4th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Friends,
We made a good decision, canceling Mass for one weekend. When people work
six days a week, sometimes you just have to change your schedule.
So this past Sunday we scrubbed and scrubbed, walls and window frames and
doors and the ceiling of our friends’ little casita. We rested and had
pizza, and then we painted. We discussed whether the ceiling required two
coats
of paint (two hands of paint, in Spanish. Dos manos). And finally we
looked around us with satisfaction. “No es perfecto, pero es mejor,” we
said. It’s not perfect, but it’s better. White walls, white ceiling,
gray furnace box. It does look better.
And all morning long as we scrubbed, and I periodically changed the
water in each person’s bucket, asking each time, “Quieras agua con sopa,
o agua pura?” nobody, NOBODY told me that I was asking if they wanted
soup in the water, not soap!
As we worked, the man we call Capo sang softly to himself. “Alleluia, alleluia...”
And I think it was holy work.
What
does it say to your soul if each morning you wake up to squalor? What
does that tell you about who you are, what you deserve? And what if you
are working long hours, six days a week, standing up all day, and that’s
still all you get? I think it’s a little hard to believe that you’re
“walking around shining like the sun,” as Thomas Merton said we all are.
I remember seventeen years ago when I was working as a lab
technician and trying to buy the house I live in, now. I offered what I
could, and got turned down twice. Around the same time, I learned that
my co-worker, a post-doc, was earning almost exactly twice what I was.
It felt like a message from the world at large: that’s all you’re worth.
I remember the socked-in-the-gut feeling: I work so hard, and I can’t
even buy a modest city house? My experience was just a tiny taste of
what our friends live with, year after year. (and how wonderful it felt,
when at last my offer was accepted, and I became a home-owner).
So this cleaning and painting is about a lot of things. It’s about
health and dignity and self-worth. It’s about respect, and hope. Doing
it together, we begin to see what’s possible. Look, oh look, what love
can do. Love and elbow grease.
Thank you to everyone who helped, especially Caroline Kristofferson
who gave her Sunday to this work. Thanks to Kevin Slough who donated
paint, and Jane Bleeg who gave some rugs, and everyone who sent money.
You have made a difference in one tiny corner of the world. Capo said,
“How can we pay you back?” Oh, that’s simple, dear friends. Just know in
your bones that you are shining like the sun.
Love and light to all,
Chava
PS In the course of moving
furniture to the middle of the room, a bookshelf got broken. They were
using it for a home altar as well as storage of school supplies. It was
about three feet high, a three-shelf unit. If anyone has a bookshelf to
donate, please let me know!
_____________________________________________________
Oscar Romero Church
A Community of Liberation, Justice and Joy
Worshiping in the Catholic Tradition
Mass: Sundays, 11 am
St Joseph's House of Hospitality, 402 South Ave, Rochester NY 14620
Monday, January 30, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Bulletin for Sunday, January 22, 2012
3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
NO MASS THIS WEEKEND
Friends,
Have you ever experienced the humiliation of being helped? Had to swallow your pride and let someone do for you what you felt you ought to be doing for yourself? It’s not a great feeling. A lot depends, though, on the attitude of the one doing the helping.
Twenty years ago or so, I was a single mom with three small children. For years I was in school or working, or both, while raising my daughters. The essentials got done – feeding the kids, homework, laundry. One of the things that didn’t get done during the week was washing the dishes. The dishes used to pile up until it was exhausting just looking at them. I was embarrassed to have anyone see the state of my house.
Now and then my Mom would come over. Without a word about it, she would just start washing dishes. It meant so much to me that she would just help like that – non-judgmentally, just doing what I didn’t have time to do myself. It was real help, and the way she did it mattered, too.
I used that story two weeks ago when I went in to paint the bathroom of the little casita where our friends are living. They’re working six days a week I told them that story and said I was just passing on what my Mom did for me. It’s what family does for each other. And now the bathroom feels better (and the mildew is gone so it’s healthier, too).
