jueves, 28 de enero de 2010
Jornadas migrantes 2009
Durante la temporada de la cosecha del año 2009, como suele hacer todos los años nuestro equipo misionero, nos reunimos con las comunidades migrantes que llegan a recoger la fruta de todos los ranchos de la región.
Cada encuentro refleja el entusiasmo, a pesar de lo exigente de las jornadas de trabajo. Me atrevería a decir que la celebración de fe tiene un carácter mas festivo y la participación es mas rica y espontánea que las celebraciones que tenemos en el templo.
El 2009 nos permitió encontrar muchas personas que no habíamos conocido. Grupos solidarios, con las huellas que deja la experiencia de dejar un país y llegara otro tan diferente y con severas restricciones.
Puedo asegurar que la experiencia de fe, no solo como actitud religiosa, sino como elemento que dinamiza la vida y la mantiene de pie, frente a los desafíos, es realmente una energía contagiante entre las personas.
Nos preocupo mucho la situación alarmante que broto en México (H1N1) y luego fue brotando por todo el mundo. Gracias a Dios y a los líderes responsables de la salud publica, hubo medios para enfrentarla. Pero siempre en nuestros encuentros comentábamos y compartíamos orientación para prevenir la transmisión de la gripe.
Una vez mas palpamos como la fe, a veces expresada, otras veces adormecida se disemina con mas eficacia cuando alcanza la vida y las emociones concretas de las personas y sus comunidades: Entonces vemos como esta experiencia profunda y propiciada por la acción gratuita del Espíritu, obra como contagio y reanima.
Te invito a compartir un momento de cuando una de estas comunidades acoge la PALABRA durante una celebración en un campamento.
A People in charge of their Faith
The Road to Marion: From Guests to Family
The pastoral goal of any ecclesial activity is to call together believers so that a community of faith may be built: where the faith celebrated publicly might echo the lives of those who come together, might strengthen their experience of God, and develop their capacities for service to their families and to the people with whom they come in contact. When a community expresses its life in its celebrations of faith, that life itself grows and reflects a blessed presence which is the very presence of the living God.
In this way life and faith go hand in hand, faith nourishing life and life transformed into a joyful experience of dignity and brotherhood.
For more than a decade the Hispanic/Latino population of the Catholic tradition arriving in the area of Wayne County began to gather to reconnect with their experience of faith, the experience that they had once welcomed in their places of origin.
Men, women, girls and boys, entire families coming from different parts of Latin America, the majority from Mexico and a variety of brothers and sisters from Central America.
A decade of life together has given a face to this community of male and female workers. A precious experience, human and pastoral, taking shape within the difficult situations of the life of the migrant population.
As a population that arrives from elsewhere, our community has been gathering in a church and a parish center belonging to an English speaking Catholic community. It is interesting to recall that the people of Epiphany Church are in their turn descendents of immigrants who arrived from Europe during the past century. This local and formerly migrant community shared its religious space with the more recently arriving migrant population.
Fr. Robert Kreckel initiated this process, a pioneer in this area. He began to invite Mexican people to hold Mass occasionally in the town of Sodus, at Epiphany Church. With the passing of the years the group expanded. In 1998 Sr. Luci and Fr. Jesús Flores joined the others on their journey.
Fr. Bob’s initiative and people’s response to it has been a very rich experience. Yet in various ways we still feel ourselves to be a marginal community, one lacking the full right of God’s people to celebrate its faith and life according to its own religious-culture heritage.
It will never be the same for us as for those who form their community in a space the people know is their own. To know that we are always “invited” limits the development of our potenial.
In September 2009 the Hispanic/Latino population entered a new stage. They came to an agreement with the parish of St. Anne of Palmyra to make use of the church and the building located in Marion that had been closed in accordance with St. Anne’s strategic plan. After evaluating the fitness and possibilities, as much for the communities of the new configuration of St. Anne and St. Patrick as for the Latino community, all of those involved reached the decision to transfer the Latino community to St. Gregory church.
From the first day, in the Eucharist over which presided Bishop Matthew Clark, everyone saw that the Latino community was experiencing a strong sense of belonging. No longer simply guests, strange to the place, but feeling already that this church and its buildings welcomed its families, allowing them to grow and to develop their potential as a community in whose life is sown the seed of the Good News of Jesus Christ.
You can see a gallery of photos of the event at the following site:
http://picasaweb.google.com/home?tab=mq
lunes, 25 de enero de 2010
Un pueblo protagonista de su fe
El camino para llegar a Marion: De huéspedes a familia.
