Today, I celebrate my seventh
anniversary of priesthood, and soon I will call Roy to check on him and to thank
him again for his prophetic courage exemplified in so many ways for the people
of God, including our Latin American sisters and brothers, women priests, and the LGBTQ
community.
In his homily seven years ago,
Roy introduced our Lexington interfaith peace and justice community to Franz
Jagerstatter, who chose nonviolence over killing, following Jesus’ example and
those of the early Christian community.
“Franz
is still a force of controversy throughout Austria, but he is the closest saint
in recent centuries to resemble those daring, early Christians. This is exactly
what we need: saints who inspire us to follow the nonviolent Jesus, say No to
war, resist the culture of war, speak out for peace, work for justice, and
combine the full mystical and political dimensions of faith.” (Jesuit John
Dear)
Here in Baltimore, we have been
commemorating the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings of
Hiroshima-Nagasaki. On Thursday we witnessed at Johns Hopkins U. Applied Physics
Laboratory that receives $1 billion of taxpayers’ money each year to do military
research, including killer drones.
We were joined by two precious
Hibakushas: 83-year old Goro Matsuyama was 16 when the first uranium detonation
of the 9,700 pound “Little Boy” atomic bomb took place. Retired teacher Takako
Cheba, 73, was three. The stories they told of their experiences had each of us
in tears as we listened at the Homewood Friends Meeting House.
Goro remembered the “purple
flash and an enormously bulging cloud that looked beautiful on a perfectly clear
day. But soon the sky blackened and it seemed like the devil was upon
us.”
Both Goro and Takako remember
the incinerated bodies of the screaming burning-alive Japanese “ghosts” of all
ages who ran toward whatever pond or water in sight.
Hibakushas were shunned in
Japan because they experienced the atomic blast. Takako thought she would never
marry because “I would pass on damaged genes.”
Because of their experiences,
Goro and Takako have participated in several Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Reviews in New York City. They learned that they should have also challenged
nuclear energy from the beginning, as evidenced by
Fukishima.
Takako joined the 14-women of
the Heartfull chorus, dressed in colorful and elegant garb, led by their
director on the piano. They sang Japanese songs, including “Suki-yaki” that is
about keeping hopes alive; it is a protest song in Japan against U.S.
occupation. The evening ended with the youngest woman in the choir playing a
peace song that she composed and another woman singing “Ave Maria.” We then
gathered for dinner and conversation at a nearby Japanese restaurant. As the
dinner concluded, one of the singers led us in a rousing rendition of “We Shall
Overcome” and we all joined hands in solidarity.
Tonight we will commemorate the
atomic bombing of Nagasaki. As part of the commemoration, we’ll start with a
potluck dinner followed by discussion and conversation about Baltimore’s
problems, especially relating to the mistreatment of African-Americans and the
poor. Yesterday afternoon Max and I joined a march with others through
poverty-stricken parts of West Baltimore. Today is the one-year anniversary of
the killing of Michael Brown by a Ferguson (MO) police officer.
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