From the editor's desk - Editorial

One of my deep beliefs central to is the Creed is the fundamental reality of "the communion of saints", the march through history of those forebears in faith who refused to be "conformed to this world " (Rom.12: 2). It is important that we celebrate their lives and their time among us as signs of possibility and hope. Most are not known to the broader community. They lead lives of singular integrity, courage and witness. In many cases they are in our own families, often taken for granted-until they are gone. Once again if you know someone like this, let us hear about them.

This issue commemorates the More public witness of Cesar Chavez who died 10 years ago about this time. We feature two stories on the gentle nonviolent witness. One (p.8) is from the field of Delano, California the same locale which inspired John Steinbeck's unforgettable trek of the Joad family in The Grapes of Wrath. The other is by Bob Madden CSB, who went back 30 years with Chavez and the Movement. Bob's warm memory, related in print on page 7 and over lunch at the Basilian refectory, aptly brings to life the amazing Chavez. Madden often serves in an unofficial capacity at CNT, responding to my request for forgotten lines of poets Matthew Arnold or W. H. Auden. He is still teaching me.

Lest I get too sentimental, I hope more Americans are as enraged as I am watching George W. Bush getting ready for his next presidential bid by flying on to an aircraft carrier and showing up as a "top gun" celebrating America's glorious victory. Thirty years ago as the war in Vietnam was raging they could not find Bush or Dick Cheney when these "chicken hawks" had a chance to prove how tough they were. As black comedian Dick Gregory said: "White folks sending black folks to kill yellow folks."

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--Ted Schmidt editor@catholicnewtimes.org

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