REFLECTION

TO BE THANKFUL!

Thanking is what the old person does for the years of life that God has given him; giving thanks for who he has loved and how much he has suffered. 

Thanking is what the poor person does when he understands that his life depends on God and God´s providence.  Thanking is what the young person does, conscious of his possibilities and his future: for all there is to do, to love, and to enjoy. Thanking is what the rich person does for his goods and his prosperity. We all have reasons to give thanks: to God, to family and to friends who are always there, to acquaintances and strangers who enter, pass through, and leave our lives every day. Let us end the year closing our eyes in a moment of gratitude and say a profound “Thank you!”

Surgery for a Dominican Child in Barcelona

Little José Mario Ramírez from Sabana Yegua (Dominican Republic) was born with a problem with his legs, amyoplasia congenita, which is a severe deformity resulting from restricted fetal movement in the womb.  He has never been able to walk.  He is now seven years old and in spite of the fact that he is able to move around aided by his hands and feet, his situation is still very sad.  A little more than a year ago, through a volunteer from Barcelona who visited the Dominican Republic, we contacted the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, a wonderful teaching pediatric hospital in Barcelona, owned by the Hospital Order of the Brothers of St. John of God. Their CUIDAM program (http://www.cuidam.org/en/about_us/) is dedicated to making it easier for children with serious problems, from all over the world, to be brought to the hospital in Barcelona for world class treatment.

We were fortunate and blessed that just a few months ago a doctor from that hospital traveled to the Dominican Republic to conduct an orthopedic surgery workshop and was able to evaluate José Mario, who was then designated for a future intervention.  Finally, the child and his mother traveled to Barcelona in October 2014.  He was evaluated by doctors who are presently correcting the position of his foot with casts for seven weeks.  When this process is finished, they will operate on his foot and hips.  We hope and pray that when all of his treatment finishes, he will be able to walk.  

We thank everyone who has been part of this accomplishment; our collaborators at the hospital and CUIDAM as well as all the friends and volunteers who are accompanying and helping this child and his mother during his stay in Spain. We are also thankful to all who have prayed for the success of this endeavor. One of the joys of our work is that, although we are small in number and scattered geographically, through our network of caring and generous friends and volunteers, with their relationships and resources, we are able to achieve miraculous stories like this one with José Mario.

REFLECTION

Christmas: The Feast of God's Empathy

Ricardo Martín 

At Christmas God becomes human. God deeply wishes to embrace the human experience and becomes one like us. In modern terms, Christmas could be called the celebration of God’s empathy. Empathy is the ability to understand reality the way another person experiences it. To exercise the gift of empathy means to be able to walk in the other person’s shoes and understand and share that person’s view, and feelings, without judging. Empathy requires our own ability to be open to our own emotions. I believe it is a wonderful way to reflect about Christmas: God deeply desires to share the great human adventure with us. God becomes human in radical openness to us and to our emotions, struggles and joys. God shows absolute empathy towards us.

Any liturgical celebration comes with a call, a mission attached to it. We contemplate and celebrate mystery of the Nativity, at the same time that we embrace the call to empathy. If God has become human as an act of absolute empathy towards us, we are also called to become more human. We become more human as long as we are able to show empathy to others. We are called to understand, rather than to judge; we are called to share in joys and anxieties, rather than undermine other’s experiences; we are called to listen and communicate, the way God listens and communicates with us.

Christmas shows us the passion with which God exercises empathy towards us. At the Christmas Midnight Mass we will read Paul’s letter to Titus, where it says that God seeks a people passionate for doing what is right. We are invited to be people of empathy with the same passion God shows empathy in the mystery of the Nativity—which is the same passion with which Jesus—the God made human—will live the rest of his life.

From this blog we want to wish a Blessed Christmas to all the benefactors and friends of the Community of Saint Paul. May it be an opportunity for all of us to become more human, sharing in God’s empathy towards us.    

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

BISHOP DON HYING VISITS LA SAGRADA FAMILIA PARISH IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

During the first week of December, Auxiliary Bishop Donald Hying of Milwaukee was able to visit La Sagrada Familia in the Dominican Republic for a few days. Bishop Hying served as a priest in the parish from 1994 to 1997, and had not yet been back to visit since his episcopal ordination. He was delighted to return to his old parish, to see many friends and to visit the Community of Saint Paul and the new ministries and programs that now take place there. It was a very joyful visit.

