A better friday

It's become increasingly difficult for yours truly to reconcile my hopes for the Catholic Church with what one finds the reality to be. Consider that the Archdiocese of Detroit is closing schools in economically impoverished neighborhoods and opening new schools in rich, white suburbs. Historically, the Catholic schools have been a saving grace - no pun intended - for this former category of neighborhoods, and that the Church is now willing to choose financial prosperity over moral obligation is, at the very least, embarrassing to me as a member.
And thus it was that this Good Friday I decided to take on a very different type of profession of faith, thanks to the nice people at Pax Christi and the Archdiocese of New York (among others). These folks have, for the past 23 years, explored the connections between the Good Friday stations of the cross and current social justice and peace crises in our communities. This exploration takes the form of a long march down 42nd street, right through Times Square. Examples? Well, for the station recalling Mary's witnessing Jesus' affliction under the Cross, we stood outside the Pfizer world headquarters and presented the plight of millions of americans who cannot afford life-saving medication or health insurance as something to which we would bear witness and call upon those in the pharmaceutical industries to help fix. For the stations wherein Jesus is nailed to the cross and dies, we protested the reinstitution of the death penalty in New York state and our government's war-mongering in Iraq and elsewhere -- and we did those two right in the middle of times square, in front of that armed-forces recruitment station. 500+ people, plus onlookers, were involved.
Anyways, my point in telling this story is as much to remind myself that there still may be hope for the social-justice interests of the Catholic church, as it is to let y'all know what I've been up to.