Michael VanZandt Collins's Page
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Michael VanZandt Collins posted a blog postA “Muslim Problem” at Christmas?
Sadaf Kotwal of the Islamic Community Centre of Brossard helps serve dinner at the Old Brewery Mission on Christmas Eve."This is a time of giving and providing for those who cannot provide for themselves." Not an uncommon sentiment over the Christmas season. Words you're likely to hear in most church halls and sound bytes. They are the words of Islamic Society spokesman Saad Mohammed whom the…See More
Michael VanZandt Collins posted a blog postStumbling Toward Vocation: A Catholic in Paradox or Just Awkward?
In the end formation is really the essence of humanity, isn't it? We can grapple with it in a number of ways but no matter what, it reflects an active engagement of one's humanity and ultimately responsibilities. I’m not alone in the opinion that formation more closely resembles process than the finality of a conversion experience. Finding its roots in the moral philosophy of the ancient Greeks and promulgated as a theme in every world religion, it is can be applied to individuals, communities…See More
Profile Information
- Religion / Faith
- Catholic/Humanist
- I have attended the Parliament of Religions:
- Never
- Website:
- http://www.twitter.com/VZCollins
- I have come to PeaceNext looking for:
- networking, interreligious advocacy
- Interreligious causes I care about:
- environmental issues, capital punishment
- Changes I am working toward in my community:
- green-building initiatives, interfaith advocacy
- About Me:
- Michael VZ Collins (née Michael VanZandt), 28, serves as a community organizer and advocate for green initiatives and design-build projects in Boston’s underserved communities. Reared in the culturally Catholic mill-town, Lee, of the western Massachusetts hinterlands, Mike’s moral imagination came to formation and received the sacraments with papal approval and under the tutelage of the Sisters of St. Joseph. At Boston College, classes on human rights and normative social ethics merged service projects and political activism to create a forum of applying ethics into praxis. Exposed to the Sant’Egidio lay Catholic community in Rome while studying at the Gregorian, Mike gravitated to issues of immigration and capital punishment. However, thus far, the 150 students whom Mike taught, at what is now Cristo Rey Boston, have had the greatest impact on his personal and vocational development. The multi-cultural, multi-religious urban high school classrooms altered Mike’s sense of vocation and purpose as a student and teacher of religion and ethics. Holding a Master’s in Social Ethics, Mike is presently studying Arabic and Islam part-time while he prepares applications for Master’s programs in Islamic studies, with the aspiration of one day becoming a professor of comparative ethics. He can be reached through multimedia sources such as email (vanzandt@gmail.com), twitter (@VZCollins), and his posts on religious matters can be read at http://www.stateofformation.org.
Michael VanZandt Collins's Blog
A “Muslim Problem” at Christmas?
Posted on January 7, 2011 at 9:15am 0 Comments 0 Likes
- Sadaf Kotwal of the Islamic Community Centre of Brossard helps serve dinner at the Old Brewery Mission on Christmas Eve.
"This is a time of giving and providing for those who cannot provide for themselves." Not an uncommon sentiment over the Christmas season. Words you're likely to hear in most church halls and sound bytes. They are the words of Islamic Society spokesman Saad Mohammed whom the…
Continue Stumbling Toward Vocation: A Catholic in Paradox or Just Awkward?
Posted on December 10, 2010 at 12:43pm 0 Comments 0 Likes
In the end formation is really the essence of humanity, isn't it? We can grapple with it in a number of ways but no matter what, it reflects an active engagement of one's humanity and ultimately responsibilities. I’m not alone in the opinion that formation more closely resembles process than the finality of a conversion experience. Finding its roots in the moral philosophy of the ancient Greeks and promulgated as a theme in every world religion, it is can be applied to individuals,…
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