Just ten days before traveling to the Dominican Republic, Bishop Hying learned that the Holy Father has appointed him as the new Bishop of Gary, Indiana. From here we would like to extend our congratulations and assurance of prayers as he moves into this new ministry in the Church.

REFLECTION

ADVENT: FOR WHAT ARE WE PREPARING?
Javier Guativa

We all know that the season of Advent, which means “coming,” tells us of the Incarnation, the worldly beginning of Jesus. But, often less recognized, is another meaning of Advent, which is the telling of the “coming” of the end, the “second coming” of the Lord, which will complete the history of salvation and be the beginning of the eternal season, beyond our measure of time, in which God will be all in all.  The Lord has come and will come. So, to cultivate vigilance and to embrace these occasions of encounter with Jesus, the Church has developed this rich liturgical season.

Although the liturgical texts of Advent express the season with a unified presentation, especially through the daily readings of the prophet Isaiah, Advent can be divided into two parts, each with a particular importance.

COMMUNITY OF SAINT PAUL’S PRESENCE IN ETHIOPIA IN THE MILWAUKEE CATHOLIC HERALD

The Community of St. Paul is generally well-known within the Archdiocese of Milwaukee for the pastoral activities of the Community’s nine priests that who have been ordained here.  Seven of these men serve currently within the archdiocese and its mission parish in the Dominican Republic (La Sagrada Familia), while the other two work full time for the CSP outside the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The Community includes not only priests but also committed laity, both men and women. The following article, which appeared recently in the Catholic Herald (the weekly archdiocesan paper) reports on the missionary activities of two women members of the Community, María José Morales and Gemma Regales, and their new apostolate in Meki, Ethiopia. The publication of this article is an excellent opportunity to reflect gratefully on the apostolic work performed by all of these lay women missionaries and to pray for an increase in Community vocations for lay women.

WALKING FOR EDUCATION, IN MILWAUKEE AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

On Saturday, October 25, the second Annual Walk for Catholic Education took place in Milwaukee. While enjoying a beautiful autumn day and a festive setting, more than 9,000 people walked two miles in support for the Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Those who participated were also supporting the education programs that the Archdiocese’s sister parish, La Sagrada Familia, promotes in the Dominican Republic.

While the walk was taking place in Milwaukee, a group of Dominican students in Sabana Yegua walked in solidarity for the same cause, also supporting quality education for all.  We could say that the walk started in the North… and continued in the South!

MICROLOANS IN SABANA YEGUA

Florinda Ramírez has a very small shop. Even though it’s not yet her dream business, she is getting income to help her big family. She sells the basic food for the typical daily meal in her small community: salt, rice, spices, tomato sauce...plus some chicken on a good day. She also sells a few convenience items, such as candy and bagged snacks, that are special treats to enjoy from time to time.

Florinda is part of a group of 25 women who are receiving microloans of around 250 USD, which are expected to be paid back in less than a year. They all have small businesses like beauty shops and shops selling food and clothing. Importantly, through these small loans, these enterprising women have entered into the credit system with the bank, the beginning of an important business relationship. The women operate collaboratively within a support group of five per village community. They have been able to acquire more products to expand and improve their businesses and are making their payments in a punctual manner. Additionally the 25 women have participated in a course about starting small businesses, facilitated by INFOTEP (a Government organization), whereby they have deepened their knowledge necessary to manage a small business. For example, all of these microloans were initiated by the preparation of modest business plans.

REFLECTION 

YEAST IN THE DOUGH: BEYOND ELITISM AND UNCRITICAL ASSIMILATION

Every Christian community, and indeed the Church as a whole, is always at risk of falling into what we could call “spiritual elitism”: the belief that since we are trying to follow the Gospel we are better than others. Naturally, it would be an unfortunate contradiction to think that we are superior to anyone by virtue of a message that invites us to be servants of all and to discover God’s presence in every person.  But in the attempt to move away from elitism we could fall into the opposite extreme: as we strive to become involved in (and in no way “above”) the reality around us, we dissolve ourselves in it. This happens when in the necessary process of “embracing the world,” so characteristic of the spirit fostered by Vatican II, we lose the originality that comes from the Gospel. Then we lose the ability to contribute constructively to the criticism that so many aspects of our societies actually need. By believing that in order to avoid elitism we must uncritically assimilate all the cultural, ideological, political and social categories of everyone around us (including injustice, racism, lack of care for the poor… just to name a few), we lose the Gospel itself.