Next we’re going to tackle the sala, the main room that serves as kitchen/dining/living/
SO, this Sunday, January 22, there will be no Mass at St Romero’s. Wherever you are, you could offer a prayer for our aching muscles as we stretch and bend and lift and paint! And a prayer that the transformation of this room will carry the message: you are worth more than this. You deserve better than this. You are so worth the effort and time this transformation takes!
So are you, by the way. Know it in your bones.
Blessings and love to all,
Chava
PS Oodles of thanks to everyone whose donations made this possible. You have helped to make a difference!
PPS hard as these friends are working – six days a week – our friends that went to Florida are working even harder. Fourteen hours a day, seven days a week, hurrying to get the crops in before the frost. Pray for them!
__________________________________________________
Oscar Romero Church
An Inclusive Community of Liberation, Justice and Joy
Worshiping in the Catholic Tradition
Mass: Sundays, 11 am
St Joseph's House of Hospitality, 402 South Ave, Rochester NY 14620
NO MASS THIS WEEKEND
Friends,
Have you ever experienced the humiliation of being helped? Had to swallow your pride and let someone do for you what you felt you ought to be doing for yourself? It’s not a great feeling. A lot depends, though, on the attitude of the one doing the helping.
Twenty years ago or so, I was a single mom with three small children. For years I was in school or working, or both, while raising my daughters. The essentials got done – feeding the kids, homework, laundry. One of the things that didn’t get done during the week was washing the dishes. The dishes used to pile up until it was exhausting just looking at them. I was embarrassed to have anyone see the state of my house.
Now and then my Mom would come over. Without a word about it, she would just start washing dishes. It meant so much to me that she would just help like that – non-judgmentally, just doing what I didn’t have time to do myself. It was real help, and the way she did it mattered, too.
I used that story two weeks ago when I went in to paint the bathroom of the little casita where our friends are living. They’re working six days a week I told them that story and said I was just passing on what my Mom did for me. It’s what family does for each other. And now the bathroom feels better (and the mildew is gone so it’s healthier, too).
Next we’re going to tackle the sala, the main room that serves as kitchen/dining/living/
SO, this Sunday, January 22, there will be no Mass at St Romero’s. Wherever you are, you could offer a prayer for our aching muscles as we stretch and bend and lift and paint! And a prayer that the transformation of this room will carry the message: you are worth more than this. You deserve better than this. You are so worth the effort and time this transformation takes!
So are you, by the way. Know it in your bones.
Blessings and love to all,
Chava
PS Oodles of thanks to everyone whose donations made this possible. You have helped to make a difference!
PPS hard as these friends are working – six days a week – our friends that went to Florida are working even harder. Fourteen hours a day, seven days a week, hurrying to get the crops in before the frost. Pray for them!
__________________________________________________
Oscar Romero Church
An Inclusive Community of Liberation, Justice and Joy
Worshiping in the Catholic Tradition
Mass: Sundays, 11 am
St Joseph's House of Hospitality, 402 South Ave, Rochester NY 14620
Monday, January 16, 2012
Bulletin for Sunday, January 15, 2012
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Friends,
Here’s a dream as we enter the new year:
What if we had a house in the country – a permanent house, a clean house, big enough for a number of people, where people who need to be here all year ‘round (like our friends in the Alternatives to Detention Program) can live. No more moving constantly, no more degrading living conditions. It could be the place where we celebrate the Mass once a week, and a center for education, as well.
One of the things I have learned in the past year is that there is no point in buying or renting a church. No one will come. La migra has been known to target churches. We need to keep on being small, meeting in living rooms and driveways, building community wherever we can. Same goes for education.
So here’s the dream: what if we did guerilla education? You know how guerilla warfare works. It’s mobile, it’s home-made, it goes where it needs to go, without much equipment or overhead. Suppose we did that with education. Suppose that someone with the time and energy to offer an ESL class were to come to a particular house once a week, where there were people who wanted to learn. What if we had a number of people doing that, bringing whatever they had to offer as teachers to whomever wanted to learn. What if it went both ways? What if folks from the Mexican community offered their skills, as well? Do you know how to kill and pluck a chicken? Would you like to learn some Spanish? We all have things to teach, and things to learn. Maybe it’s not just about teaching and learning: maybe it’s about empowerment. Maybe it’s about new awareness for all of us.
