March 30, 2010: Sight

A barren island. This is the sight we encountered when we took an air boat on Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 to a barrier island on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana. What is a barrier island? A barrier island is an island that is a buffer for the land when hurricanes come through. These barrier islands, not only help as a buffer, they also have wildlife that live on them, therefore keeping the ecosystem of the wetlands alive and vibrant. Barrier islands in Coastal Louisiana are also called wetlands. These wetlands/islands are also important because they prevent flooding by holding water much like a sponge. As stewards of creation (Gen 1:28) we must be aware of what we are doing to our earth and attempt to remedy the wrongdoings.

The barrier islands of coastal Louisiana are slowly deteriorating. This erosion is occurring because of several factors such as: hurricanes, human made levees to direct the Mississippi River from flowing in its natural course, and the drilling of natural oil in Coastal Louisiana. To uphold the dignity of those living in Louisiana and to uphold the tenant of Catholic Social Teaching, Care of Creation, we should work with them in helping rebuild not only their homes and cities but also their land.

What can we do? This is where our delegation came in. The first two days we were in Louisiana were dedicated to sorting long grass and planting these bunches of grass onto a barrier island. The barrier island that we planted on was human made by dredging the bottom of a lake to the top of the water so to create an island. Even though this is an expensive process, to dredge, it is a necessary to create land so that both the city of New Orleans can be protected and that the ecosystem in the wetlands can continue to exist. When we arrived to the island it was barren. When we left the island on Tuesday late afternoon new life was planted (the picture on the top right of this blog entry shows the island with what we planted). Our group planted 6,600 small plants that day. We left and saw a big change both in what we did and in our hearts. It was a blessing that God was using us as His vessels to continue life in New Orleans.

March 21, 2010: Touch

From March 14th to 20th, 2010, I was in New Orleans, Louisiana on a spring break service trip with college students from the University of New Mexico and resident parishioners from the Aquinas Newman Center. On Thursday night Jocelyn Sideco, the executive director of Contemplatives in Action (http://www.contemplativesinaction.org/), the non-profit that helped to plan our trip, led us in a evening of reflection. We had been having very deep evening reflections as a team, but this evening, Jocelyn gathered all forty of the participants staying at the location we were staying at for prayer. We lined up in four straight lines of ten. She had us stretch and then close our eyes. She had us reflect upon our senses and what we had experienced in New Orleans via our senses. The next few blogs will highlight a sense and give at least one example of how that heightened my experience of New Orleans.

Touch. On Thursday morning we went to the Lower Ninth Ward Village Community Center. Mac, a man who prior to Katrina stated that he was on the path towards living a very materialistic and self-centered life, post Katrina found his life worth living and decided to start up a community center so to be a beacon of hope in the Lower Ninth Ward. It was as if Katrina had cleansed his soul. From what I experienced, even though the community center was not completed, one could see that it was already flourishing as a center for change and hope to the community around it. One of the projects that we were put in charge of for the day was helping to dig up soil and to sift out debris so that the soil could be used to plant fruits, vegetables, and herbs. In the process we also were digging out the space where the garden would exist. Touching the soil and sifting it was a very holy and spiritual experience. As I sifted I prayed for the community of the Lower Ninth Ward. I prayed that this garden and community center would continue to elicit volunteers and bring the community together. I was standing and working in holy ground.

On a deeper level I also thought and prayed about the soil and its erosion in Louisiana. Did you know that Louisiana is losing about the size of a football field of land every 45 minutes due to erosion? (To learn about the land loss in Louisiana look at this website: http://www.americaswetland.com/) How will this affect all of us around the country? Why should we care? To name just a few things, Louisiana is one of the biggest port cities in the country, it is also one of the biggest manufacturers of natural gas, and it is one of the biggest producers of fresh seafood around the country. If coastal Louisiana is depleted the entire country will feel it. There was a study done that if just one of the approximately fifteen oil refineries in Louisiana were shut down, gas prices around the country would more than double. Not only should we care about Louisiana because our pocket books might hurt or because we might not have as much seafood to eat but we should care because of the people and the culture that reside in Louisiana. Imagine your home being wiped away by a natural disaster or by erosion. I think of my home state of California. I have thought about how I will feel when a huge earthquake, known to Californians as the big one, will strike and change the way California looks to me today. My family is there. My best friends are there. All of my memories from when I was born until I was 26 are in the state of California. To uphold the dignity of those living in Louisiana we should work with them in helping rebuild not only their homes and cities but also their land. (In a later blog I will discuss how we can help re-build the land.) Soil is a source of life and is sacred.