La meta pastoral de cualquier animación eclesial es convocar las personas creyentes para que se construya una comunidad de fe: Donde la fe celebrada públicamente haga eco de las vidas de quienes se reúnen, fortalezca su experiencia de Dios y proyecte sus capacidades de servicio en sus familias y en las personas con quienes entran en contacto. Cuando una comunidad expresa su vida en sus celebraciones de fe, su misma vida crece y refleja una presencia bendita que es la misma presencia del Dios vivo.
Así la fe y la vida caminan juntas, la fe alimenta la vida y la vida se transforma en una experiencia gozosa de dignidad y de fraternidad.
Durante más de una década la población hispana/latina de tradición católica que fue llegando al área del Condado de Wayne , se comenzó a reunir para reconectar con su experiencia de fe, la que un día acogieron en sus pueblos de origen.
Hombres, mujeres, niños y niñas, familias enteras provenientes de diferentes partes de America Latina. Una mayoría de México y una variedad de hermanos y hermanas de Centroamerica.
Una década de camino ha dado rostro a esta población de hombres y mujeres trabajadores. Una experiencia humana y pastoral valiosa, dentro de las difíciles situaciones de la vida de la población migrante.
Como población que llega de fuera, nuestra comunidad se estuvo reuniendo en un templo y un salón parroquial propio de la comunidad católica de habla inglesa. Es interesante recordar que la población de la Iglesia de la Epifania, son a su vez descendientes de inmigrantes llegados de Europa el siglo pasado. Pues esta comunidad local y ex- migrante compartía su espacio religioso con esta nueva población recién llegada.
P. Robert Kreckel inicio un camino, pionero en el área. El comenzo a invitar a personas mexicanas para tener ocasionalmente la misa en el pueblo de Sodus, en la Iglesia de la Epifania. Con el paso de los anos el grupo fue creciendo. El ano 1998 Hermana Luci y P Jesús Flores se unen al caminar.
Esta iniciativa de P. Bob y la respuesta de las personas ha sido una experiencia muy rica. Pero nos sentíamos en diferentes formas una comunidad marginal, sin el pleno derecho del pueblo de Dios a celebrar su fe y su vida con su propia herencia religioso-cultural.
Nunca será lo mismo formar comunidad en un espacio donde las personas saben que el lugar es su propio hogar. La experiencia de saber que la persona es recibida como “invitada” limita el desarrollo de todas las potencialidades.
En Septiembre del 2009, la población hispano/latina inicia una etapa nueva. Se hace un acuerdo con la Parroquia de Santa Ana de Palmyra para utilizar el templo y el edificio localizado en el pueblo de Marion, que había sido cerrado de acuerdo a su plan estratégico. Después de valorar la conveniencia y las posibilidades, tanto para las comunidades de la nueva conformación de Santa Ana y San Patricio como para la comunidad Latina, se llego a la decisión de trasladar la comunidad Latina al templo de San Gregorio.
Desde el primer día, en la eucaristía presidida por Monseñor Matthew Clark, todo mundo percibimos que la comunidad Latina experimenta un fuerte sentido de pertenecía. Ya no solo como invitados, ajenos al lugar, sino que sienten ya que este templo y sus edificios acogen a sus familias, para crecer como comunidad y desarrollar todas las potencialidades de una comunidad que lleva sembrada en su vida los valores del evangelio de Jesús.
Puedes ver una galeria de fotos del evento en el siguiente enlace.
http://picasaweb.google.com/home?tab=mq
La meta pastoral de cualquier animación eclesial es convocar las personas creyentes para que se construya una comunidad de fe: Donde la fe celebrada públicamente haga eco de las vidas de quienes se reúnen, fortalezca su experiencia de Dios y proyecte sus capacidades de servicio en sus familias y en las personas con quienes entran en contacto. Cuando una comunidad expresa su vida en sus celebraciones de fe, su misma vida crece y refleja una presencia bendita que es la misma presencia del Dios vivo.
Así la fe y la vida caminan juntas, la fe alimenta la vida y la vida se transforma en una experiencia gozosa de dignidad y de fraternidad.
Durante más de una década la población hispana/latina de tradición católica que fue llegando al área del Condado de Wayne , se comenzó a reunir para reconectar con su experiencia de fe, la que un día acogieron en sus pueblos de origen.
Hombres, mujeres, niños y niñas, familias enteras provenientes de diferentes partes de America Latina. Una mayoría de México y una variedad de hermanos y hermanas de Centroamerica.
Una década de camino ha dado rostro a esta población de hombres y mujeres trabajadores. Una experiencia humana y pastoral valiosa, dentro de las difíciles situaciones de la vida de la población migrante.
