Your Pastoral Coach

A Different Type of Eucharistic Adoration

I had a different type of Eucharistic Adoration tonight. Our Archbishop is sponsoring a week-long around the clock Eucharistic adoration at the cathedral praying for just and compassionate immigration laws. This was prompted by a bill that passed the US House of Representatives, and many that are pending at the state level that are enforcement-only bills and don't address any systemic problems or provide a way for immigrants that are now in the country to regularize their status. The Eucharistic Adoration I'm used to is mostly silent or with solemn prayers. When I got to the church I walked into a setting that had guitar players, people pouring their hearts out to Jesus in very expressive and passionate ways, people on their knees on the hard floor, and lots of kids playing in the back. It was what you would think of in terms of a gathering of Hispanics at church.

However, what struck me was the unified sense of pain and hope for God's mercy. There was a solidarity, a sense of unity in pain, that I had not felt before. We all prayed many psalms together and many prayers of mercy and help that had an added feeling of reality. The people gathered in church had actually spent time walking through the desert with not enough to eat and drink and with their rosaries in their hands. They had actually been hungry, naked, and in trouble. They had actually faced life threatening dangers. They had wondered into the desert leaving family and everything familiar to them behind so that they could eat and support their families back at home.

Many of the psalms were written expressing the agony and hope of a people on the move, a people on exile, a people suffering. Here I was in a room full of people on the move and threatened. The psalms became real, not just simply metaphors. For once, I got a sense of what it must have been like for the Jews to be in Egypt or Babylon. My heart was tender and yet, grateful to have experienced this moment of compassion and solidarity. Their cries to Jesus were real and impacting.

Technorati Tags: Justice

Reflecting on Hispanics in the USA and Church

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

One World, One Church, One Body

"Pope asks Christians to end discrimination against migrants: Pope Benedict XVI called on Christians to shun all forms of discrimination and welcome the migrants in their midst. Marking the Vatican's celebration of World Day for Migrants and Refugees Jan. 15, the pope called on people to recognize the benefits of migration and overcome "every form of discrimination, injustice and disdain for the human person, because each person is an image of God.""

I'm preparing to facilitate a session at church with the leaders of all councils and committees and the leaders of the Hispanic ministry (please pray that I can prepare well and it is fruitful). The aim of this session, which will take place next month, is to explore ways to improve our outreach to a growing Hispanic population and to find ways to unite both communities. Right now they behave as two completely independent people sharing one building. Because of all the attention in the media, the issue of immigration will come up and so I have been studying how the Catholic Church views it and what it asks of us.

The Spirituality of Solidarity

My 16-year old son is now bald.  He shaved his head this week.  Why?  He is not in a swim team, or in a gang, or too hot.  He did it as an act of loving solidarity with a relative who just lost her hair due to chemotherapy.  I asked him, are you doing this as some sort of sacrifice for God? An offering? Are you thinking that if you do this for her God may take pity and help?  No.  He is doing this because he loves her and he shares in her pain.  This is an act of solidarity.  It is a way for her to know that she is not alone, she belongs.

Why Must we Keep on Killing?

“Our witness to respect for life shines most brightly when we
demand respect for each and every human life, including the lives of
those who fail to show that respect for others. The antidote to violence
is love, not more violence.”
—USCCB, Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge
to American Catholics (Washington, DC: USCCB,
1998)

The last few state executions have really bothered me. After all these years tonight I finally watched the movie "Dead Man Walking" with tears in my eyes. I feel exhausted. We have now executed 1,000 people since 1976 and I get tired of so much killing. Some of these people may have been innocent, but that is not even what bothers me. Even if they committed terrible crimes, we can't use that to justify killing people. Sinful or not, we still need to honor the sanctity and dignity of their lives. We can't exactly control the killings by terrorists and by criminals, but we can control state sponsored killing.

We need to have the integrity to live our culture of life in all realms. I join Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and the US Bishops in calling for an end to the death penalty. They believe the death penalty is unjustified and unnecessary in our times and circumstances. We now have better means to protect society from a grave threat to human life.

