Book of the Week
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The Cross and the Lynching Tree, by James H. Cone. Oribis, 2011.
In this very sad but
enlightening book, Cone sees the thousands of black men and women as the body of Christ crucified all over again. This is his theme on every page where Cone invites his readers to notice the anger, violence, and amnesia, which bring the white supremacists, as part of the human race, to attend or inaugurate a lynching. He wants his lay audience to note the horrible violence African Americans experienced on a colossal scale and on a continual basis; he minces no words in describing the horror of
a lynching.
Cone wonders why there is so much amnesia toward a past that was definitely so unchristian and seemingly so "right". He shows that it common to forget that history in the American scene, and pass over it like it never happened in our country. Much like the horrors of Hitler's time, which must be remembered to avoid repeating them, the horrors of a single lynching must not be forgotten
lest lynching be repeated today. Cone doesn't steer away from naming certain so-called theologians of today who skirt the history of the lynching days, and claim to be followers of Christ who was also lynched, Christ on a cross, the black person hanging from a tree.
Cone concludes his book with these words: "The lynching tree is a metaphor for white America's crucifixion of black people. It is
the window that best reveals the religious meaning of the cross in our land. In this sense, the black people are Christ figures, not because they wanted to suffer but because they had no choice. Just as Jesus had no choice in his journey to Calvary, so black people had no choice about being lynched.... If America has the courage to confront the great sin and ongoing legacy of white supremacy with repentance and reparation there is hope 'beyond tragedy'."
(Thanks to Sr. Irene
Hartman OP for this review.)
Paperback, Hardback, Kindle
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Saint of the Week
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St. Thérèse of Lisieux: (1873-97) October 1 "I prefer the monotony of obscure sacrifice to all ecstasies. To pick up a pin for love can convert a soul." These are the words of Thérèse of the Child Jesus, a Carmelite nun called the "Little
Flower," who lived a cloistered life of obscurity in the convent of Lisieux, France. (In French-speaking areas, she is known as Thérèse of Lisieux.) And her preference for hidden sacrifice did indeed convert souls. Few saints of God are more popular than this young nun. Her autobiography, The Story of a Soul, is read and loved throughout the world. Thérèse Martin entered the convent at the age of 15 and died in 1897 at the age of 24. She was canonized in 1925, and two years later she and St.
Francis Xavier were declared co-patrons of the missions.
Life in a Carmelite convent is indeed uneventful and consists mainly of prayer and hard domestic work. But Thérèse possessed that holy insight that redeems the time, however dull that time may be. She saw in quiet suffering redemptive suffering, suffering that was indeed her apostolate. Thérèse said she came to the Carmel convent "to save
souls and pray for priests." And shortly before she died, she wrote: "I want to spend my heaven doing good on earth."
On October 19, 1997, Pope John Paul II proclaimed her a Doctor of the Church, the third woman to be so recognized, in light of her holiness and the influence on the Church of her teaching on spirituality. Her parents, Louis and Zélie were beatified in 2008.
americancatholic.org site
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