And more: maybe this house could also be a center for advocacy. Maybe there are others who need accompaniment on their journey through the court system. Maybe we could have a library there, with books in Spanish on lots of topics. Or more day-to-day things: maybe we could have a used clothing store, where people could get clothes cheap. (Do you know what farm workers earn? It would break your heart).
Right now, all this is, is a dream. But imagine if several churches were to get together and make it come true. There would be opportunities for involvement, galore. We could have groups at the churches working on their Spanish and on awareness. (how about a study group reading Paolo Friere? Or studying liberation theology?) This could be a mission project for several churches, working together. This weekend I’m going to talk with some Presbyterian churches about being part of this dream… please pray that whatever God is dreaming, will be.
One thing we need is a house. Somewhere in the area between Batavia and Brockport, preferably off the main thoroughfares, preferably with a barn or garage big enough for several cars. Somebody, somewhere, has a house to donate.
So that’s the dream. It will change as it takes shape and becomes reality, just as the idea of the Migrant Mass morphed as the summer went on. If it’s the dream of God, if the call for this is coming from the Holy Spirit, it will be.
Join us for 11 am bilingual Mass any Sunday. We’re having a wonderful time.
Blessings and love to all,
Chava
"Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
Howard Thurman
_____________________________________________________
Oscar Romero Church
An Inclusive Community of Liberation, Justice and Joy
Worshiping in the Catholic Tradition
Mass: Sundays, 11 am
St Joseph's House of Hospitality, 402 South Ave, Rochester NY 14620
Friends,
Here’s a dream as we enter the new year:
What if we had a house in the country – a permanent house, a clean house, big enough for a number of people, where people who need to be here all year ‘round (like our friends in the Alternatives to Detention Program) can live. No more moving constantly, no more degrading living conditions. It could be the place where we celebrate the Mass once a week, and a center for education, as well.
One of the things I have learned in the past year is that there is no point in buying or renting a church. No one will come. La migra has been known to target churches. We need to keep on being small, meeting in living rooms and driveways, building community wherever we can. Same goes for education.
So here’s the dream: what if we did guerilla education? You know how guerilla warfare works. It’s mobile, it’s home-made, it goes where it needs to go, without much equipment or overhead. Suppose we did that with education. Suppose that someone with the time and energy to offer an ESL class were to come to a particular house once a week, where there were people who wanted to learn. What if we had a number of people doing that, bringing whatever they had to offer as teachers to whomever wanted to learn. What if it went both ways? What if folks from the Mexican community offered their skills, as well? Do you know how to kill and pluck a chicken? Would you like to learn some Spanish? We all have things to teach, and things to learn. Maybe it’s not just about teaching and learning: maybe it’s about empowerment. Maybe it’s about new awareness for all of us.
And more: maybe this house could also be a center for advocacy. Maybe there are others who need accompaniment on their journey through the court system. Maybe we could have a library there, with books in Spanish on lots of topics. Or more day-to-day things: maybe we could have a used clothing store, where people could get clothes cheap. (Do you know what farm workers earn? It would break your heart).
Right now, all this is, is a dream. But imagine if several churches were to get together and make it come true. There would be opportunities for involvement, galore. We could have groups at the churches working on their Spanish and on awareness. (how about a study group reading Paolo Friere? Or studying liberation theology?) This could be a mission project for several churches, working together. This weekend I’m going to talk with some Presbyterian churches about being part of this dream… please pray that whatever God is dreaming, will be.
One thing we need is a house. Somewhere in the area between Batavia and Brockport, preferably off the main thoroughfares, preferably with a barn or garage big enough for several cars. Somebody, somewhere, has a house to donate.
So that’s the dream. It will change as it takes shape and becomes reality, just as the idea of the Migrant Mass morphed as the summer went on. If it’s the dream of God, if the call for this is coming from the Holy Spirit, it will be.
Join us for 11 am bilingual Mass any Sunday. We’re having a wonderful time.
