If Los Angeles were to suffer unprecedented ecological calamities this weekend, say being consumed by lava as in the movie Volcano, or devastated by monster tornadoes as in The Day After Tomorrow, here's the reason why:
The 2009 Sacrilegious Indoctrination Congress has rolled into town.
SperoNews has brief bios of many of the speakers, some of which are: Fr. Michael Crosby; Fr. Richard Fragomeni; David Hass and Marty Haugen; Fr. Brian Massingale; Sr. Fran Ferder; Fr. Richard Rohr. Many of the speakers listed have ties to Call To Apostasy and Voice of the Faithless, which is par for the course for this event. And how much you want to bet that the "Eucharistic Liturgies" will be, um, creative?
The keynote speaker is Jim Wallis, founder and editor of Sojourners Magazine. Here is the theme of his address, taken from the RE Congress site:
Title: "The Opportunity of Crisis" (sounds like something Rahm Emanuel would say....oh wait, he did say that, didn't he!)
We stand at a unique historical crossroad — a moment pregnant with expectation for progress, and burdened with the reality of hardship. In the context of our faith we call this “hope.” Jim Wallis defines hope as, “believing in spite of the evidence and watching the evidence change.” It is hope, he says, grounded in faith that can stir our nation into the action needed to produce lasting change.
Wallis sees a “new faith coalition” emerging not bound by the usual denominational, cultural, racial, or even political distinctions, but rather, united in its pursuit of the common good and justice for the “least of these.” Together, these believers can open up a new “two-way street” of dialogue in the public square. Here, we can offer prayerful support of our elected officials as they face their responsibilities, especially when their agenda is consistent with our own. At the same time the faith community must exercise it’s prophetic responsibility to challenge our leaders when necessary, particularly in defense of the poor and vulnerable. At the present crossroad we can choose this street of hope and travel this road to progress.
It's no wonder that the Los Angeles archdiocese is suffering.
Joe of St Therese, if you can get out of town for the weekend, do it!
Instant "Acts"ess