The fact is that as followers of Jesus we do have a peculiar way of being in the world. And yes, it is legitimate to contribute to the development of society with our Christian perspective. How to do this without falling into elitism?

WHERE 70 USED TO EAT, 100 NOW EAT

With the beginning of the new school year in San José Child Development Community Center in Jardines de San Juan Ajusco, Mexico City, we have begun a campaign to fill the classrooms of the center to maximum capacity. We are walking down each one of the streets in the neighborhood in search of children younger than six years old who are not using the center.  We want to know who is not coming, and make it possible for them to benefit from the services that our project offers for complete development in early childhood.

In this process of going from house to house, we arrived at the home of Elvira, a skinny woman of slight stature and tan skin with one of those special smiles that makes others smile. Her precarious home has a canvas roof already quite rotted by the rain and stinging sun found at these high altitudes. The walls are made of unfinished wood and an entirely dirt floor. Like the majority of homes of this haphazard neighborhood settlement, they don’t have electricity, potable water or a sewer system. Now that the season of cold and constant rains is beginning, they have to look for a way to protect themselves. They stay warm with a wood fire inside of the house and they use a bucket to collect the water from the leaks in the roof in order to wash themselves.

Elvira lives with her spouse and four year old son, Emilio.  Emilio is always with his mother, who goes to work washing dishes in the home of a woman of the same neighborhood.  The boy doesn't go to any sort of school, center or daycare.  In our conversation with Elvira, we realized that the reason she doesn’t take her child to the center is because of fear that one day Emilio will be kidnapped .

At the beginning of our visit, Elvira appeared to be full of the doubts and anxieties of a mother worried about being separated from her child during the day in what can sometimes be a dangerous neighborhood.  And because of this, she did not want to accept the invitation to bring Emilio to the San José Center so that he could enjoy the benefits of a preschool education along with the child nutrition program.  But, in the end, she told us that she wanted the best for her child and that she will fight so that Emilio has the best opportunities possible for a quality of life that is better than the one they are presently living.

Over a two month period we have managed to invite Emilio along with other boys and girls of the neighborhood around the San José center who are now receiving education, food, and psychological attention, establishing the foundations for their future as persons and members of their society.

At the end of the past year, there was an average of 70 children attending the San José Center. Now with the new campaign, we have already reached 99 students enrolled for the 2014-2015 year.  We have learned that in these social conditions, it is not enough to just open the doors so that these children can benefit from our project.  It is necessary to go door to door in order to invite them and help the parents to understand the benefits for their children’s education, nutrition, and development.

As long as there are still families like that of Elvira and Emilio who have to live in such unhealthy and dangerous conditions, we will continue promoting  educational development and improving the quality of life for families who most need it in Jardines de San Juan Ajusco.

Yomaira Cordero and Fany Arguello

Michael Wolfe Admitted as a Candidate for Ordination

On Sunday, October 26, Michael Wolfe was admitted as a candidate for ordination to Holy Orders together with his three classmates at Saint Francis de Sales Seminary in Milwaukee.  The Rite of Admission to Candidacy is an important step in that it offers the candidate for ordination the opportunity to express his desire and intention to receive ordination. The candidates were accepted by Bishop Donald Hying within a mass in the seminary’s chapel.  This is their last major step in seminary formation before the diaconate ordination scheduled for April 2015. 

REFLECTIONS OF A PILGRIM

The long-lasting relationship of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee with La Sagrada Familia Parish has grown into something very special for me and for my parish. Two years ago the people of La Sagrada Familia welcomed a small group from Holy Apostles Parish (New Berlin, Milwaukee) into their lives. It couldn’t have been more appropriate for that visit to have been during Pentecost as I’ve never felt the Holy Spirit more than when I was there. I fell in love with the people and their spirit has never left me.

Although life and living conditions are different than mine, I’ve never felt so at home and so I returned a second time.

I have a clouded memory of the many challenges the people there face because at the forefront of my memory is the people’s spirit. To name a few of the challenges, inadequate housing, education, healthcare, child care, jobs, food and water. I don’t intend to skip over or to minimize the challenges of life there, but I hesitate to expand on details. Please know and be aware that the challenges are real and many. Basic human dignities are lacking and much help is needed. When I reflect on my time there, however, I dwell on the hope and faith of how the people deal with the challenges, not on the challenges themselves.

