August 7th, 2010: Junk

In 2008-2009 I took my first JustFaith class at Risen Savior parish. At the end of that course one of my goals was to help the environment by stopping junk mail from arriving at my home. First, it is rare that I look through any of my junk mail. Secondly, the purpose of junk mail is primarily so people purchase what is being advertised. Well since I don't look through my junk mail I don't purposely purchase the things being advertised therefore defeating junk mails purpose. I do throw it into my paper recycle bin but what would be better for the environment would be to stop junk mail from coming to my house all together.

Did you know that: Each year in our country 4.5 million tons of junk mail is produced. It uses 100 million trees a year and wastes 28 billion gallons of water for paper processing each year. This is so sad considering there are places in our world that have difficulty finding drinking water. On average each person receives 1.5 personal letters each week compared to 10.8 pieces of junk mail. Then 44% of all junk mail is thrown in the trash, unopened and unread and $320 million of local taxes are used to dispose of unsolicited mail each year.

Here are the sites I found for you to navigate. Stop your junk mail from coming, save our environment, save trees, and water. Its an easy step towards justice.

http://www.donotmail.org/
http://www.ecocycle.org/junkmail/
http://www.stopjunkmailnow.com/

The process might take you a few hours but the environmental benefits will last a lifetime.

July 31st, 2010: Broken

This last week I shadowed the Center for Immigration & Citizenship Legal Assistance at Catholic Charities. Interesting enough parts of the Arizona SB-1070 law took affect on Thursday. It was a great week for me to ask a lot of questions and learn a lot about our broken immigration system. I have avoided the topic of immigration in previous blogs because of the tense political climate in the US around immigration for as long as I have known. So rather than feed the frenzy I am going to just tell a few stories.

Nine months ago Catholic Charities was introduced to a refugee Cuban family consisting of two people, a mother and her adult son. Legally, after one year and one day of being a refugee in the US (with proper documentation) refugees can petition for legal permanent resident (LPR) status. The paperwork process for Catholic Charities and the clients in these cases are usually not difficult because refugees have been with Catholic Charities for quite some time and Catholic Charities knows their histories. Currently the family of two is bringing in about $1,600 a month in income. I am not certain on how many hours a week they work but we are certain that they both have a job. This income is to pay for their rent, food, utilities, and anything to get by. However, now that they want to file for LPR status. Financially it will cost both people in the family, combined, approximately $3,000 to become legal permanent residents. What I did find out is that they don't loose their refugee status after one year and one day but eventually, I believe, and I could be wrong, if they wait longer than seven years they could loose their status. Regardless, financially they are barely getting by. What is the client to do?

A young man walks into the office. He is about 23 years old. His mother is petitioning for him to become a LPR. She became a LPR via a marriage with an American citizen. His mom brought him over from Mexico when he was three months old. He has grown up his entire life in the US. He has never been to Mexico. When he was younger on a I-9 form once he was employeed he claimed that he was a US Citizen; this is a serious crime so much so that this young man now has a ban that could either delay his LPR status for a really long time or potentially he would never get legal status. I am not saying what he did was right. He was young and wanted a job and did what it took. But now what he did for the job might cause him his legal residency status. Imagine a young man, 23 years old, his life ahead of him, only speaks English, and has never left the country...what is the client to do?

A young woman walks into the office. She is 18 years old and a US Citizen. Her mother is a Mexican citizen living in Juarez. She wants to petition for LPR status for her mother. The young woman is scared that the violence that is erupting in Juarez will affect her mother. There is no direct threat to her mother, merely, indirect, which is still scary. Regardless the young woman is turned away. For a child to petition their parent the child must be 21 years old. She leaves and says she will be back in three years. The 18 year old child is scared about her mothers safety. What does this client do for the next three years as she waits, in fear, for a phone call from a relative about the situation in Juarez?

The system is broken, and honestly, I am not so sure what the answer is. Its true we need comprehensive immigration reform in the US. But what does comprehensive immigration reform look like? And beyond what we need in the US, globally, we need peace and a way people can earn a living in their own countries to support themselves and their families. The majority of people who migrate, from what I have learned, if they had the resources (food, shelter, clothing, money) to live in their birth country they would. But because of lack of resources and/or war and violence they just can't 'live' in their country for fear of death either from no food or violence.

