Due to a reported case of the Coronavirus in Olmsted County, we are suspending all events at the Spirituality Center until further notice. We are doing so as a precaution, in respect for the residents and staff at Assisi Heights.  Thank you for your understanding. Please check back often, as the situation may change.

The Sunflower – Book Discussion

April 16, 23, 30 6:30pm-8:00pm

$15 preregistered/prepaid.

While imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp, Simon Wiesenthal, the author, was taken from his work detail to the bedside of a dying SS member. Haunted by the crimes in which he participated, the soldier wanted to confess and seek forgiveness from a Jew. Wiesenthal was faced with the choice between compassion and justice, or silence and truth. Years after the war had ended, he pondered the question: Had he made the right choice? What would you have done in his place?

The book concludes with more than fifty responders in various fields — theologians, jurists, psychiatrists and survivors — weighing in on these questions in view of the current events of genocide. Their answers come from experience and career perspectives. What would you do?

Sister Sue Reif, moderator of this discussion, has been involved with Restorative Justice for nearly twenty years. She started an Office of Restorative Justice for the Diocese of San Bernardino, CA, and was executive director for “Healing Hearts, Restoring Hope” for those affected by homicide in the Los Angeles area. She serves on the Restorative Justice Committee for the California Catholic Conference of Bishops. In Rochester, she is employed by Madonna Towers and Catholic Charities.