REFORESTATION AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN BOLIVIA

Talk about long range planning! According Montserrat Madrid, the Community of St. Paul member who works with peasant communities in the Highlands of Bolivia, in 2006 the CSP initiated a reforestation project in the high plateaus of the Andean mountains in Cochabamba (Bolivia) to improve the quality of life for the people of this zone and to reverse the deforestation of the region that began almost 500 years ago. Deforestation has been occurring since the Spanish colonial era, when the region began to receive more population. Because of the high altitude forests are very slow growth, the needs for housing, cooking, building and mining structures began the process of deforestation which also accelerated in the last two hundred years because of overcrowding and many more people consuming the timber for firewood. At the same time, there was no effort to manage the local forests and to reforest.

It’s not as simple as planting seedlings and sitting down to wait for fifteen or twenty years to begin harvesting the new pine trees. First came the feasibility tests for a tree nursery at the high elevation (3666 meters = 12,027 feet). Then, gradually, came the necessary infrastructure for such a project: water springs, canals, water tanks, tool sheds, technical advisers, recruiting and organizing 37 local land-holding participants and planning the layout of reforestation areas for each of these community participants.

REFLECTION

TEAM WORK IN THE CHURCH 

(Thoughts about the readings for the 29^th Sunday in Ordinary Time)

This Sunday’s second reading is from the letter of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians (1 Thes 1:1-5b). Did you know that this letter is the most ancient New Testament writing we have? Yes, among the letters of Saint Paul we have in the New Testament, 1^st Thessalonians is dated to be the oldest. And because Paul wrote before the evangelists, this letter is the first New Testament writing that mentions Jesus.

It is very interesting to note that at the beginning of the letter, the initial greeting is not made by Paul alone. Silvanus and Timothy together with Paul are the senders of this letter to the church in Thessalonica. I found this to be a great teaching for our Church today. In our time personal achievement is so overemphasized; here you have a “team” working for the Church at its origins. Every time we think about the letters of Paul we think of them as coming from one single author. Well, it may be that Paul wrote them from his own hand and the letter was composed mostly by his words, but the greeting of 1^st Thessalonians suggests an interesting nuance. Paul was part of a team, and although he might have been the leader, he was evangelizing along with others. If you read the rest of the letter you would notice that he uses the pronoun we instead of I.  This letter was the message of a team of leaders, which together were founding churches for the glory of God.

How do we understand this in our reality today? How do we work in the Church? We should aim to work as a team, and enjoy our faith as one team too. Actually that is the meaning of Church: we are an assembly that is constituted by many. It may be that for society we are “individuals,” but for God we are a family, a Church. Society will expect for us to be individuals; that is the presumption of Caesar’s tax law: each one ought to pay. But for God we are a family; a community of brothers and sisters that help each other and whose problems and loads are shared, not individualized. Let us then give to God what he expects from us, to be a community and to serve others; and let us follow the example of Paul, Silvanus and Timothy and leave behind any personal merit. 

José Mario Nieto

SABANA YEGUA HEALTHCARE VOLUNTEERS LEARN TO FIGHT CHIKUNGUNYA OUTBREAK

Sabana Yegua’s network of home-based community First Aid centers and the volunteer leaders that host these “walk-in clinics” have been called upon to fight an urgent new healthcare menace, the epidemic of the mosquito-borne Chikungunya virus. The virus, long a problem in Africa and Asia, has only recently become established among Caribbean mosquitoes. The Pan American Health Organization says there have been at least 1 million cases throughout the Western Hemisphere. The Dominican Republic’s health ministry estimates nearly 500,000 people have sickened by Chikungunya since the introduction of the disease only a few months ago.

The chikungunya virus causes extreme joint pain, severe rashes, fevers and headaches and other flu-like symptoms. 90% of these bitten by an infected mosquito usually develop symptoms within 4-7 days. Though rarely fatal, the diseases symptoms are so severe for up to a week that the patient is unable to carry on routine daily activities. Much absenteeism from school and work occurs. Also the elderly and infants are a risk of complications.