March 10, 2010: Rice Bowl

"They will know we are Christians by our Love." Today I heard a speaker, Thomas Awiapo, speak upon his experience with Catholic Relief Services (CRS). The first sentence I wrote was how he started his talk; a Catholic hymnal. He spoke of the beauty of his country, Northern Ghana, the moon, the simple things like brushing ones teeth with twigs, and the tragedies of poverty such as hunger. Mentioning that poverty and riches can both be beautiful and difficult; that we must live in harmony and not in constant struggle with the powers that be. Thomas did not know his parents. They passed away before he could remember. He was left with three brothers. They would cry a lot because they were so hungry. He talked about how at times the four of them would crowd over a small bowl of food and fight over it; survival instinct. He saw two of them die of hunger right in front of him. Then one evening his older brother said to him that this life was too hard, by the morning, his brother was gone. He was alone and hungry. One day he smelled some food being cooked not too far away. He walked to the food and it was a school that was built by CRS. They were enticing kids to come to school by giving them a snack and a hot lunch; both of which were provided by the project Operation Rice Bowl. He went to school not because he wanted to learn but because he wanted to eat. Thomas stated that he would sometimes try and trick the teachers in giving him the snack without having to learn. But CRS and the teachers they hired were too smart. Eventually Thomas, due to the snack, graduated from this school then went as far as going to get his masters in California. He now has a family and is working for CRS. He sees the value in education and how being educated can help people empowered so that they can get themselves out of the cycle of poverty. Thomas now works at creating systems to get people out of poverty in his country, for example, building schools for kids to become educated and eat. Because people donated money through CRS, specifically Operation Rice Bowl, Thomas was able to come and talk to us about his experiences. What this experience left me with was the necessity for the sense of giving. Working in the Church, I don't make a salary that gives me a lot of flexibility in how I spend. However, hearing the story of Thomas today has empowered me to give out of what I don't have. I don't mean that I am going to go in debt giving to people who need it. What I mean is that I will give up something I want to give to someone who needs. I am living in wealth, whether I realize it or not, and others are barely living. Giving from a place where it might hurt a little bit for me will help someone eat and survive.

March 8, 2010: Saint of Second Chances

St. Dismas and Jesus

On Saturday, as part of the Newman Justice Walking group, we went to Dismas House. Dismas House, as mentioned in another blog, is a home for motivated people who are on parole and probation to successfully transition into society. While we were there one of the social workers told us who the patron of Dismas was. Although not a lot is known about St. Dismas the little that is known is powerful. St. Dismas was the man crucified next to Jesus in Calvary. He repented to Jesus before he died and then Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise" (Lk 23:43). This penitent man is therefore known as the saint of second chances.

About fifteen minutes into eating lunch with the residents of Dismas House a man came in and sat right in front of me. Outwardly he seemed not put together. I judged him immediately. Then he started to eat. He ate as if he had not eaten a meal in days. Food was flying everywhere. I judged him again. After this second judgement I sat back in my seat and asked myself, "if I am called to see Christ in front of me all of the time, what do I need to do to stop judging and be more compassionate?" I started to ask him questions. He told me he had been in the house for two weeks. He also said that he was college educated. We did not get into a deep conversation but I did recognize that I prejudged. I must attempt to go into every experience with a beginners mind; a mind that is not placing judgements or presumptions rather a mind that sees things simply as they are. A beginners mind does not block Christ midst in front of us. This man in front of me that day, like St. Dismas, was on the road to his own salvation.

March 4, 2010: Justice Walking

An image I took from a housebuilding trip to Juarez a few years back with UNM college students.


Below is an article I wrote for the People of God, the Catholic Archdiocesan Newspaper for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. It will be published in April.

College Justice Walking: A Journey of Faith and Transformation

Do you know what Catholic Social Teaching is about? Catholic Social Teaching has been said to be the best kept secret of the Catholic Church. Twelve students at the University of New Mexico’s Aquinas Newman Center are embarking on a journey to learn and live the Church’s social teachings with a program called College Justice Walking. The Newman Center has been asked to be a pilot group for this program in the country. This seven week series, including an opening and closing retreat, opens up the rich treasure of the Church’s social teachings through prayer, praxis, and the educational components of reading, the bible and supplemental books, and discussion. These students will be learning the tenants of Catholic Social Teaching and how to integrate these tenants into their daily lives.

One of the elements of the Justice Walking program is that the participants volunteer at one location four different times so to build relationships amongst those whom they are serving. The group from the Newman Center will be volunteering at Dismas House. Dismas House is a home for motivated people who are on parole and probation to successfully transition into society. The group will be cooking and serving a meal to those in need. These bonds allow the participants to become more compassionate in the face of our suffering God and will therefore help to transform these students to make even more compassionate choices in the future.

The Justice Walking leaders manual provides some provoking questions of the students, “What would happen to our lifestyle if we tried to live out the Gospel teachings together? What would happen to our friendships if we let the Gospels guide us? If we put God’s justice first, what and who would we care about? What would we be looking for in life?” One of the main teachings of Jesus is the following, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me… whatever you did for one of these least brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matt 25:35-36, 40). Justice Walking forces participants to look critically at their lives and what the Gospel calls us to be. The hope with this program for the students at Newman is for them to finish the Justice Walking program more compassionate in their actions and more active within the realm of social justice in whatever career they decide upon. Please pray for the students embarking on this journey of faith. This journey will break their heart so that they can fall in deeper love with the body of Christ and the face of God.