What can we do? Pray - first and foremost - that God work with our human laws and hearts so that people are treated with dignity and respect where ever they are. Also advocating for comprehensive immigration reform. If you look at the website created by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops, Justice for Immigrants, http://www.justiceforimmigrants.org/, you will see some of the ideas the Bishops' believe are important for immigration reform in the United States. Talk to your local representatives and see what you can do to make immigration reform occur. Lastly I think one of the most important issues in any social justice matter is putting a face to the cause. Interacting with immigrants so that one realizes that they are human, they have families they love and are caring for, they are here to attempt to live...open your eyes, hands, and time so that God can work with your heart.

Leviticus 19:32-34
If a stranger lives with you in your land,
do not molest him. You must count him as one of
your own countrymen and love him as yourself -
for you were once strangers yourselves in Egypt.
I am Yahweh your God.

July 24th, 2010: Unsettled

This is the end of my second week at Catholic Charities in Albuquerque and I am loving it. I am learning a lot. My first week I shadowed the Center for Self-Sufficiency and Housing Assistance. This last week I shadowed the Center for Refugee Settlement and Support. I am shadowing all of the Centers at Catholic Charities so that I can go out and educate the community on Catholic Charities and Catholic Social Teaching - the tenants that are the mission and vision of the organization. For me to give these presentations around the Archdiocese of Santa Fe I myself need to know what Catholic Charities does, hence, my 5-6 weeks of shadowing and researching.

This week at the Center for Refugees my heart has been broken. A refugee according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) defines a refugee as a person who has fled his/her country of origin/residency and who is unwilling/unable to return because of a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a political social group. This definition excludes those leaving their country of origin/residency only to seek a more prosperous life. Refugees come to the United States through a long legal process that can take from a few months to many years; in some cases a refugee may be in a refugee camp outside his/her country of origin/residency for up to 15 years waiting entry into the United States. According to the UNHCR there are approximately 16 million refugees in our world today. The cap, ceiling not quota, of refugees admitted into the US for 2010 is at 80,000 people. Less that 1/2% of people that apply to come to the United States are admitted. In Albuquerque from July 2009-July 2010 208 people (adults and children) from around the world (Iraq, Cuba, Congo, Bhutan, and many other places) were settled here.

Bluntly, I have learned that the system to bring refugees into the United States and the system to keep them here in a dignified way is broken. In theory, and this is something I agree with, it is helpful that we at least have a system in place to settle refugees from war-torn areas. However once they enter the United States they have many obstacles to overcome before they can survive here. There are many reasons the system is failing.

First, the system was last re-designed in the 1980s when many of the refugees who were coming into US had more resources (money and connections to other family/friends in the US). Now, many of those coming into the country are coming from third world countries that need a lot more services and resources. Without going into too many details the government helps refugees financially for 120 days (four months). If they qualify, after 120 days refugees could qualify for food stamps and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (receive money). However due to lack of the English language (you cannot learn English proficiently in four months if you cannot read/write even your own primarily language) and the bad economy some families/refugees end up on the streets. In addition Catholic Charities has seen a dramatic increase in medical attention needed for refugees due to the nature of where they came from. A refugee will have a difficult time dealing with their illness, learning a language, and finding a job in a foreign country in a 120 period.

This brings me to my second point. 120 days is too short of a time for a refugee to acclimate and be self-sufficient. Imagine you moving to a foreign country where you don't speak the language, don't understand the culture, have a medical need, and their economy is bad. In the US I have known of people, who speak English and are in great health, who take six months to find a job to sustain themselves. Funding is therefore an issue. It falls on the state, local government, and Catholic Charities as an unfunded mandate to help refugees do the close to impossible in 120 days. Granted, sometimes 120 days is all a refugee from Cuba might need but a refugee from the Congo has very different needs and barriers to cross. The US government essentially says that "yes" we welcome you to our country but the money or time is just not there to support the "yes". It disturbs me to read that some say its better for refugees to be homeless in our country than to be in their war-torn country. Is that really how we want to treat someone who has already suffered enough? Is that really how we want someone who waited 15 years in a refugee camp to be treated? Granted the system that is in place is premised on full employment in our country but even with full employment in our country the demographics of who a refugee is has dramatically shifted.

This brings me to my last point. Advocacy is needed. Those who are coming from different countries don’t have the political capital to get their agenda on the table in DC or even locally. A Congolese Lobby Group does not exist. We must use our voices to advocate for those who cannot speak for themselves because they are attempting to merely live. We need to talk to our representatives about fixing the refugee system. Some of the basic things you can bring up are, 1) increase funding for refugees or say yes to less refugees so that the refugees that are admitted into the US get more funding, 2) increase the amount of time refugees get funding - 120 days in just not enough, 3) increase the resources for refugees - help them educationally and with the English language, and 4) when placing someone somewhere in the United States account for their needs (health, social, etc). I am unsettled with the current system. Catholic Charities is working so hard to work within the parameters given to them. Catholic Charities is doing amazing work (teaching them English, giving cultural awareness classes, providing them a home to live in for 120 days, funded by the government, that is fully furnished, in-kind donations, and much more). However, Spending time with families and children of different countries around the world, seeing them attempting to acclimate and learn English, seeing them trying to rush to do all that they need to do in 120 days to build their homes leaves me unsettled.