REFLECTION

A MARRIAGE FEAST

A marriage feast is another image Jesus uses to talk about the Kingdom of God. A feast where God will provide for all peoples rich food and choices of wine! That sounds good like a nice party! The Hebrews, like other peoples of the ancient Near East, were enormously fond of social feasting. Nevertheless the parable that we read in today’s Gospel (Mt 22,1-14) contains one of the most enigmatic passages on the Gospel: the guest without the wedding garment? How can we interpret this passage, which left us somehow with a bittersweet flavor? Some answer may be found if we take a look at the historical context of the parable.

A marriage feast included wine drinking, as we see in the story of Cana. And if the banquet was large a second invitation was usually sent on the day of the feast, and also a servant escorted the invitees to the feast. The host welcomed the guests with a kiss, and their feet were washed because of the dusty roads (remember the story of Jesus and the woman that washes his feet in the house of the Pharisee that invited him for a banquet?). Following this, the guest’s head was anointed, as well as sometimes his beard, his feet and his clothing. The people invited were seated according to their respective rank and their hands were washed. But the most relevant event for us now is that when someone was invited to a marriage feast and banquet, the host of the feast provided robes and garments for the guests, which were worn in his honor and as a token of his regard. Here we have the problem! This guest didn’t want to use the garment that the host gave him to wear!

I believe we do that sometimes. When God invited us to his feast of life, he gave us a garment; the garment that God’s children must use, a garment made out of love and mercy. How often do we use that garment? Do we use it at all? If we have answered a yes to his invitation, it would be nice if we use the garment he gave us to wear in honor of Him, who is all love and all mercy!

José Mario Nieto

CELEBRATING THE NEW YEAR IN ETHIOPIA

María José Morales has been in Ethiopia almost two years, where the Community of St. Paul, in cooperation with the Apostolic Vicariate of Meki, has initiated several new apostolates in the areas of Health, Promotion of Women, Education, Rural Access to Water and participation in the Vicariate’s Pastoral Coordination. She shares with us one of the cultural peculiarities of this interesting country.

"This past September 11, we celebrated a very special feast in Ethiopia: the arrival of the new year.  Here we have just begun 2007!

“Indeed in Ethiopia we continue using the Julian Calendar, established in the year 46 BC by Julius Caesar (to which it owes its name).  It has 12 months of 30 days, and one month of 5 days –or six each 4 years. According to the Julian Calendar, a year = 365.25 days.

AGORA XXI: OUR BLOG DEBUTS ITS NAME

We began this blog two years ago. Since then, it has been a means through which we have been regularly sharing information related with the Community of Saint Paul: meetings, priestly ordinations, news from the places where we are working, pastoral initiatives, projects of human development that we are carrying out… Likewise, we have shared short reflections about life, faith and the Gospel with those who follow us.  Also, as of a few months ago, we have included more extensive articles about the Church, society and the challenges that our world raises for us.  As such, this blog has become a forum by which we keep in contact with many friends, followers, benefactors and supporters spread throughout the world. Today, we wish to give it a new impulse, “baptizing” it with the name that you see on the screen: Agora XXI.

Of course, the word agora was used in ancient Greece to refer to the public space or square, in the middle of the city, that served as a place of encounter and dialogue for all the citizens.  Why have we chosen this name for our blog?

As they are expressed in our statutes, among the objectives of the Community of Saint Paul is the following: “To promote the spirit of dialogue with the world according to the Second Vatican Council.” We are convinced that both the civil world as well as the Church need to constantly recall the hope in dialogue that the Council promoted: only persons and groups with a sincere desire to converse amongst themselves, and with those who think differently, will know how to find the ways to peace, justice and solidarity.  And so that such a dialogue may develop, it is necessary to create settings, fora, agoras, where we can sit and listen to the other. This is the reason for our name: we hope that, from its simplicity, this blog of the Community of Saint Paul may be a space of open and peaceful conversation for today, for the 21^st century.

We hope that you enjoy our blog, and that our new agora may be, truly, a place of encounter and sincere dialogue. 

BUILDING PEWS AND BUILDING FRIENDSHIPS

Summers are exciting times at our La Sagrada Familia parish.  Many small groups of volunteers come each year to share their time, talents and love, helping us with various activities...including medical assistance, building projects and social services.  Others come just to give witness to their support and love for the people of our parish.  This June, however, something new was added!  For the very first time our volunteers were not adults, but were teenagers.  This highly energized band of motivated boys and girls are from Fond du Lac's Holy Family Parish. The visit was arranged with the cooperation of the staff of the Mission’s Office of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. These young adventurers came on a mission to share their talents and their love, expecting to experience the differences of culture and living conditions. Little did they know they would get more than they ever expected.

