Above is one of Mary's pictures, from when Arthur received "The Award for Excellence in Social Action." from the New England United Methodist Conference.

At MVPP's annual Meeting, June 15, we congratulated Arthur. Here Masood greets Arthur.

We all sang a song by Mary Kate.

Arthur's speech, June 10, scanned from the copy he typed on a real typewriter. Emphasis is in capital letters.

_____________________

Bishop WEAVER, Rev. We Chang, Members of the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church, And Friends of Peace!!

I am overwhelmed, Humbled and Very Privileged to be this Year's recipient of your Social Justice Award.

I especially find Great Joy in the ecumenical Spirit by which your choice of a recipient was made, since I am a Christian of the Roman Catholic Tradition, from Lawrence, MA!

I believe that many in this chapel could have been chosen for this honor, nevertheless… I do accept it, with the thought that it will be a reminder for me to better serve Christ in the future.

One thing for certain is that I could not accept this honor without acknowledging my Wife Marguerite and our family for their STRONG SUPPORT. Thank You Marguerite and Family!!

I have also been very fortunate to have been brought up in a good Christian home and environment. I have lived in an ERA which produced many holy people… such as Martin Luther King, Gandhi, the Berrigan brothers, Mother Theresa, and Dorothy Day to mention just a few. These saintly people provided great examples for me to TRY TO EMULATE.

In the final analysis I have done nothing more than what is Required of any follower of Christ.

In HIS non-violent teaching of LOVE, Love of God, Love of Neighbor, LOVE of Self, and also Love of Enemies (which is not easy to do) I find that there is NO more EFFECTIVE Way to respond to the evils of the world, and to respond to the evils of our Government and its leaders.

These Non-Violent teachings of Christ provide ME with the strenght to witness for Christ in my daily life… whether it is by vigiling against the IMMORALITY of the unjust and illegal war in IRAQ… OR TRYING TO do a little to bring it to an end… or to bring the troops home safely as soon as possible. To approve the Warmakers would be to BETRAY Jesus. The LIGHT OF GOD'S TRUTH AGAINST THE HORRORS OF WAR MUST BE BROUGHT TO Light. If we sow violence it is impossible to reap non-violence.
or to sow War cannot bring about PEACE.

I also must be more Loving and Compassionate towards the rest of Humanity, since we are all Sisters and Brothers CREATED IN GOD'S Image!!

This command to LOVE all people brings on much responsibility. It requires that I, in my small way, work to alleviate hunger, help to eradicate poverty, work for better race relations, more affordable housing, to work to protect our environment among others.

Thus far, history has shown us that violence does NOT bring about Social Justice or true lasting PEACE.
WE really must get the Human family to try something different to solve our ills. I personally think that another REVOLUTION IS CALLED FOR. A revolution of LOVE.

This may sound as FOLLY to many people but if we call ourselves FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST HIS FORMULA OF LOVE TO ACHIEVE TRUE JUSTICE AND PEACE should be given the opportunity to put into practice.

When all is said and done I KNOW that it is in God's Unconditional LOVE OF ALL that we will achieve our goals of Justice and Peace.

I THANK GOD FOR YOU AND ALL YOUR GOOD WORKS TO TRY TO GET THIS BEAUTIFUL FORMULA OF GOD TO SUCCEED. It will in God's own time.

May God bless us all!!!

Thank You.

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