This is a beautiful reflection by Rev. Chava Redonnet  on how ingrained the blindness of prejudice and discrimination is in our world. Rev. Chava discusses the repeat of the black and white doll test in contemporary Mexico. This test was originally done many decades ago in the United States with the same results, black children preferring white dolls. During the Civil Rights era in the United States the tests were repeated many times as consciousness was raised and black is beautiful was internalized. Finally the black dolls were seen as most beautiful by black children. I am not sure what would happen if the test were given here these days. I do know that of my beautiful black children in the Sunday School and Youth Group only one or two at most color Jesus and his followers black or even light brown. Mostly they leave the white page showing and leave him white despite my constant and strong teaching that Jesus was of Near Eastern Semitic heritage and with all probability did not have light skin, blue eyes and blonde hair. We are blessed to have a wonderful artist in our church,Hank Tessandori, who painted Jesus as Near Eastern for us and in all of our pictures he is various shades of brown.    We also have images of an African Jesus with Jesus Mafa paintings displayed. We use only culturally African American or ethnically mixed educational materials. Still our kids do not paint or color him brown without our encouragement. Our younger children seem to be hearing us and seeing what is on the walls while our older children leave Jesus white. We keep at it for we think it is critically important that our children see themselves and God’s Beloved Jesus as beautiful in shades of brown or black.

The problem exists in all non- white groups as Rev. Chava notes as she illuminates the legacy racism that insidiously becomes internalized. In our Good Shepherd church, we have one family where the mother is from Southern Italy. Recently she gave a gift to the church of a beautiful large picture of The Sacred Heart Of Jesus. I very gratefully accepted it as it was a true gift of love and thanksgiving on her part. Yet, I did not put it up as the Jesus was light white skinned with bright blue eyes. She had the courage to ask me why I did not put it up. I explained that as she could see in our other pictures of Jesus, that he looked more like her (she is distinctively dark) than like Robert Redford or Paul Newman and most of our people are dark so they need to know that Jesus looked more like them.  She said “Your’e kidding,right? Every picture of Jesus I ever saw in Italy had the blonde hair, blue eyed Jesus. I thought it was truth that Jesus looked like Northern Italians and Germans but not like me”. I said that we have no photos, of course, but Jesus was a person of his Jewish and Near Eastern Culture. I think he looked more like you. She said “My God, I was the blackest sheep in my family and my blue eyed sisters called me the black dog. I hope one day that they learn this too-don’t put the picture up , Pastor Judy, let these kids learn that Jesus looks like them.” She added “thanks for telling me this, I really did not know Jesus could look like me.”

This is Rev. Chava’s Reflection

Oscar Romero Inclusive Catholic Church
Bulletin for Sunday, March 30, 2014
4th Sunday in Lent
Dear friends,

A friend who works at a Catholic Worker house in Mexico posted something on
facebook today that broke my heart. It was a video of an experiment in
which Mexican children were shown two baby dolls, identical except for the
color of their plastic skin.  Child after child was shown the dolls and
asked which was pretty, which ugly, which doll was good or which doll was
bad, and child after child identified the white doll as pretty and good,
and the black doll as ugly and bad. One or two were able to say “they’re
the same,” but others, asked why the doll on the left was ugly or bad, said
clearly, “because it’s brown.” Racism is deep, not only in our culture here
in the United States, but in lots of other places. I remember being in El
Salvador and watching TV, and realizing that although most people on the
streets have Indian features, all the actors on TV looked European.

Racism is our inheritance, along with the profound economic inequalities in
the world. Most of the kids in that video had light brown skin, somewhere
in between those two dolls. They are “mestizo,” mixed race, which in Mexico
means that they are descended from Indian women raped by Spanish soldiers,
centuries ago. That’s most of the population of Mexico. In this country, we
have the legacy of slavery. When I was growing up, the image of slavery I
got from school and movies (like “Gone With the Wind”) was enforced
servitude, people being made to work and not being free to leave. The
reality was so much worse. Have you seen “12 Years a Slave”? or read Toni
Morrison’s book “Beloved”? To be a slave was to be treated as less than
human. Because I am white, I have to look at the legacy I inherited from
slavery: a legacy of denial and blindness as well as privilege.

