On this day in 1531, a boy named Diego passed a hill at Tepeyac, near Mexico City today.
A voice called him by name as he walked. A young Indian maiden instructed him to go to the local bishop and tell him to build an edifice on this hill to the mother goddess.
After three attempts, Juan was received, given a sign of roses and a photo of Our Lady in his tilma, cape.
And the cult of Our Lady of Guadalupe was born, the Indian name of the Lady was rendered in Spanish.
A fusion among the Spanish and indigenous races and cultures blended.
A conversion of souls happened with a boy called Juan.
Millions of Aztecs were baptized. Even more importantly, the poor were raised up. Banners with Our Lady's image were carried by the peasant army of Emiliano Zapata durind the Mexican Revolution.
Cesar Chavez of the U.S. Farmworkers carried her image on the picket line.
She symbolizes a church celebrating today diversity. One that empowers the poor, and speaks with the voice of compassion.
Where such a church lives, roses bloom in December.
All because of a boy called Juan Diego.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Fear, Lack of Trust Turns Suburban, City Dwellers Backs on One Another
Trust will turn my hometown around.
It will. Trust me.
It will also diminish the fear that is paralyzing and immobilizing people from visiting, living or encountering Detroit these past few decades.
Fear of the foreign, unfamiliar and unknown prevents people of the suburbs from encountering and experiencing City dwellers.
I grew up in Motown, the city I love to this day.
Crossing the divide of city boundaries will fill the gap and bridge 'burbs and Detroit, and more.
Until action is taken to cross Eight Mile Road, for example, the mistrust and fear will prevent progress in Detroit and its financial and ethical crisis ruining it today. A similar saga presents and awaits itself to play out in the suburbs who have similar issues of fractured families, drugs, crime and a lack of faith in the home.
Faith will chase the fear and ever so slowly begin to replace fear with hope and promise again where trust turns hearts toward one another.
Turned backs will be replaced by faces looking each other in the eyes and engaging decency and faith once more in a broken town.
What can be done?
Concretely, one can befriend a family or household in Detroit or the suburbs. Places of worship and their leaders can facilitate face to face encounters. They can.
Exit fear.
Enter trust over time.
Fix Detroit with faith. Money is not enough to solve Motown's woes.
Goodwill is not enough, a reporter complained, when leaders met to address the ruin of Detroit
Monday in Roseville, MI.
The divide keeps people afraid and locked into their own turf.
The answer rests in the founder of the Catholic Worker, a movement this most influential and significant figure in the history of American Catholicism, founded in 1933.
Day noted:
"Love is the measure, but to truly love each other, we must first know each other, and to know each other, we must first listen to each other, and to listen to each other, we must first slow down enough to simply be with each other. But our society and our systems don't want us to slow down. Our society and systems want us to speed up in order to increase economic growth and wealth. Yet the true prophets of our age reject this way, and embrace instead slowing down, to be with each other, to listen to each other, to know each other and to love each other because, as we know, love is the measure."
It is.
No amount of money will save Detroit.
People will. Trust and fearlessness will turn hearts toward each other once more.
Faith, for sure, can no longer be dismissed as the answer.
It will fix the problem, remove fear, and bridge the deep divide between Detroit and the suburbs.
It will. Trust me.
It will also diminish the fear that is paralyzing and immobilizing people from visiting, living or encountering Detroit these past few decades.
Fear of the foreign, unfamiliar and unknown prevents people of the suburbs from encountering and experiencing City dwellers.
I grew up in Motown, the city I love to this day.
Crossing the divide of city boundaries will fill the gap and bridge 'burbs and Detroit, and more.
Until action is taken to cross Eight Mile Road, for example, the mistrust and fear will prevent progress in Detroit and its financial and ethical crisis ruining it today. A similar saga presents and awaits itself to play out in the suburbs who have similar issues of fractured families, drugs, crime and a lack of faith in the home.
Faith will chase the fear and ever so slowly begin to replace fear with hope and promise again where trust turns hearts toward one another.
Turned backs will be replaced by faces looking each other in the eyes and engaging decency and faith once more in a broken town.
What can be done?
Concretely, one can befriend a family or household in Detroit or the suburbs. Places of worship and their leaders can facilitate face to face encounters. They can.
Exit fear.
Enter trust over time.
Fix Detroit with faith. Money is not enough to solve Motown's woes.
Goodwill is not enough, a reporter complained, when leaders met to address the ruin of Detroit
Monday in Roseville, MI.
The divide keeps people afraid and locked into their own turf.
The answer rests in the founder of the Catholic Worker, a movement this most influential and significant figure in the history of American Catholicism, founded in 1933.
Day noted:
"Love is the measure, but to truly love each other, we must first know each other, and to know each other, we must first listen to each other, and to listen to each other, we must first slow down enough to simply be with each other. But our society and our systems don't want us to slow down. Our society and systems want us to speed up in order to increase economic growth and wealth. Yet the true prophets of our age reject this way, and embrace instead slowing down, to be with each other, to listen to each other, to know each other and to love each other because, as we know, love is the measure."
It is.
No amount of money will save Detroit.