The eleven boys worked shoulder to shoulder with the youth of the small community of Proyecto 2C, home to about 370 families, totaling about 1,400 persons. Together they were able to erect a perimeter fence for the chapel property and construct twenty-six pews within the chapel.  They anticipated doing this work, seeing a little of a difference side of life and, then, go home. What they experienced was much more...they built a physical fence and  wooden pews but also they built a surprising friendship with the local community.

The fifteen girls worked in the community's important nutrition center and also taught the young children how to play some new games.  They saw the importance, especially in a land of difficult living conditions, of providing young children with wholesome food, teaching good hygiene habits and developing interactive social and leadership skills through playing. Like the boys, by the end of the weeklong mission, the barriers of culture and language, which seemed so enormous at the beginning of the week, were worn away.  By the end of their stay, everyone was completely at ease with their local counterparts and their surroundings....just like home.  All was cool.

At the end of the week, deemed by all to be a grand experience, a festive Youth Mass was celebrated at a Caribbean beach with all the youth from the parish sharing the table of the Lord with the visiting group.  Included were lots of hugs and high fives!

REFLECTION

The Invisible Poverty of Immigrants

Many of us have been devoted to pastoral work with Hispanic immigrants in the state of Wisconsin, some for over 20 years, and we have come to know a great number of stories and memories which would take too many pages to tell. These are amazing stories of strength, determination and effort in order to build a better future.

The pastoral care of immigrants through Catholic parishes has allowed us to get to know many Hispanic families and their struggles, joys, achievements and, many times, their frustrations. Numerous studies have been published about their social, cultural and economic dynamics, as well as their difficult process of integration to the US society.

But until I had the opportunity to live and work among them, I did not realize something that almost all of these families have in common. I am not referring to their fragile legal situation, or their faith beliefs and traditions, or their cultural identity. It is something common to both those few who have thrived in the US, and the many who struggle every day to feed their families, keep their humble homes and pay their bills, those who sacrifice themselves so that their sons and daughters, one day, may accomplish their dreams in the “country of opportunities.”

When these people crossed the southern border of the US hoping for a better life, both for themselves and especially for their children, they left something paramount behind, on “the other side.”  Something you cannot replicate, as you can do with your favorite dishes, music, clothing or religious devotions. This “something” are people. They left behind their parents and grandparents, their elders.

At any given Sunday, if you walk into a Spanish Mass in the US, you will notice the lack of elderly people in the pews. The Church is filled with young people, children and hardworking adults who toil themselves tirelessly to better the lives of their families. But we hardly find any elders. Where are they? They were left behind, in the towns and villages where our immigrants came from, refusing to risk a journey that made no sense to them, or which they simply couldn’t make. Over and over again we have witnessed the split that divides families as a result of emigration: we see families living in the US that have not seen their elders for five, ten or even twenty years, in spite of the fact that they live a mere 3 hours flight time away from one another.

On the other hand, if you go into Mexico or other countries further south, you will find plenty of elderly people who have not seen their children for decades, with the exception of the opportunities offered nowadays by social networks. Working in towns and communities in these places, we have been able to meet some of these people, and they tell us about the journeys their loved ones once decided to risk in their route to the North. Their parents have not been able to witness their children’s weddings, nor have they ever met their sons and daughters in law, or been able to embrace their grandchildren. We meet mothers who will never be able to stand next to their daughters when they give birth to the children who will make up the next generation, in the same way, on “the other side,” we talk to young adults who know that they will never make it to their parent’s funeral, and children who will grow up without ever meeting their grandparents.

Walking with the Hispanic community of Southeastern Wisconsin, I have met those who risked themselves for a new life in this country, but I have learned to see the emptiness felt by those who are missing. In addition to material poverty due to poor employment, lack of health security or legal status, I have come to know an invisible but real poverty: the absence of the elders.

In any society, elders contribute a great deal to family life. Whether they are our parents, grandparents, uncles and aunties or simply neighbors, they share their life experience and wisdom through their presence among us. They give advice, listen to us, give us a hand or sometimes are simply there in all instances of life, at celebrations, or when we cry or tire because of our daily struggles.