If you have more questions about the refugee system I can provide more details. Leave me a comment and I can email you. I am not an expert but if I don't know the answers I can ask sources that do know them.

I also want to thank those who taught me a lot of this information in the Refugee Center at Catholic Charities.

July 11th, 2010: Cristo Rey Albuquerque

It's been a while since I have posted a blog! So many good things have happened in the last few months that have made me quite busy! I got married to the love of my life, Mike. We went on a wonderful honeymoon to Maui. I discerned to leave Newman as the Director of Campus Ministry to pursue my passion and deep calling for social justice. And by the grace of God, tomorrow, I am starting a new job with Catholic Charities as the parish and faith community outreach liaison. In this position I will be teaching Catholic Social Teaching and spreading the mission of Catholic Charities to both Catholic & other Christian Churches in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. I immensely feel the love of God.

One new thing that I am involved in is starting a Cristo Rey High School in Albuquerque! There are 24 successful Cristo Rey High Schools in cities throughout the country. These schools provide a private, Catholic, college preparatory education to students who otherwise cannot afford this type of education. In this model students go to school four days a week (the school day is extended so to meet regulations of hours students are in school) and the fifth day they work in a "work study program". The corporations who sponsor the work pay one salary to the school for each four students working at their organization. 70% of the funding for the entire school comes from the work that these students do in their work study programs. What I am really moved by with the corporate work study program is that students are given a sense of hope that they can become something greater than they previously imagined in their society via the avenue of a good solid education and working along side professionals in their communities.

Why does Albuquerque need a Cristo Rey High School? Did you know that the number of people living below the poverty level in the South Valley is over three times the national average? In 2009 the drop out rate for high school students was at 46%. These are just two indications that we in Albuquerque are in desperate need for additional educational resources for our residents.

Currently Archbishop Sheehan, two Marist Brothers, and a Task Force of over 30 individuals are conducting a feasibility study in Albuquerque to get Cristo Rey Albuquerque open for a freshman class in the Fall of 2012. Various sites in the South Valley have been evaluated and a decision on the location for the school is expected soon. We are going to be hosting a major event to be held on October 1st at the Hispanic Cultural Center to more widely inform the community about Cristo Rey where one of our special guests will be Fr. Foley, SJ, the Jesuit who helped establish the Cristo Rey model. These are just a few of the things that are occurring from the group conducting this study. If you would like to learn more information about Cristo Rey Albuquerque please look at our website, http://www.cristoreyalbuquerque.org. If you would like to learn more about the Cristo Rey Network please look at that website, http://www.cristoreynetwork.org. If you would like to make a donation to get this much needed high school started or if you know someone who would like to provide a job for the corporate work study program please contact Br. Jim Adams at jefajr@aol.com.

April 29th, 2010: St. Catherine of Siena

Ever since I was an undergraduate at the University of California, San Diego I have had a deep devotion to St. Catherine of Siena. She is someone that I have always had deep admiration for and have found deep spiritual companionship with. She was born in 1347; a time that was challenging for women to be in roles of authority. Yet, because of her deep desire to seek God and truth, veritas, she found the strength and courage to speak truth to power when she noticed injustices occurring in front of her. For example Catherine, during the Avignon papacy, through letter writing, implored that Pope Gregory XI move the papacy back to Rome. Her deep spirituality and love of God guided her to move in the direction in which the Spirit was moving her.

As some of you might have already heard after serious discernment and prayer I have decided not to return as the Director of Campus Ministry with the Aquinas Newman Center for the 2010-2011 academic year. This prayerful decision was difficult. I truly enjoy working with the students. Yet I know deep in my heart and soul that God is asking me to trust Him to move on. These last four years at Newman have been a true blessing. I have truly enjoyed walking with the students on their journeys of faith; I see it as having been sacred time to minister with and for the students. I will miss them all tremendously, but, I am certain that God will continue to watch over them and guide them all. I do trust that through my discernment with God, I am being asked to move on, even though at this moment I am not sure what that will look like. I find strength in this moment not only in my relationships with God, family, and friends, but also in women like Catherine of Siena who trusted and loved God so much that she gave her life to Him. I hope that I can give my life as fully to God as Catherine did.

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.