So that, I think, is original sin. Original sin isn’t some stain on our
human character because Adam and Eve ate some apples. It’s the human legacy
of inequality and injustice that we often can’t even see because it’s
normal. That was what hit me, watching “12 Years a Slave”: all that used to
be legal. What horrors am I accepting as normal, today?  How about the 80%
of the world living on less than $10 a day? How about, it costs as much to
gift-wrap an item on Amazon as most people in El Salvador earn in a day? Or
that little kids are growing up in neighborhoods where I’m scared to drive
down the street?

Rachel McGuire tells the story of a white woman at a conference on racism,
who, feeling the target of accusations about this collective legacy, cried
out, “I wasn’t there!” When I read that, I recognized the feeling. It’s not
my fault. I’m not to blame. But you know what – it’s not about fault, or
blame. It’s about responsibility. We’ve inherited a world of racism and
injustice, and some of us benefit from it. So what are we going to do about
it?

First, I think, we name it. We look at it without fear and recognize these
gross inequalities and feel the anger and shame and horror without hiding
from it. And then, well, I don’t have any long-term answer but I think we
commit ourselves to keeping our eyes open. We move out of our comfortable
blindness and into recognizing that the system is not fair and we’ve got
the easy side of the equation, the side where there’s three meals a day and
shoes and running water and people being polite to us in stores and at
airports because of the way we look, dress and speak. And we recognize the
people on the hard side of that equation as our sisters and brothers, with
the same need to be fully alive and fully themselves that we have, and the
same loves and hopes and aspirations. And we recognize that our privilege
is a handicap that we can’t even see. And we repent of it, not with
sackcloth and ashes, but with humility and listening and open eyes.

Like the man in this week’s Gospel, we are blind from birth, and it’s not
our fault or our parent’s fault, but we sure do need to be healed of it.
Let God put mud on our eyes, and may we see the reality around us.

May the next generation of children see every doll as beautiful.

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

Madre Maria y Bebe Jesus by La Tienda de la  Sororidad in Cali,Colombia, SA

Association of Roman Catholic Women Priest’s Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan,center below, comments on a prayer by St. Hildegard of Bingen and prays for us with this Saint of prophetic disobedience.  

Father Jerry Zawada saw the light that God calls whomever God will call to serve as priests. He, and Frs. Bill Brennan and Roy Bourgeois have had the courage to walk in the light with ordained women. We are so thankful for each of them, for their courage and vision. The response of the Church has been severe punishment to them. But we know that they are priests forever and that we and all of God’s precious people are blessed by their service and their prophetic disobedience. As we share this news about punitive action we pray that Pope Francis ,whose eyes are open and actions strong  on many of the church’s abuses regarding priorities, power and money, will also see and act on its unjust and vengeful treatment of women priests and their male priest supporters. Lift the “automatic excommunications”, lift the punishments. Who are we to judge the call of another? The call to serve as priests and the call of conscience to support women priests is a sacred call. We are so grateful for Fr. Jerry who risks all in his life as a peace activist and a supporter of women’s ordination. 

Below is the Journal Sentinel story of 3/28 about Fr. Jerry and Bishop Bridget Mary’s response. 

Rev. Dr. Judith Lee, ARCWP

vatican punishes priest for Saying Mass with Female Priest/ Janice Sevre-Duszynska, ARCWP/Fr. Jerry Zawada is a Prophet

On Sunday March 23rd, 2014 eight young people (ages 12-18) and three adults stood up individually, said their names clearly and responded to the Question: “What do you seek from the Church?” with the resounding answer “Confirmation!”They were met with a round of loud applause and affirmation. As some were not present this question will be asked again next Sunday and we expect several more responses. How exciting this is as the people prepare for Confirmation which will be on April 26th at 4PM in our Bishop’s home church in Sarasota Florida.In a very real way the whole church is involved in the process of mentoring and preparation.

In a class afterward when youth and adults were joined for a period of time Linda Maybin, mother of five of the young people said” I just decided that I had to lead the way and take my faith the next step. I look forward to the Holy Spirit filling me with new gifts so I can serve God’s people”. In the Junior and Senior classes the youth focused on reconciliation and “bringing clean hearts” to God and naming for themselves what things they were truly sorry for. They shared these things with me as priest and with one another by writing and drawing themselves into a poster about the Seven Sacraments. They also thought about ways they may offer their gifts to the community.  As our community is focused on helping the homeless and hungry they could find ways to fit themselves into our service. They also began work in little Confirmation Journals where answers are not right or wrong and their thoughts and efforts mattered.

The Junior Class Works on Their Posters With Their Teacher, Mrs. Pearl Cudjoe.