Como población que llega de fuera, nuestra comunidad se estuvo reuniendo en un templo y un salón parroquial propio de la comunidad católica de habla inglesa. Es interesante recordar que la población de la Iglesia de la Epifania, son a su vez descendientes de inmigrantes llegados de Europa el siglo pasado. Pues esta comunidad local y ex- migrante compartía su espacio religioso con esta nueva población recién llegada.
P. Robert Kreckel inicio un camino, pionero en el área. El comenzo a invitar a personas mexicanas para tener ocasionalmente la misa en el pueblo de Sodus, en la Iglesia de la Epifania. Con el paso de los anos el grupo fue creciendo. El ano 1998 Hermana Luci y P Jesús Flores se unen al caminar.
Esta iniciativa de P. Bob y la respuesta de las personas ha sido una experiencia muy rica. Pero nos sentíamos en diferentes formas una comunidad marginal, sin el pleno derecho del pueblo de Dios a celebrar su fe y su vida con su propia herencia religioso-cultural.
Nunca será lo mismo formar comunidad en un espacio donde las personas saben que el lugar es su propio hogar. La experiencia de saber que la persona es recibida como “invitada” limita el desarrollo de todas las potencialidades.
En Septiembre del 2009, la población hispano/latina inicia una etapa nueva. Se hace un acuerdo con la Parroquia de Santa Ana de Palmyra para utilizar el templo y el edificio localizado en el pueblo de Marion, que había sido cerrado de acuerdo a su plan estratégico. Después de valorar la conveniencia y las posibilidades, tanto para las comunidades de la nueva conformación de Santa Ana y San Patricio como para la comunidad Latina, se llego a la decisión de trasladar la comunidad Latina al templo de San Gregorio.
Desde el primer día, en la eucaristía presidida por Monseñor Matthew Clark, todo mundo percibimos que la comunidad Latina experimenta un fuerte sentido de pertenecía. Ya no solo como invitados, ajenos al lugar, sino que sienten ya que este templo y sus edificios acogen a sus familias, para crecer como comunidad y desarrollar todas las potencialidades de una comunidad que lleva sembrada en su vida los valores del evangelio de Jesús.
Puedes ver una galeria de fotos del evento en el siguiente enlace.
http://picasaweb.google.com/home?tab=mq
miércoles, 17 de junio de 2009
sábado, 10 de enero de 2009
jueves, 1 de enero de 2009
Everett Hobart, Reflections...April 11 1999 Cycle A Easter Time
A few years ago, we came across a migrant labor camp about a half mile into a orchard in Orleans County. At the end of the dirt road, was a cinder block barracks building with a communal kitchen. There were about 25 people from Mexico and
Central- America, who had come to harvest the apples. I returned to that camp several times during the summer to facilitate a bible study group. Among the workers, there was a young man, Carlos, who turned out to have been trained to lead prayer and liturgies of the word in his home village in the mountains of Honduras since a priest could only get there on horseback about once a year to celebrate sacraments. One evening, Carlos said a prayer in which he thanked God for having provided them a work in a safe place where nobody bothered them, for, the friends, which they had made at the camp, and for the church that had reached out to them in this place so far from home.
On the evening of November 1st, Fr. Ivan Trujillo, a Bolivian priest living in Batavia, came to the camp to celebrate mass of All Saints’ Day. The readings, centered on beatitudes, were especially powerful when heard in that humble place.
When we hear of the disciples meeting behind locked doors for fear of the authorities,
yet celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and breaking bread, I can’t help but think of that camp and the good people in it living in fear of “la migra” – the agents of immigration- and yet celebrating their faith and breaking bread together in their communal kitchen.
The next summer, I got a phone call from Carlos, “Me and my eleven friends have just finished picking blueberries in New Jersey. Is there work for us in New York State?”
I was a little taken back and told him to call me back on the following Thursday. I called Sr. Mary Jane, Director of the Ministry, and said that she would check around. The next day, she gave me the home phone number of a Spanish speaking man in the State Labor Department who would be expecting Carlos’ call on Thursday. Wednesday evening. I got
another call, “We are in Williamson!”. I gave him the phone number and suggested that he contact other organization. On Sunday, he called again, “We’re at the motel in Albion; our money is running out; the State Department of Labor say there might be something in a few weeks; the orchard where I worked last summer can only take two of us and I can’t abandon my friends. What can I do?” I was flabbergasted, what could I do? I called Sr. Mary Jane and she said that she would pray for a small miracle. That evening, I drove up to Albion to see Carlos and his friends. As I entered their room, Carlos said, “With one more, we’d be the twelve disciples!” Next evening, I went to the home of Sylvia Davis, one of my coworkers in the migrant ministry. We went out into her garden filled a bag with jalapeños and tomatoes and then went over to visit a woman at Sodoma Farms and her husband, the crew chief. After a bit conversation, we broached the subject of 11 Hondurans looking for work. A funny look crossed the crew chief’s face, then he said, “That’s strange, 12 Mexican left this morning”. Sr. Mary Jane’s small miracle had happened! I talked to Carlos and his friends a number of times during the season. When I asked how they had had the courage to come up here with absolutely nothing, they replied quit simply: “We knew that God would provide for us”. In Peter’s letter to the “chosen sojourners of the dispersion” he said, “Although you have not seen him you love him; you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy as you attain the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls”.
