope Francis.

In his environmental encyclical Laudato Si’ (“On Care for Our Common Home”), the Holy Father further warns, “In recent decades this warming has been accompanied by a constant rise in the sea level and, it would appear, by an increase of extreme weather events.

“Humanity is called to recognize the need for changes of lifestyle, production, and consumption, in order to combat this warming.”

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