Joelle who is seven(top left) says “I want to follow Jesus and I love God”.

What more is there to ask?

A Special Birthday Blessing for Adult Confirmand Mr. Robert Swanson

Mrs. Cyrillia Rismay teaches “Oh How I Love Jesus” to our “Little Lambs Class” The Triplets will be baptized on Easter.

Tom is coming to the table where Lisa Munklewitz and Pearl Cudjoe are serving the Sunday meal.

Linda and Natasha,Jolinda, Keeondra, Jakein and Jakeriya talk about what Confirmation means to them.

They talk about becoming more mature Christians. They talk about  how the oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit “sealing the deal”. 

They talk about becoming full members of the Church.

Pastor Judy Beaumont shares a Confirmation Poster with our Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan who sends messages of affirmation to our young people.

Thanks be to God for the enthusiasm of our people as they dedicate themselves to a life of love and service to one another. This is the prayer the congregation prayed for them. It is from the Rite of the Church.

“Come,Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful,

and kindle in us the fire of Your Love.

Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be created,

and You shall renew the face of the earth! ”

Amen!

Pastor Judy Lee

good Shepherd Inclusive Catholic Community

Fort Myers, Florida

Indeed Blessed Mon. Oscar Romero has risen in the people of El Salvador and all,like Rev. Chava, who seek justice and love God’s holy and oppressed people.

On this 34th anniversary of the martyrdom of Archbishop Oscar Romero, you might be interested in the music video produced by The MartyrsProject.com to honor his legacy. You may view the video at http://youtu.be/21CN815v2G0. Feel free to post, embed or review the video. For more information go to TheMartyrsProject.com. I urge you to view this moving video and hear the moving song “Let My Blood Be A Seed of Freedom”.

And now, This is Rev. Chava’s beautiful reflection:

Oscar Romero Inclusive Catholic Church
Bulletin for Sunday, March 23, 2014
3rd Sunday in Lent
Dear friends,

The first time I was ever in the San Salvador airport, I was scared. A
group of us were going to El Salvador as part of a Divinity School class,
and for months we had been learning about the terrible history of the civil
war there in the 70’s and 80’s. Walking through the airport, I couldn’t
help but think of Jean Donovan, Dorothy Kazel, Maura Clark and Ita Ford,
who were met at the airport by a death squad in 1980, driven out to the
country and killed. Even though it had been 25 years, the memory was fresh
and just being in that airport felt scary.

And hot. Whew, the heat hits you when you get off that plane and walk
through customs. Especially in December, when you left your winter coat
behind just six hours before, and suddenly there’s a kind of heat we just
don’t get in Rochester, New York, thousands of miles to the north.

The second time I was there, I was on my own. That was scary, too! It would
be several visits before I realized that this country, that the State
Department warned was dangerous to visit, and the doctor warned was
dangerous to my health because of malaria and dengue fever, this country
with all its frightening history was to my friends who lived there, simply,
home.

On my third visit I was met at the airport by friends. When you walk out
the door of the airport there is an empty space roped off, and behind it
are hundreds of people waiting to meet people getting off the planes. As I
scanned the crowd, I saw my friend Moisés, jumping up and down and waving,
way at the back of the crowd. A whole carful of people had come to meet me!
And this once-scary country had become for me, a place where my friends
lived.

El Salvador has itself been going through a transition, with different
people in charge. This week their Congress voted to rename the airport. It
will now be known as the Monseñor Oscar Arnulfo Romero International
Airport of El Salvador.

Monseñor Romero is also said to be in the final phase of the process of
canonization. Ever since we started calling our little church by its
nickname of Saint Romero’s, I’ve said that he’s a saint the way I’m a
priest: the reality is there, whether the Vatican recognizes it, or not!
But it looks like the Vatican might recognize him, after all!

All these things are signs of life and hope. It’s like spring. A crocus
comes up, we get another blizzard. The sun comes back out, the snow melts,
some snowdrops bloom. It gets cold again. But eventually – well, we all
know: you can’t hold back the spring!

…so hold on to your hope.

One of the men in our migrant community had an accident at work this week,
and drove a nail into his leg with a nail gun. It lodged in the bone, and
took surgeons two hours to remove. He is doing fine, now, but will have to
be out of work for a bit. Please pray for him as he recovers.

