Free Spaghetti Dinner: Pasta for Peace
The second “Pasta for Peace” free spaghetti dinner, will be held on Thursday, Nov. 17, at 6:30 p.m., at the First Presbyterian Church, 300 East Main St., in Batavia. Local author and peace advocate Jim Morasco will be the featured speaker. 90 people attended the first Pasta for Peace in September.
Morasco, who rode his bicycle 400 miles in June to raise $1,400 for local charities, will discuss his personal transformation, his observations about people who experience trauma, and how he has seen first-hand that “Either through circumstance and/or trauma they learned coping skills that reinforced violence as a way to get what they want.”
He says that his own personal transformation was made possible by positive role models and an early sense that there was a higher power, which was clarified through Christian and Seneca experiences. He says that he has “always had a thirst for knowledge – and both formal and informal education has given me a better understanding of the world than just what we are taught as children.”
Morasco has spent most of his career with people who do not know peace in their lives. “When I look at our culture I see this theme of violence over and over again.” However, he says that he knows in his heart that he must not only advocate peace but more importantly be an example to others as well.
Today, he says that his number one priority in life is social justice, “because I believe (injustice) is at the core of most of the world’s problems.”
As he says, “Call it Karma or whatever, but one day I was thinking about how the canal project must have looked like to the Native Americans. I would think it was a "scar" on Mother Earth. Anyway, later on in the day I came across a Pow Wow that was being held and I ventured in. I spent the afternoon talking with new found friends and being spiritually enriched by the singing and dancing that was occurring. It gave me the opportunity to re-connect with people that have been such a big part of my journey. It felt like a little bit of "home".
The event is sponsored by Pax Christi Genesee County. Pax Christi is part of the International and National Catholic Peace Movement, but operates on an interfaith basis locally. Pax Christi hopes that increased local understanding will reduce violence.
Jim Morasco is also the Associate Pastor of First Baptist Church in Batavia and a counselor for the local alcohol and substance abuse agency, GCASA.
The spaghetti dinner is free. Reservation calls to Joyce: 585-757-2218 or Trudy: 585-599-3302, will be much appreciated. Free will donations will be accepted gratefully.
