Readers respond to our print, web and social media posts
REMEMBERING ROMERO
Let us thank Octavio Duran, OFM, for his wonderful article in the September/October 2018 issue of Maryknoll on Saint Oscar Romero. I liked the way he described Archbishop Romero and his biblical spirituality. Brother Octavio also pointed out how, as archbishop, Romero followed his conscience and put his faith into action. His faith made him a brave man.
I want to add a bit of context to this article because we are citizens of the country that was sending guns and military equipment to that government that was torturing its own poor people. The land was in the hands of just a few families in El Salvador. The majority of people were hungry.
Our Pope Francis declared Archbishop Romero a saint on Oct. 14. We got to honor Archbishop Romero. Just remember our country is the biggest exporter of arms in the world.
Anthony Kroll
Sauk Rapids, Minnesota
PROFOUNDLY MOVING
There is always something in Maryknoll magazine that is profoundly moving. Your September/October 2018 issue celebrating 100 years of mission sending meets that expectation in so many ways.
The cover story is inspiring, especially the very early recognition (1921) by a Maryknoll pioneer, Francis X. Ford, that “there is very little future for any mission that has not sisters working there.” His cousin, Maryknoll Sister Ita Ford, would certainly have agreed with Bishop Ford. Both Fords would meet similar fates. He died in a Chinese prison in 1952, and three decades later his cousin, along with three other U.S. churchwomen, were martyred by Salvadoran national guardsmen for their work with civil war refugees in El Salvador.
The interesting biographies by Sister Mary Ellen Manz, in the article “Committing their lives to love” about the four Maryknoll sisters who recently professed permanent vows, updates this theme of women religious by describing the good works currently being carried out around the world by these four Maryknoll sisters.
The letter to the editor from Thomas Krausz, a prisoner in Jasper, Texas, was beautifully written and certainly reveals the “unique perspective” he hoped it would. He has had a conversion experience while incarcerated and, with the help of Bible study, an understanding prison chaplain, and the inspiration he finds reading Maryknoll magazine, he hopes to turn his life around.
My husband and I offered our prayers today for you, Thomas, and I’m sure other readers have done the same. By sharing your spiritual journey so authentically, you will inspire everyone who reads your letter or hears your story. Thank you.
Donna W. Brett
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
DESIRE FULFILLED
Father Ted Custer’s story in your Missioner Tales in the May/June issue of Maryknoll magazine brought tears to my eyes the first time I read it and every time I re-read it for it shows God’s great love for us. God just makes it happen (leading Father Custer to bring Holy Communion to a woman right before she died). Oh, how happy that dear woman must have been on having her great desire fulfilled!
This is one of the many reasons why I belong to the Maryknoll family. I can’t go to foreign missions, but I can help you to go in my stead. Thank you for serving God and his people.
Lucille Brady
Foxborough, Massachusetts
GREAT DISMAY
It was with great dismay that I read the letter in the November/December 2018 issue from a reader regarding people who are of the Muslim faith. My Catholic parents taught me to respect and value people from diverse backgrounds and different faiths. In today’s political climate we need to love and embrace people from different backgrounds. God and Allah are the same!
Also with respect to comments from another letter writer about climate change in the same Readers’ Responses column, it is true that climate change occurs naturally. The issues occur when humans accelerate climate change. Right now, animals in certain areas of the world are suffering due to accelerated climate change. People are also suffering now due to the increased fury of hurricanes.
Mary Ann Fiebelkorn
Manawa, Wisconsin
VAST DAMAGE
I disagree with the letter writer in your July/August magazine who said, “Corporations are people and people are greedy,” precisely because I think corporations are not people, the Supreme Court notwithstanding. Corporations can do vastly more damage than the rest of us without being held personally accountable.
I especially enjoyed the article “A school for forgiveness” on Father Juan Zúñiga’s prison ministry in Bolivia.
James P. Sullivan
Oak Park, Illinois
NEARLY OVERWHELMED
I want to comment on Maryknoll Father Joseph R. Veneroso. I always read his poems first in the front of your magazine. We are all so blessed by what he shares. But his article on page 10 of the September/October issue, “Spirit of Mission: In this valley of tears,” nearly overwhelmed me. What a gift he is to all of us.
May the peace of Christ dwell within us so that we might share it with all the people we see.
Betsey Jansen
Lewis, Colorado
