Personal Nonviolence: A Practical Spirituality for Peacemakers, by Gerard Vanderhaar. Pax Christi USA. 2006.

Getting our total beings right...that is the goal Gerard offers in this book.  He begins with ways to get started , such as knowing what nonviolence is all about in one's own spiritual journey. Before one can make any real impact in helping the world become violence-free, one must set one's own life style in peaceful order.

Gerard insists that his readers know really what one's shadow is doing in daily life. Is it dominating the inner soul of the reader?  Is one's heart and soul bent on peace in all corners of life? Is peace a way of life or just something nice to talk about?  He wants readers to examine one's gifts and see how they will assist him/her in making peace. He has a chapter on stress and worry and shows how these might  interfere in peace-making.

In part three he introduces the concepts of everyday violence in one's speech, public relations, and how non-violent leadership is acquired and practiced. He follows stories and examples of violence in the daily events of his day during the Vietnam War. He struggled about what his responsibility was in the face of his country during the present war and what he could as an individual could do about  it.

In careful detail, Gerard describes what he believes is a peaceful way of life. This applies to his prayer, his interactions with others who either accept or reject him, to ways to deal with various kinds of "violent" persons, to his responses to angry persons, to those who have misguided concepts of peacemaking, to persons in various kinds of leadership, as well as to those who suffer from violence.
The questions to be answered are  always, "How can I respond in a non-violent way? How can I be a peacemaker in times of violence?" 

(Thanks to Sr. Irene Hartman OP for this review.)



St. Francesco Antonio Fasani (1681-1742): November 27

Born in Lucera (southeast Italy), Francesco entered the Conventual Franciscans in 1695. After his ordination 10 years later, he taught philosophy to younger friars, served as guardian of his friary and later became provincial. When his term of office ended, Francesco became master of novices and finally pastor in his hometown.

In his various ministries, he was loving, devout and penitential. He was a sought-after confessor and preacher. One witness at the canonical hearings regarding Francesco's holiness testified, "In his preaching he spoke in a familiar way, filled as he was with the love of God and neighbor; fired by the Spirit, he made use of the words and deed of Holy Scripture, stirring his listeners and moving them to do penance." Francesco showed himself a loyal friend of the poor, never hesitating to seek from benefactors what was needed.

At his death in Lucera, children ran through the streets and cried out, "The saint is dead! The saint is dead!" Francesco was canonized in 1986.