Author: Steve Swope

Great Upcoming Charitable Events

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Two of the charitable events that Marie and I strongly support and attend are coming up in the next few months. If you are in the Atlanta area you should consider supporting one or both of them.

oscar

The 12th Annual Oscar Night Gala on February 23rd benefits the Newnan~Coweta County Boys & Girls Clubs. The Boys & Girls Clubs work to save and change the lives of children and teens, especially those who need a safe, positive and engaging environment and programs that prepare and inspire them to achieve Great Futures. For more information see: 2019 Oscar Night Gala

2019_save_dateThe 2019 Drive & Dine on April 27th is an experiential evening of riding fast cars, fine food, and live and silent auctions at the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta. This one of a kind event helps to provide abandoned, abused, runaway and homeless youth a safe haven in a loving Christ-centered environment.  Last year’s event sold out quickly and we expect the same for 2019.  For more information or to see how much fun we had last year go to: 2018 Drive and Dine.

 

2019 – A New Year

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Sunrise at Pawleys Island, SC on January 1, 2019

Happy New Year from Steve and Marie Swope.  We hope that 2019 will be a wonderful year for you all!  This morning we ventured down to the beach just as the sun was coming up over the horizon.  Amid all of the craziness of the world today, the graceful and dependable rising of the sun brings a sense of peace and perspective.  All the best to you for the coming year!

“The Lights of Learning and Reason”

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Kennedy

In the undelivered speech he intended to give at the Dallas Trade Mart on November 22, 1963 President John F. Kennedy wrote, “In a world of complex and continuing problems, in a world full of frustrations and irritations, America’s leadership must be guided by the lights of learning and reason or else those who confuse rhetoric with reality and the plausible with the possible will gain the popular ascendancy with their seemingly swift and simple solutions to every world problem.”

We live in a complex and difficult world but we should realize that the world has always been complex and difficult.  Historically, when people feel that the challenges that they face in their own generation and lives are becoming insurmountable they tend to look for a cause for their pain, dissatisfaction, hurt or difficulty.  They often decide that the cause is some “other person” or group of people and they become susceptible to believing the “simple solutions to every world problem” that those who confuse “rhetoric with reality” put forward.   Continue reading ““The Lights of Learning and Reason”” →

This Must End

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PA Crisis

As a Roman Catholic and an ordained Deacon of the Church I am appalled by the enormity of the abuse done to innocent children and young people revealed in the Grand Jury report from Pennsylvania.  I am outraged that the Bishops were complicit in this evil by covering up the abuse and allowing it to continue. Certainly these eight dioceses are not the only ones with this abhorrent behavior.

It is clear that the attempt at reforms done in 2002 are not enough.  There are still too many men who perpetrated these immoral and criminal actions in active ministry.  I addressed this topic in my homily yesterday.  It is clear to me that the laity must force reform and take an active role in directing it.  The abuse, coverups and lack of transparency cannot and should not be tolerated.  My homily is below and on my Homilies and Talks page:

 

 

Southside Ultreya Address – Summer 2018

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UltreyaLast evening I gave a talk to the Atlanta Southside Ultreya gathering.  I was asked by several members of that group to post my remarks so that others in their group could hear them.  The talk can be found here: Southside Ultreya Talk.  It was an honor to be asked to address this wonderful group.