Blessings and love to all,
Chava

Monday, March 24, is the anniversary of the assassination of Oscar Romero,
for whom our church is named. Two of the men responsible for his death were
trained at the School of the Americas in Georgia, now know as WHINSEC.
There will be a vigil outside the Federal Building here in Rochester,
sponsored by ROCLA, Pax Christi Rochester and SOA Watch Rochester, at 4 pm on Monday the 24th.  Hope to see you there!

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 A

Pastor Judy Beaumont and visiting woman Priest Judith McKloskey serve the Living Water at the Good Shepherd Church 

In the Lenten spirit we begin with a prayer: “Our loving God, we thirst. Our lives are dry as the desert in the noon day sun. We have climbed the craggy mountain to find You and we have miles to go and we are thirsty. We are thirsty for You, for your love, for your truth. Yet we push You away with our self-importance, our busy-ness our arguing and our tests. We thirst for love and You pour it out in our hearts, yet we turn away. Still, you draw water from a rock and place within us a bubbling spring of life. We thirst for justice yet we look for immorality and fault in other people and nations rather than join together in working for your kin-dom.  Help us to drink the water of understanding that Jesus offers and forgive us for our self-centeredness. May we join with inspired and courageous women and men of all nations to build Your kin-dom now and forever….Amen.”

The readings for this Sunday are alive with hope, meaning and symbolism. In the reading from Exodus 17: 3-7 we have hard rough craggy rocks and desperately thirsty people and we have life giving water.  Imagine a land and a people completely dry and thirsty. Imagine wandering in this place for years hoping to find your promised land.  I’m sure I would be one of the loudest grumblers. I remember my terrible thirst when I could not have water by mouth after waking from a major operation. All I wanted in all the world was that water.  Poor Moses, he is doing his best and everyone is turning on him. God has him turn it all around and bring water flowing from the rocks of Mt. Horeb.  Sometimes I wonder if in his frustration if Moses didn’t just hit the rock as hard as he could, like impetuously kicking a stone before you even if it breaks your toe, releasing an underlying stream!  God is still with Moses and the people. The rock is struck and the water flows.  Yet in the Psalm (95) we are asked not to harden our hearts by the kind of faithless grumbling and arguing that took place in the desert with Moses. Hearts can become hard as rocks. Only with faith can we knock them hard enough to find God in our midst and make the sweet water of life flow again.

In the Epistle (Romans 5: 1-2.5-8) we learn that through Christ we can look forward “confidently and joyfully to the day on which we will become all that God has intended” (Rom 5:2 The Inclusive Bible). “And such a hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (v. 5).  Instead of hard, wizened dysfunctional hearts the flowing water of God’s love fills our hearts and enlivens us.   Wow! Like water pouring out of the rock, God’s love is poured out in our hearts!  When one of our founding Bishops, Patricia Fresen, was ordained by the male Bishop in communion with the Church, she was told “this is not for you, it is for the church”. Indeed, the love poured into our hearts is meant to be shared with all of God’s people. It is not for ourselves to keep. By the water liberally poured on our heads in baptism we all are ordained with God’s love to serve one another.  In this Lenten season we need to look within and act outwardly. What are we doing to share the outpouring of God’s love with the most outcast and thirsty for love and acceptance and basic sustenance among us? This is what Jesus shows us in the Gospel when he talks with the Samaritan woman at the well.

 Good Shepherd’s Pearl Cudjoe and Kathy Overby and Kathy Lauwagie our “Snowbird members” serve a hot meal

as Rev. Judith Mc Kloskey stands ready to help.

In the encounter with the Samaritan woman (John 4:5-42) we have Jesus breaking cultural and religious taboos in order to offer the “living water”-not only to a maligned woman who has to come alone to the well in the heat of the day and not with the other women, but to a much maligned nation-Samaria. In Aramaic idiom “living water” is a metaphoric way of saying “true teaching”.  In John 7:37-38 when Jesus says “come and drink” he is saying come and learn. And if we do believe in (and believe in means more like love Jesus and his way) and drink-learn the way, “streams of living water will flow” from us. We too can share the living water with everyone! The living water is the teaching that is salvific, saves lives.