Their absence becomes an additional burden that impoverishes this generation of people who, not that long ago, crossed a border dreaming of a better life. Fighting to make family reunions possible is not just a matter of justice. It is a necessity in order to give stability to millions of families in which the men and women of the future are being born and raised.

Pablo Cirujeda

DIRECTOR OF MISSIONS OFFICE FROM MILWAUKEE VISITS SISTER PARISH IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Last March Ms. Antoinette Mensah, the new Director of the Missions Office of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, visited the sister parish of the archdiocese in Sabana Yegua. La Sagrada Familia Parish, which has been under the pastoral care of priests of the Community of Saint Paul since 2003, has had a partnership with the Archdiocese of Milwaukee for more than 30 years. Ms. Mensah had the chance to visit most towns in the parish, to get to know directly the work being carried out there and to spend time with many parishioners who live out their faith by being responsible of a variety of ministries. She was impressed with the diversity of activities happening there, and it was obvious that with her visit the bonds of friendship and solidarity between Milwaukee and Sabana Yegua were strengthened once again. 

ORDINATION IN MILWAUKEE

On Saturday, May 17, José Mario Nieto Restrepo of the Community of Saint Paul was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee by Archbishop Jerome Listecki.  José Mario was ordained with five others: three who studied with him at Saint Francis de Sales Seminary in Milwaukee, and two who are finishing their studies at the North American College in Rome.

José has been a member of the Community of Saint Paul for almost ten years.  The first five were spent in the Dominican Republic, where the Community has a formation house and runs La Sagrada Familia, the Sister Parish of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.  He now completes another five years in formation and studies at Saint Francis de Sales, graduating with both a Master of Divinity, and a Master of Arts in Theology from Sacred Heart School of Theology, where the Archdiocese sends its seminarians for academic studies. 

After his ordination, José Mario celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving at Saint Richard Parish in Racine, Wisconsin, which was his Teaching Parish during his formation in the seminary.  The priests from the Community and others from Milwaukee concelebrated with him, and many friends attended the Mass.  Also, some of his family was able to travel to Milwaukee to be present at both the ordination and the Mass of Thanksgiving and the other celebrations.  The following week he traveled home to celebrate another Mass of Thanksgiving in his home parish of San Antonio de Padua in Cereté, Colombia. He was joined by friends and family in Colombia, as well as some members of the Community of Saint Paul, and other priests and friends from Milwaukee who travelled there for the occasion.

Congratulations, José Mario! 

IN DEPTH

THE CHURCH WE BELIEVE IN

In recognition of the 50 anniversary of the beginning of the Second Vatican Council, last year the Community of Saint Paul sponsored a series of talks on this important event together with Sacred Heart Parish in Racine. We offer here the last talk, given by Pere Cané, president of the Community of Saint Paul. 

Any attempt to talk nowadays about the Second Vatican Council presents several problems. The first one is that we should never assume that the documents have been read; the actual texts produced by the Council are little known.

The second problem would be that even in the case that the documents have been read, there is often a variety of ways that they are interpreted. Not just because of people’s own ideological stances, but also because the texts are not helpful in this regard, being some of them the result of a compromise between the two main tendencies present at the assembly, known as “the majority” and the “minority.”

REFLECTION

HAPPY LENTEN SEASON!

On March 5 we celebrated Ash Wednesday, and with it, we started the season of Lent.  The word Lent in Spanish (Cuaresma) and other languages comes from the word for forty (cuarenta) and indicates the days that are between Ash Wednesday until Easter.  It’s a time of preparation, just as in Advent when we prepare ourselves for Christmas. Lent is a time of reflection, analysis and of valuing honestly our attitudes, our decisions, our commitment. It is time of entering into dialogue with ourselves and with God the Father in prayer, in a sincere, honest way without fooling ourselves with excuses or justifying our actions.  It’s a time of admitting who we are without being afraid of facing ourselves in the mirror even though we may not like what we see.

We know that God doesn’t punish, but rather is compassionate with us. Let us not be afraid of recognizing what kind of person we are, remembering that we are all in the same boat. Here, there are no “good” or “bad,” pure and impure, first or second class citizens. We all share the same human condition, and by it we are able to do acts of generosity that make the world a little better. But we also have our miseries and our selfishness. Each one of us has to discover these two dimensions. If I only see the negative things, I’ll have to look deeper in my heart. And if I only see my positive side but find it difficult to identify my own struggles, I’m also fooling myself, and I’m not examining myself honestly.  Sometimes we need other people, especially those persons that live with us and know us best, who with love, understanding and respect can tell us that which we should better in our lives.

