Jesus of Nazareth said: "You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

Recently, I was reflecting on the theology of the cross and how, so often, we downplay the fact that "Christ died for our sins." I was thinking how in the past few months I have seen terrible cruelty inflicted repeatedly by one human being upon another, and how violent and depraved we human beings can be. My thought at the time was: "To be redeemed, we must have someone willing to get right into the mess, to open up the truth, and to die for us to have life." We live in a society saturated with violence and I believe that violence is an outworking of a deep and widespread anger that stems from many, many unspoken, repressed secrets. In my seven years on the streets of Polk Gulch, I have not found one kid who is not using drugs as a means of coping with terrible secrets that have involved fundamental violations of the integrity of his or her personhood.

I sit with 20 year old Rusty, who is so full of hate and anger, who sees every relationship as sexual, who is unable to connect with another human being in any meaningful way. He shares how he was sexually abused from age twelve by his father, and how every male in his life up to now has only had one interest in him: using him sexually. I hear 19 year old Derek tell of repeated sexual abuse by his older brother from the time he was five years old until he finally ran away from home at thirteen. Derek's face is scabbed from repeated picking (a sign of speed use) and his arms are riddled with needle punctures. Both these young men use drugs as a means of escaping from the nightmares and the secrets that haunt them.

Secrets destroy. They eat up the insides of people. They rip apart relationships, shatter families. Secrets disintegrate the health of one's psyche. Secrets allow evil to flourish, to grow like a cancer and, ultimately, to consume. The keeping of certain secrets, in particular secrets of abuse, moves us into the shadows, into a web of evil that slowly, but ever so surely, brings us to the very heart of darkness.

But when such secrets are revealed, the light enters and the truth becomes our great emancipator. When secrets are revealed, we are brought back into the light and its freedom and can begin to become who we are intended to be as whole human beings in right relationship with God and others. Despite that liberating reality, revealing secrets will sometimes put us into the eye of the storm. It can risk family relationships; it can put friendships in jeopardy. Our credibility may be called into question. We may become a scapegoat for the anger that secret keeping has built up in others.

But along with these risks there are great possibilities of healing and growth: speaking the truth, revealing secrets, can provide us with a unique experience not only of the fragility of friendships, but of their preciousness, and the knowledge that true friendship can only happen in a place of truth. To be a teller of secrets of abuse, of violence, can make one a healer, of oneself and others, for in the telling of secrets we are given the chance to see the truth and be set free.

SOCIAL JUSTICE WEEKLY, SUGGESTIONS

1. Pack a lunch, take public transportation to work if you don't already, then give the money you save to a shelter or homeless program.

2. Take time to have coffee with a homeless person or provide a meal for a family in need.

3. Read a book about Damien of Molokai, the leper priest.

4. Take time to have dinner with a friend you've not talked to in several months because you've been "too busy."

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Please consider if you might be called to one of the following three volunteer opportunities.

1. Fr. Stephen-Bartlett-Ré, a chaplain at Laguna Honda Hospital (and a long time participant in the work of Temenos with Fr. River), is looking for volunteers to help gather patients for Mass on the second Saturday of each month. Time required would be between 2 p.m. and approximately 4 p.m. No experience is needed, only a willing spirit. Please contact Fr. Stephen at 415/775-6113.

2. Temenos is exploring the possibility of having a street Eucharist in United Nations Plaza in the early afternoons on Sundays. We are looking for volunteers interested in helping on a regular, committed basis. We will also be doing food distribution after the Eucharist. Contact Fr. River.

3. Temenos will once again be observing the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday in various spots around the City where the body of Christ is continuing to be crucified in the poorest of the poor. Participants and volunteer organizers are needed. Please call Fr. River for more information.

SINCERE THANKS

Although for reasons explained in our last newsletter we no longer list individual donors, we do want to offer very special thanks to all of you who made this holiday a season of great generosity. Please remember that the needs of Temenos continue throughout the year.

We would like to particularly thank Linda and Roy Moss of Huntington Beach (especially Linda) who so generously donate their time each month publishing this newsletter. Thanks also to Tom Winslett who designs our cool new banner each month, and to Larry Holben, who edits and types the text.

WELCOME MIKAEL!

Mikael Bouckaert, age 20, is our new quarter-time staff person. Mikael is a student at Dominican College in San Rafael. He's majoring in English, with a minor in Religion. He's also lead singer in the punk band No Regrets. Mikael is active on his own spiritual quest and the reflection below is written by him:

Hello, my name is Mikael Bouckaert and I recently stared working for Temenos Catholic Worker. I believe I have been blessed with an understanding of the basic goodness of all of life and humanity- a knowledge which has arisen out of, and continues to build upon, my experience, both of the positive and the negative aspects life.