THE SPIRIT OF OUR RETREAT... YOU CAN'T KILL THE SPIRIT

THE MASSACRE CONTINUES...- We know, in every fiber of our being, that the massacres not only continue but spin completely out of control. Iraq , Afghanistan , Palestine , the Sudan , the streets of our cities - all run red with the blood of the innocent and there is no end in sight. The response of our leadership is more bombs (deadlier bombs, nuclear bombs even), more munitions, more military, more violence, more of the same. But the world's number one military power is impotent in the face of the spirit of people who will not be occupied or conquered. The unspeakable power brought to bear against them is able to do nothing but destroy, ravage and lay waste.

RACHEL WILL NOT BE COMFORTED - Each new victim evokes this woman whose children are no more. Over 600,000 Iraqi victims of this war; no one has troubled to count them; there is still less interest in the Afghan or Palestinian or Darfur victims; there is no weeping in the halls of power over the dying on our city streets. But we do grieve and we commit ourselves to bringing that grief to the streets. With Rachel, we refuse to be comforted until all the killing, all the research, development and manufacture of weapons - especially weapons of mass destruction - is brought to a halt. We refuse to be comforted until the leaders and peoples of our world agree to put into practice the command of our God: THOU SHALT NOT KILL!

Meanwhile...GOD CALLS US TO ACTS OF HOPE AND RESISTANCE - And to this we commit ourselves in these days of remembering the Massacre of the Innocents. Our hope is renewed in remembering the story of the Innocent... Even then, all Herod's power to kill and destroy was impotent; he could not kill the Spirit of God. Our hope is renewed acts of witness against the killing and the death dealing weapons. Our hope is renewed in each other and the sacrifices of faithful people who will not be silent in the face of such destructiveness.

We remember that the Magi disobeyed Herod to save the life of the child. What sort of disobedience must we contemplate to save the children so threatened today?

We remember that Herod was furious - raging. Do we expect less of today's dictatorial regimes?

Our hope is in the Spirit that can't be killed. Our hope is in the Spirit of God as she works in each of our lives, bringing us to acts of faith and hope and love.

THE PRACTICAL OF OUR RETREAT...

WHERE - St. Stephen and the Incarnation Church , 16th & Newton Streets NW, Washington D.C.

WHEN - begin with supper at 6:00 p.m., Wednesday, December 27 through early afternoon, Saturday, December 30

WHAT -

• A time to reflect/act/reflect.
• A program - we are working now to bring people to the retreat who will be able to deepen our sense of the theme articulated above.
• We will learn from and be inspired by our speakers; we will discuss how we can bring our message to the public; we will plan to do that; we will do it; and we will evaluate how well or badly we did it. Then we'll repeat the process. We will pray together and maybe sing and laugh some.
• We will provide simple meals and sleeping bag space at the Church. If you require other accommodations, please let us know and we will try to connect you with a source.
• There will be a program for children but we'd want to know ages and numbers of children coming to be better prepared to provide for them.

WHY - we try to articulate a spirit of grief and hope in the theme but essentially we gather because we know how urgent are these times and how deeply so many are suffering and how fragile is this spirit called hope.

WHO - we hope that you will be inspired to be part of this important time and effort. The retreat is organized by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker and Jonah House Communities. You can contact us at:

Dorothy Day Catholic Worker
503 Rock Creek Church Rd, NW
Washington D.C. 20009
202-882-9649

Jonah House
1301 Moreland Ave.
Baltimore MD 21216
410-233-6238

disarmnow@verizon.net www.jonahhouse.org