Blessings and love to all,
Chava
"Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
Howard Thurman
_____________________________________________________
Oscar Romero Church
An Inclusive Community of Liberation, Justice and Joy
Worshiping in the Catholic Tradition
Mass: Sundays, 11 am
St Joseph's House of Hospitality, 402 South Ave, Rochester NY 14620
Monday, January 2, 2012
Bulletin for Sunday, January 1, 2012
Christmas
Friends,
What a wonderful God we do have! These days I am just amazed at all the gifts surrounding us. What a blessing our little community is!
Christmas Eve started off with a certain amount of chaos as we tried to borrow the van from St Joe’s to get everyone, and the seats weren’t in it, and it needed gas, and on and on… by the time we all got to my house it was 5 pm, and Mass was supposed to start at 4! But our waiting guests were patient, and pretty soon we were all having a great time with our Christmas pageant and Mass and then dinner, with eleven people around the table. I love being the pastor of a community small enough to invite everyone to dinner! We had a wonderful time. I’m so grateful to Linda Condon and Martin Linskey, because without their help I don’t think it would have been possible. They drove, they cooked, they showed up! And I’m grateful to Pat Carey who waited a whole hour for us all to arrive.
We sang songs around the piano (or tried to) and took lots of photos, and eventually everyone went to sleep… my next-door-neighbors lent an air mattress and I think everybody was comfortable. And in the morning I made breakfast for everybody, with some really terrible coffee that everyone was most polite about, and leftover tamales. It was a wonderful Christmas.
The hard part was taking them home again. But there is so, so much to be thankful for.
The way things have unfolded this year, the hand of God is so clearly evident, it just isn’t possible to worry. Things will continue to unfold in ways we probably can’t even dream of. A year ago I didn’t dream of this!! 2012 is totally in the hands of God. We’ll just keep walking and listening and saying YES, and let God’s dreams for this community come true. May it be so!
Come and join us any Sunday. This Sunday, New Year’s Day, we will celebrate at 11 am as usual. (We celebrated on Christmas, too!)
May 2012 be full of blessings for you. Feliz año!
Blessings and love to all,
Chava
____________________________________________________
Oscar Romero Church
An Inclusive Community of Liberation, Justice and Joy
Worshiping in the Catholic Tradition
Mass: Sundays, 11 am
St Joseph's House of Hospitality, 402 South Ave, Rochester NY 14620
Friends,
What a wonderful God we do have! These days I am just amazed at all the gifts surrounding us. What a blessing our little community is!
Christmas Eve started off with a certain amount of chaos as we tried to borrow the van from St Joe’s to get everyone, and the seats weren’t in it, and it needed gas, and on and on… by the time we all got to my house it was 5 pm, and Mass was supposed to start at 4! But our waiting guests were patient, and pretty soon we were all having a great time with our Christmas pageant and Mass and then dinner, with eleven people around the table. I love being the pastor of a community small enough to invite everyone to dinner! We had a wonderful time. I’m so grateful to Linda Condon and Martin Linskey, because without their help I don’t think it would have been possible. They drove, they cooked, they showed up! And I’m grateful to Pat Carey who waited a whole hour for us all to arrive.
We sang songs around the piano (or tried to) and took lots of photos, and eventually everyone went to sleep… my next-door-neighbors lent an air mattress and I think everybody was comfortable. And in the morning I made breakfast for everybody, with some really terrible coffee that everyone was most polite about, and leftover tamales. It was a wonderful Christmas.
The hard part was taking them home again. But there is so, so much to be thankful for.
The way things have unfolded this year, the hand of God is so clearly evident, it just isn’t possible to worry. Things will continue to unfold in ways we probably can’t even dream of. A year ago I didn’t dream of this!! 2012 is totally in the hands of God. We’ll just keep walking and listening and saying YES, and let God’s dreams for this community come true. May it be so!
Come and join us any Sunday. This Sunday, New Year’s Day, we will celebrate at 11 am as usual. (We celebrated on Christmas, too!)
May 2012 be full of blessings for you. Feliz año!
Blessings and love to all,
Chava
____________________________________________________
Oscar Romero Church
An Inclusive Community of Liberation, Justice and Joy
Worshiping in the Catholic Tradition
Mass: Sundays, 11 am
St Joseph's House of Hospitality, 402 South Ave, Rochester NY 14620
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