"The new evangelization calls for followers of Christ who are unconditionally pro-life: who
will proclaim, celebrate and serve the Gospel of life in every situation. A sign of hope is the
increasing recognition that the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in
the case of someone who has done great evil. . . . I renew the appeal I made . . . for a con-
sensus to end the death penalty, which is both cruel and unnecessary."

Pope John Paul II

Technorati Tags: Catholic, Culture of Life, Justice

Please Sign Petition to Stop Darfur Genocide

Please go over the Coalition for Darfur blog and read the request from Professor Samuel Totten, editor of "A Century of Genocide: Critical Essays and Eyewitness Accounts." He needs 2,000 signatures to pressure the United Nations to take effective actions to stop the killings of innocent victims. Please help by signing the petition...

Thanks!

Technorati Tags: Darfur, Justice

We Are Called

Lauritz Ring

You have been told, O man,
what is good, and what the LORD requires of you:

We are called to act with justice...

We are called to love tenderly...

We are called to serve one another...

And to walk humbly with God...

Micah 6 : 6-8 and song We Are Called

This is one of my most favorite Old Testament passages. It reminds me of the fire and passion for justice I felt at a huge outside mass attended by thousands of students from Jesuit colleges before a peace march. I also love the song We Are Called performed by David Haas. What are we called to do? What is the "yes!" God seeks from us? It's simply this. We can humbly say yes to this calling, wether we are serving in El Salvador, Chicago, or any place we live and work. It seems simple, yet it requires courage to act with justice when it is not advantageous to us, it requires compassion to love tenderly when others oppose our work and our values, and it requires Divine love to serve one another when our heart hurts and we feel sad. It requires grace to do this as a humble servant, giving God all glory and all praise. Oh, how difficult to do the simple, oh how scary to surrender for love, to sacrifice what the world values; yet how sweet to live in the presence of the Lord, and to walk humbly with Him until we can't walk any longer.

Here I am Lord. I say yes my dear beloved. Please fill me with your Spirit until it spills, so I may serve you always. Thank your for calling...

Technorati Tags: Catholic, Justice, Life Purpose, Scripture Reflection

Giving Alms to Beggars

"There are those who say to the poor that they seem to look to be in such good health: "You are so lazy! You could work. You are young. You have strong arms."

You don't know that it is God's pleasure for this poor person to go to you and ask for a handout. You show yourself as speaking against the will of God.

There are some who say: "Oh, how badly he uses it!" May he do whatever he wants with it! The poor will be judged on the use they have made of their alms, and you will be judged on the very alms that you could have given but haven't."
St. John Vianney

I'm not always sure if I should actually give money or food directly to homeless people or beggars downtown, versus through organizations that provide support. This quote, courtesy of Julie D. from Happy Catholic, is very helpful. Please see her excellent post on this topic called Welcome to my Soap Box. From now on I will consistently give, particularly if I can also give love and a sense of dignity as well. Thanks Julie!

Technorati Tags: Catholic, Justice, Quotes

Honoring Rosa Parks

Today died Rosa Parks.  I'd like to honor and celebrate her life in gratitude.  I'm thankful for her example of living with integrity and for being a catalyst for change.  There's a great post in La Shawn Barber's Corner.

A New Beginning, a Banquet for All People

Loving Creator God,
We gaze in wonder
At the splendour of your creation
We see a banquet spread before us
Rich carpeted fields of yellowing grain
And overflowing baskets of ripe fruit
We see a banquet prepared for all peoples
Of fine wines and rich food
A generous feast for all to share


Show us how we can be ready for a new beginning
Help us to learn from your generosity
How to share our bread with the hungry
And open our hearts to the poor
To commit ourselves to preparing
A banquet for all peoples
A generous feast for all to share.

Source: Linda Jones, Catholic Agency for Overseas Development

Technorati Tags: Catholic, Justice, Quotes