Jesus is breaking stereotypes and making new paradigms. Jesus starts a conversation with a Samaritan woman by asking for a drink of water. It turns out to be the longest conversation that is ascribed to Jesus in the Gospels. The content is extremely important. Jesus tells her who she is, that he knows her, she has had five husbands and is now with a sixth. Perhaps she had to marry her deceased husband’s brothers in a Levirate marriage. She may or may not be a sinner, but Jesus is not condemning her. This is about a sinful nation, one that has turned away from God, more than it is about a sinful woman. She has the temerity to argue with Jesus and to discuss as Rabbis would.  But Jesus is extending himself both to the woman (and by extension to all women) and to the nation through empowering her to be an apostle to her people. He is presenting himself, his teaching as living water, true teaching. But is this water only for the “Chosen” people? No, it is for everyone, for women, for men and children, for all people and for all nations, even those thought to be “enemies” and “worshippers of other gods”, in this case, for Samaria. Samaria was a country known in the Hebrew Scriptures for the worship of Baal and other idols (yes, we recall from last Sunday that Elijah challenged King Ahab and his 850 prophets on Mt. Horeb in what was then Samaria). In John 7 people also called Jesus a Samaritan in a highly pejorative way. The Jewish people saw the Samaritans as a mixed race people having a religion that was not faithful to Jewish Law because of so much intermarriage. Samaria had fallen by that time to five rulers with different religious proscriptions. The Samaritans saw themselves as following the Law. They fought with the Jews over where to worship God and that is one of the dialogues Jesus has with the woman at the well.  He tells her that God is a Spirit Who must be worshipped in spirit and in truth not in a particular place. That prompts her to mention the Messiah and Jesus tells her that he is the Messiah. Imagine that! In his time men did not even talk to women let alone share earth shaking information. She then runs and tells everyone and many come to learn from and believe in, love, Jesus.

Through this woman, whose name we wish we knew, Jesus is offering the living water, his way, and himself to a small, powerful, and despised nation. Jesus is radically inclusive here. He does the forbidden-talking with a woman- and even more taboo, he is talking with a Samaritan. He reveals God’s identity (Spirit and Truth) and his own identity as Messiah to this woman and her people.

He transforms her as one ignored by men and possibly shunned by her own people to an apostle. He certainly does not see her as a worthless woman nor does she act like one when she boldly speaks with him and then goes and tells who he is. She and her people are then transformed by the outpouring of God’s love.

Let us follow Jesus in pouring out God’s love and the waters of life on everyone!

In the pictures below we are singing joyfully.

A-A-A-men.

Rev. Dr. Judy Lee, ARCWP

Pastor Good Shepherd Inclusive Catholic Community

Fort Myers Florida

Our sister Priest Chava Redonnet,RCWP shepherds the Oscar Romero Inclusive Catholic Community in Rochester, New York. It is a community of migrant workers and immigrants. It is a community of poor folks and strangers to our land. Her loving care makes them welcome and she and her community live inclusion where “All are Welcome” at the Table, always. These are some of her Lenten reflections.  We begin with her Second Sunday Reflection that reflects on Pope Francis’ words of guidance and direction for the church. Then we present her First Sunday Reflection on our interconnectedness as a Christian community.  We are so thankful for her witness and faithfulness to the Gospel during this Lenten season.

Rev. Judy Lee,ARCWP

CHAVA’S REFLECTIONS

Oscar Romero Inclusive Catholic Church
Bulletin for Sunday, March 16, 2014
2nd Sunday in Lent
Dear friends,

“All the faithful, considered as a whole, are infallible in matters of
belief. …We should not even think that ‘thinking with the church’ means
only thinking with the hierarchy of the church.” (Sept 19, 2013)

“I want things messy and stirred up in the congregations. I want you to
take to the streets. I want the church to take to the streets.” (July 25,
2013)

“We understand reality better not from the center, but from the outskirts.”
(May 27, 2013)

“This is what I am asking you [priests] – be shepherds with the smell of
sheep.” (March 28, 2013)

And finally, what to look for in a candidate for bishop: They should be
“gentle, patient and merciful; animated by inner poverty, the freedom of
the Lord and also by outward simplicity and austerity of life.” They should
“not have the psychology of ‘princes.’”

All these quotes are from Pope Francis. One year ago this week, two pretty
wonderful things happened. We got a pope who is on fire for the poor of the
world, who startles the world with his simplicity, and who seems to realize
that the hierarchy as it exists is a problem. He has a long way to go
regarding women, but I have faith in his ability to grow. At some point the
light will dawn, that keeping women down contributes to the suffering of
the poor majority of the world. In the meantime, we women priests have the
freedom to create our own ministries and to dream a new church into being,
and we’re doing that. So in this moment, all really is well. It will unfold
in time. When we are finally welcomed into the church, it will be a new
sort of church. Personally, I have no desire to go around in a black shirt
and have people treating me deferentially because I’m a priest. That would
be the opposite of what I’m called to do.

