Denouncing Evil while Maintaining Balance

Denouncing Evil while Maintaining Balance 5/3/2025

Monday, April 28, 2025: Denouncing Evil as Prophetic Action

Matthew tells us that justice and prophetic action are a very important part of the Creation Spirituality tradition. Pope Francis was a wonderful example of someone who follows the path of prophetic action. In February 2025, Pope Francis, concerned about mass deportations happening in the U.S., exhorted us to disagree “with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality.”* How hypocritical of Trump and Vance to pretend to honor the pope’s memory when their actions have been in direct contradiction to the pope’s admonitions. Gianluigi Gugliermetto suggests that “It is by experiencing in our depths the via negativa of these dark times that true rebirth may ensue.” Pope Francis Warns Against Mass Deportations in Letter to US Bishops | EWTN News Nightly “Pope Francis Warns Against Mass Deportations in Letter to US Bishops.” EWTN News Nightly

Tuesday, April 29, 2025: Experiencing Dark Times No compassionate person can help but notice that we are living in dark times. How do we navigate such times? The Creation Spirituality tradition teaches that it is important not to turn away from this pain, but to fully acknowledge it. Matthew says: Facing the darkness, admitting the pain, allowing the pain to be pain, is never easy. This is why courage — big-heartedness — is the most essential virtue of the spiritual journey. Matthew teaches that we must wade through the Via Negativa before we can reach the Via Transformativa. GG was impressed by those Jewish survivors of the Holocaust who, in London on the day of remembrance, spoke out against the evils happening in Gaza. They said that “Never Again” applies to everyone. The One Video Israel Doesn’t Want You To See The one video Israel doesn’t want you to see. Video by Double Down News.

Wednesday, April 30, 2025: Courage and Clarity Courage and clarity are indispensable virtues for a time like ours in which everything feels chaotic and evil. It’s helpful to remember role models who exemplify courage and inspire us to act similarly. One such courageous man, who is not sufficiently well-known, is Franz Jägerstätter, a conscientious objector who was subsequently killed by the Nazis. As we aspire to be courageous during these tumultuous times, we have to guard against unfocused and undirected anger. This is where clarity of mind becomes very important. It is essential in denouncing evil.

Thursday, May 1, 2025: What to Do? A List to Resist Evil In his book Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh, Matthew Fox describes the ten deadly sins of our time. The first deadly sin is the suffering we cause one another. Second, ignoring, which is the beginning of denial. Third, injustice. Fourth, severing relations. Fifth, dualism. Sixth, reductionism. Seventh, lack of passion, because if we let our passions get extinguished by the present oppressive powers, we become collaborators with evil. Eighth, misdirected love. Ninth, dissipation of energy. Finally, the tenth and ugliest of the deadly sins, “that which devours.” Meditating regularly on this list, though an unpleasant task, can be a tool for analyzing evil and, therefore, resisting it both within and without ourselves during these dangerous times. Freedom Riders stand next to their burning Greyhound bus after it was firebombed by a Ku Klux Klan mob outside of Anniston, Alabama. May 14, 1961. Photo by the National Park Service, Wikimedia Commons

Friday, May 2, 2025: Balance Gianluigi Gugliermetto (GG) says there are three words that describe what spirituality is all about: justice, compassion, and balance. He said balance is essential if we are to keep upright, healthy in body and mind, and ready to act wisely. GG suggests, “Right now, because of the amount of chaos surrounding us…our first duty is to take care of our basic spiritual needs… in order to keep our balance.” Yesterday, May 1, was celebrated in traditional rural Europe with dances around the May Pole. While last week, on April 25, his country, Italy, celebrated the 80th anniversary of its liberation from fascist rule, singing “Bella Ciao.” Joining such celebrations in person may prove a saving spiritual practice for many of us because we need community to get through these times.

Saturday, May 3, 2025: Empathy and Cosmic Pain For some of us, the pain and suffering that we are witnessing in the world, and the cruelty some human beings are inflicting on others, is heartbreaking. Are we too empathic? One well-known figure recently said that empathy is the basic fault of Western civilization. GG disagrees. He says that empathy is what brings meaning to life. One important thing that GG says he has learned from Matthew, is that when pain is privatized it becomes deadly, but when it is shared it becomes a source of life. Essentially, Matthew teaches that when we are aware that pain is a cosmic reality, then — and only then — can we engage in healing.

SIGN THE PLEDGE: Boycott pro-Trump corporations. Faithful America. EngageForDemocracy offers curated trustworthy reporting, educational resources, and action campaigns to hold government accountable to the Constitution and democratic norms. *Letter of the Holy Father Francis to the Bishops of the United States of America. Banner image: U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at a “Fight Oligarchy” rally in Tempe, Arizona. Exhibiting both courage and stamina, they have been traveling around the country, speaking to record-breaking crowds. Wikimedia Commons Responses are welcomed.

To add your comment, or read other comments and enter into dialog, please click HERE to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. Recommended Reading Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality Matthew Fox lays out a whole new direction for Christianity—a direction that is in fact very ancient and very grounded in Jewish thinking (the fact that Jesus was a Jew is often neglected by Christian theology): the Four Paths of Creation Spirituality, the Vias Positiva, Negativa, Creativa and Transformativa in an extended and deeply developed way. “Original Blessing makes available to the Christian world and to the human community a radical cure for all dark and derogatory views of the natural world wherever these may have originated.” –Thomas Berry, author, The Dream of the Earth; The Great Work; co-author, The Universe Story