With this year being the 20th anniversary of the six Jesuits being martyred in El Salvador, the SOA vigil is sure to be a powerful event this weekend.
Although I won't be presente this year, I will be thinking of all of the protesters, from babies to college students to the Grandmothers for Peace, at the vigil. My prayers will be for all those who have suffered torture at the hands of those trained at by the U.S. military, and for those who advocate on their behalf them.
While "change" may be slow to come with this issue, there is always hope in the air. When I traveled to the protest a few years ago with Loyola University Chicago, I discovered that the experience wasn't just about achieving change (though that certainly would be nice), it was about learning how to be a faithful Catholic who cares about the wider world.
I can't share here all the various thoughts I've had about this movement, but you can read these in my "live blog" from my trip in 2007 and in my story Basic training, based on my trip in 2006.