From these lines then, we extend an invitation to live out Lent as that time of reflection not geared to break us down, or to depress us or to lose hope with regard to our struggles or those of others. The season of Lent is meant to be ready to celebrate Easter, celebrate that Life has defeated death through the Resurrection of Jesus, and we can celebrate it in a healthy way, accepting our virtues so that we can strengthen them, but also our weaknesses so as to be able to change them.

The season of Lent is a time of reflection for each one of us to know our interior, to look at ourselves in the mirror. It doesn’t have to be a sad or bitter time. Instead, may it be a time of joy and acceptance, because we celebrate that the more we know ourselves and accept ourselves, the easier it will be for us to change.

Happy Lent!

Esteve Redolad

REFLECTION

Simeon and Anna, a generation of hope

“Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation.” (LK 2:29-30)

We all know that history – all history – moves towards its destination with ups and downs along the road, like when driving along a country road we are sometimes able to see the horizon widening in front of us from on top of the hills, and while when down in the valleys – some of them deep and long – we may lose perspective all together. It is precisely when we find ourselves driving in the valleys that we need to stay on track and be careful not to lose sight of our goals when our destination is no longer visible and has become a mere promise, even though we know that sooner or later the horizon will become visible once more in all its splendor and show us the way.

Only Luke features in his Gospel the story of rather pretty unknown characters, two elderly persons, Simeon and Anna, who were living in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus’ birth. Their lives had been devoted entirely to the fulfillment of God’s promises for his people, promises of consolation, nearness and salvation. Both are filled with great joy when meeting with this child, born just about 40 days earlier in a little town in Judea, and they are able to see in him the light that illuminates the wide horizon that they for so long had been yearning to see once more …

Retreat for Members of the CSP Lead by Bishop Sklba

Twenty five members and friends of the Community of Saint Paul gathered from January 13 through 21 at the Siena Center in Racine, Wisconsin for our annual week of retreat. It was facilitated by Bishop Richard Sklba, retired auxiliary bishop of Milwaukee.  Focusing on the theme “The Prophetic Call,” he guided us through Scripture so that we could mirror our own lives, both as individuals and as a community, in the lives of the biblical prophets.  We were invited to ask ourselves the questions that the prophets asked themselves: Who am I/are we in this day and age?; Where do I/we find God today?; What are the signs of the times around us?; How can I/we witness to God’s love in our present day world?

Above all, we learned that our prophetic call invites us to find God every single day, including in situations not always of our liking and when carrying out tasks not always of our choosing.

It was a privilege to enjoy the hospitality of the Racine Dominicans who run the center, to be nourished by Bishop Sklba’s wisdom, and to share for a few days as a community while some of our members experienced the cold Wisconsin winter for their first time!

The following link will take you to an article of Bishop Sklba in which he mentions the days we shared together, published shortly after our retreat in the “Catholic Herald,” Milwaukee’s Archdiocesan paper.  http://www.chnonline.org/herald-of-hope/bishop-richard-j-sklba

Thank you Bishop Sklba!

IV WRITING CONTEST IN SABANA YEGUA (DOMINICAN REPUBLIC)

To continue the on-going tradition, a month ago the IV Literary Contest was held in Sabana Yegua. The theme of this contest was “Take care of the Earth”, with the idea of promoting environmental awareness and the love of nature, while promoting the love of writing and reading. Eighteen prizes were giving in the age categories of children, youth and adults. Many of the participants are members of the Sabana Yegua Parish Library, who attended the event a bit nervous expecting their work to be the winner. The photo below is of the prize winners. Once again, the contest was something simple but important in that it brings out the interest for writing of many children and youth within our communities. 

DOCUMENTARY ON THE WORK OF THE COMMUNITY OF SAINT PAUL IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

A 26-minute documentary has been produced to share the work of the Community of Saint Paul and La Sagrada Familia Parish in the Dominican Republic. It contains the activities and projects that we are carrying out in the area of Sabana Yegua (Azua) as well as the challanges that the people their face.  The documentary was generously produced free of charge by the company CREARSA (www.crearsa.com), to whom we are grateful.  Click the link here to see the documentary.

CSP DR Documentary - YOUTUBE