The next summer, I went to visit another camp one evening. As I was walking through, I heard a voice call out “Hermano Pablo”. It was one of my Honduran friends back for another season (they call me Pablo since Everett is tough for a Spanish speaker to pronounce). That season, Sylvia and I facilitated a RENEW group among Hondurans. The insights that they shared with us were very powerful. When we finished the series and the men were getting ready to leave, we could not keep ourselves from saying to them: “We have seen the face of Jesus in the face of each of you”. In a small way, we shared in Thomas’ exclamation “My Lord and my God”
A few years ago, we came across a migrant labor camp about a half mile into a orchard in Orleans County. At the end of the dirt road, was a cinder block barracks building with a communal kitchen. There were about 25 people from Mexico and
Central- America, who had come to harvest the apples. I returned to that camp several times during the summer to facilitate a bible study group. Among the workers, there was a young man, Carlos, who turned out to have been trained to lead prayer and liturgies of the word in his home village in the mountains of Honduras since a priest could only get there on horseback about once a year to celebrate sacraments. One evening, Carlos said a prayer in which he thanked God for having provided them a work in a safe place where nobody bothered them, for, the friends, which they had made at the camp, and for the church that had reached out to them in this place so far from home.
On the evening of November 1st, Fr. Ivan Trujillo, a Bolivian priest living in Batavia, came to the camp to celebrate mass of All Saints’ Day. The readings, centered on beatitudes, were especially powerful when heard in that humble place.
When we hear of the disciples meeting behind locked doors for fear of the authorities,
yet celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and breaking bread, I can’t help but think of that camp and the good people in it living in fear of “la migra” – the agents of immigration- and yet celebrating their faith and breaking bread together in their communal kitchen.
The next summer, I got a phone call from Carlos, “Me and my eleven friends have just finished picking blueberries in New Jersey. Is there work for us in New York State?”
I was a little taken back and told him to call me back on the following Thursday. I called Sr. Mary Jane, Director of the Ministry, and said that she would check around. The next day, she gave me the home phone number of a Spanish speaking man in the State Labor Department who would be expecting Carlos’ call on Thursday. Wednesday evening. I got
another call, “We are in Williamson!”. I gave him the phone number and suggested that he contact other organization. On Sunday, he called again, “We’re at the motel in Albion; our money is running out; the State Department of Labor say there might be something in a few weeks; the orchard where I worked last summer can only take two of us and I can’t abandon my friends. What can I do?” I was flabbergasted, what could I do? I called Sr. Mary Jane and she said that she would pray for a small miracle. That evening, I drove up to Albion to see Carlos and his friends. As I entered their room, Carlos said, “With one more, we’d be the twelve disciples!” Next evening, I went to the home of Sylvia Davis, one of my coworkers in the migrant ministry. We went out into her garden filled a bag with jalapeños and tomatoes and then went over to visit a woman at Sodoma Farms and her husband, the crew chief. After a bit conversation, we broached the subject of 11 Hondurans looking for work. A funny look crossed the crew chief’s face, then he said, “That’s strange, 12 Mexican left this morning”. Sr. Mary Jane’s small miracle had happened! I talked to Carlos and his friends a number of times during the season. When I asked how they had had the courage to come up here with absolutely nothing, they replied quit simply: “We knew that God would provide for us”. In Peter’s letter to the “chosen sojourners of the dispersion” he said, “Although you have not seen him you love him; you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy as you attain the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls”.
The next summer, I went to visit another camp one evening. As I was walking through, I heard a voice call out “Hermano Pablo”. It was one of my Honduran friends back for another season (they call me Pablo since Everett is tough for a Spanish speaker to pronounce). That season, Sylvia and I facilitated a RENEW group among Hondurans. The insights that they shared with us were very powerful. When we finished the series and the men were getting ready to leave, we could not keep ourselves from saying to them: “We have seen the face of Jesus in the face of each of you”. In a small way, we shared in Thomas’ exclamation “My Lord and my God”
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