The other wonderful thing that happened a year ago was that baby
Cristiancito was born!!! Today, March 15, is his first birthday. He is
learning to walk and is surrounded by love. What joy!

Here are two upcoming events. This coming Thursday, March 20, there will be
a talk at Nazareth College by one of my favorite theologians, Jeanette
Rodriquez. Most of what I know about Our Lady of Guadalupe I learned from
her books. The talk is in the Schultz Center at 7 pm and is free.

The following Monday, March 24, is the anniversary of the assassination of
Oscar Romero, for whom our church is named. Two of the men responsible for
his death were trained at the School of the Americas in Georgia, now know
as WHINSEC. There will be a vigil outside the Federal Building here in
Rochester, sponsored by ROCLA, Pax Christi Rochester and SOA Watch
Rochester, at 4 pm on Monday the 24th. More information at
https://www.facebook.com/events/227909904065220/  Hope to see you there!

Hope you are having a blessed Lent, with lots of growth and new life!
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

Oscar Romero Inclusive Catholic Church
Bulletin for Sunday, March 9, 2014
1st Sunday in Lent
Dear friends,

On Tuesday I performed a ritual that happens several times each year, going
to the closet in my study that serves as a sacristy, and trading the colors
of one liturgical season for another. The green of ordinary time went back
in, and I withdrew purple candles, stole and altar cloth. This simple
action connects our little church with the wider church all over the world
as we settle in to Lent: not only in our use of color, but in the objects
themselves. I hung up my green stole, a gift from my daughters at my
diaconal ordination in Philadelphia in 2009, and took out a purple one,
both stoles woven by women in Guatemala. I hung up the green altar cloth I
bought at Nueva Esperanza in El Salvador, and replaced it with a purple
shawl I bought from a woman in Ataco, El Salvador, who told me she wove it
herself.

I replenished the hosts that will be used at Mass, remembering that they
were a gift from Caryl Marchand over at Mary Magdalene Church, as were the
candles we used at Advent. That got me thinking about Denise Donato, and
what a blessing it has been to have her support and encouragement these
past several years. That same day I talked on the phone with my bishop,
Andrea Johnson; the network of women priests is a strong, sure web, tying
us together. I thought of the Sophia Community in New Jersey, led by Mary
Ann Schoettly (who was ordained a priest when I was ordained a deacon),
that supports our little church with a regular contribution each month. And
of Olga, the woman priest in Columbia who puts the Spanish version of this
bulletin on her blog each week, and Judy Lee in Florida who often passes on
the English version on her blog. We are so connected, in a web that is much
bigger than one could ever realize from being at our tiny Sunday Masses at
St Joe’s.

The connection goes beyond women priests. I think, of course, of Jim Callan
and his advice when St Romero’s began: Show up no matter what, and give
your best. But there is also the Federation of Christian Ministries, of
which we are a member community: churches all over the United States that
are led in many ways, often by male priests who are married. And the
Greater Rochester Community of Churches, that breaks beyond
Catholic/Protestant walls and unites Jesus-lovers of many denominations,
working together to build the Kindom of God. There is our personal
connection with Shekina Baptist Church in Santa Ana, El Salvador, breaking
not only denominational boundaries, but national ones as well.

And finally, there is our migrant church, now spread from Western New York
to Florida and Mexico. We just got the good news that one of our guys in
the Alternatives to Detention system has “graduated” to a monthly phone
call and no longer has to report in to Buffalo every second week. Three
others are still reporting but we celebrate with him. Think of the work
that will no longer be lost, the gas that will be saved. I am so grateful
to Charley Bowman in Buffalo and others who can be counted on to help with
driving. That’s another network! All the folks working for the rights of
farmworkers, for immigration reform and in little, persistent ways being
community to folks who are nearly invisible in our society but who are
suffering so much from our deportation system.

Though spread so far, we are together, we are one. Gracias a Dios por todos!

Blessings and love to all,
Chava

PS My diaconal ordination in 2009 was held in a Reconstructionist Jewish
Synagogue in Philadelphia, Mishkan Shalom. Recently there was an article
about their work with undocumented people. I knew they were kindred
spirits!!
http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/thepulse/item/64762-families-facing-deportation-find-support-in-local-congregations

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