As some of you know I have been quite busy lately on many, many fronts, one having to do with final projects and papers for my Masters in Pastoral Theology. I have three papers left and a 30 page report on a project. I should graduate this May. My project was a workshop that I held with the Church leaders on immigration, social justice, and the response of the Catholic Church and our parish to the growing population of Hispanics in the US. We ended the session with a healthy brainstorm on actions we could take to better serve the Hispanics in our parish and to unite the Hispanic and Anglo communities. The session went very well. To complete my project I have had to facilitate a series of theological reflections with the participants. I'm happy to say that I facilitated the last session tonight. Now it's time to write!
One of the added benefits of this process has been to meet some very nice and interesting people. Interestingly enough, what shocked and challenged the people I talked to was not what I presented, but the prejudicial and protectionist statements of some participants. How could Catholic members of our parish say such things about other members of our church? These Anglo members came face to face with what some minority groups face daily and it really challenged them to deal with intolerance. Because of a beautiful video I showed entitled "Dying to Live" the members were able to put a face to the issue of immigration. What a blessing to sit with others and reflect on how the Gospel challenges us to think and act differently. Well, I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the school work tunnel!
Technorati Tags: Catholic
I'm glad you see that light!
Prejudice is still alive and well, even in the Catholic community. What we need are leaders like yourself to challenge others when those kinds of statments/actions happen. I have found that if it's not challenged, then in a way, it's almost like condoning or agreeing with the other person. My youngest daughter is biracial, and as a result, our whole family has experienced prejudice. But, I've taught my girls to be polite yet firm when they find themselves in a situation where prejudicial or racial words or actions exists. That's not always an easy thing to do, but it's very necessary.
I would love to see that video, Hector, because I am certain it would challenge me.
Posted by: Valerie | March 03, 2006 at 08:05 AM
I live in a community that is becoming a majority Hispanic. This always has been an immigrant city, but used to be broken up into neighborhoods, Italian, Polish, Romanian, etc. Now, most of the shops in the down town are Hispanic shops, and many of the churches are struggling to serve this community. There is much prejudice to deal with, as the influx of immigrants have put a strain on the schools, lowered the test scores (I guess from many of the children not knowing English), gang activity has made the crime statistics very different than the surrounding communities. Many ordinance have been passed limiting the number of people who can live in each house, fines have been levied for homes not "kept up", and it is on the verge of an "us" vs. "them" situation.
Many people have moved away, but it seems it is the churches that are sincerely, determinedly continuing to reach out to the Hispanic community. When I was in health care, many of my clients were Hispanic, as I worked in a not-for-profit and the other clinics would refuse to treat uninsured people. I benefitted from this contact and was able to meet the people behind the "social issues".
The social impact is complicated, and the need for people like you, to build an understanding between people, not as a demographic group, but as living, breathing, loving, hurting, and vulnerable people. I congratulate you on this important work, and wish for more like you.
Posted by: Mary Poppins NOT (Renee) | March 03, 2006 at 11:59 AM
Valerie and Renee, thanks for your comments. This situation does have many difficult issues socially, economically, etc. as Renee mentioned. The gospels simply asks us to find a loving and accepting way to work through them in a loving way.
Posted by: Hector | March 03, 2006 at 09:55 PM
Hmm, very interesting. We have a lot of asians/ethiopean's who attend Mass at my parish,I often feel that we aren't doing all that we can to foster relations with them. The problem that I have found is that often, outside of Mass they dislike attending social events and programmes run by the parish, perhaps it is because they feel that such differences exist as those that you outline?
God Bless.
Posted by: ukok | March 04, 2006 at 12:15 PM