People will. Trust and fearlessness will turn hearts toward each other once more.
Faith, for sure, can no longer be dismissed as the answer.
It will fix the problem, remove fear, and bridge the deep divide between Detroit and the suburbs.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Clergy, Others to Meet to 'Love Neighbor', Detroit, as Self
Frazier Kimpson of Detroit Mayor Bing's office will be there.
With Rabbi Mordehai Waldman of Berkley, MI., and Sterling Heights' Mohamed Abbass of the All Faiths Festival (AFF), and Pastor Anthony Whitehorn of Mt. Clemens, and some Roseville city council leaders will meet at Sacred Heart Church at 18430 Utica Road at Gratiot in Roseville at 10 am this morning.
"Love Neighbor" is the aim. Support Detroit, ailing as Motown, Michigan is these days.
We will.
We'll stand together and do what we can to assist our good neighbor.
Our faith forges us together.
Faith spurs us on to lead, to love, to give what we can.
Catholic social thought teaches that: You matter. Everyone else matters.
Two principles upon which charity flows.
Some may think this is a noble deed. Perhaps. It is necessary, nevertheless, for leaders to lock limbs and lift up Detroit.
Join us at 10 am, or call me at 586 777 9116.
With Rabbi Mordehai Waldman of Berkley, MI., and Sterling Heights' Mohamed Abbass of the All Faiths Festival (AFF), and Pastor Anthony Whitehorn of Mt. Clemens, and some Roseville city council leaders will meet at Sacred Heart Church at 18430 Utica Road at Gratiot in Roseville at 10 am this morning.
"Love Neighbor" is the aim. Support Detroit, ailing as Motown, Michigan is these days.
We will.
We'll stand together and do what we can to assist our good neighbor.
Our faith forges us together.
Faith spurs us on to lead, to love, to give what we can.
Catholic social thought teaches that: You matter. Everyone else matters.
Two principles upon which charity flows.
Some may think this is a noble deed. Perhaps. It is necessary, nevertheless, for leaders to lock limbs and lift up Detroit.
Join us at 10 am, or call me at 586 777 9116.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Terrible Times
Such bad news seems to envelope us these days.
I hear sad stories daily.
More home foreclosures, family fracturing, addiction and attachment disorders, conflict and my Motown in crisis in Detroit, Michigan, where I grew up.
A mother told of her 22-month-old who died suddenly of fecal toxicity. A cousin called to tell me her son had bi-pass surgery again in Henry Ford downtown.
Perhaps some of the news attracts me given my pastoral heart and role as a counselor. I don't know.
But there is a lot of tragedy these days in troubling times.
The foundation of our society - the family - is shaky and few seem to stand up in support of this pivotal unit.
Someone called and wondered about the position of partial birth abortion by the Governor, and a few others, that bothers this 81-year-old mother who was born into a family of nine children with respect for life from early on until one's final breath.
We could talk about her concerns. Dialog helps. Yelling does no one any good, we all know.
Some worry about how we're due to be dumped on with a snow blast.
Terrible times in fear.
Living a moment at a time works well for me. Coupled with a fear-free life, I get along not worrying about tomorrow. God is already there.
O God,
fear knocks at the door,
faiths answers, and
no one is there.
Thanks be to you in
Jesus who says, and others
who are wise, that fear is
useless - what's needed is
trust.
How consoling, O Creator!
+
I hear sad stories daily.
More home foreclosures, family fracturing, addiction and attachment disorders, conflict and my Motown in crisis in Detroit, Michigan, where I grew up.
A mother told of her 22-month-old who died suddenly of fecal toxicity. A cousin called to tell me her son had bi-pass surgery again in Henry Ford downtown.
Perhaps some of the news attracts me given my pastoral heart and role as a counselor. I don't know.
But there is a lot of tragedy these days in troubling times.
The foundation of our society - the family - is shaky and few seem to stand up in support of this pivotal unit.
Someone called and wondered about the position of partial birth abortion by the Governor, and a few others, that bothers this 81-year-old mother who was born into a family of nine children with respect for life from early on until one's final breath.
We could talk about her concerns. Dialog helps. Yelling does no one any good, we all know.
Some worry about how we're due to be dumped on with a snow blast.
Terrible times in fear.
Living a moment at a time works well for me. Coupled with a fear-free life, I get along not worrying about tomorrow. God is already there.
O God,
fear knocks at the door,
faiths answers, and
no one is there.
Thanks be to you in
Jesus who says, and others
who are wise, that fear is
useless - what's needed is
trust.
How consoling, O Creator!
+
Friday, December 2, 2011
Clergy, Others to Meet to 'Love Neighbor', Detroit, as Self
Clergy, among other advocates of the city of Detroit are set to support the Detroit City Council and Mayor Dave Bing, Monday, Dec. 5, 2011 at 10 am in the parish office center of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 18430 Utica Road at Gratiot, in Roseville.
We hope to love God and neighbor as the scriptures of all world religions mandate, among other faith traditions.
We'll take our lead from what the City Council or Mayor suggest we do, and, to assist in spiritual and other ways to 'rev' up more hope, life and promise in our beloved and ailing neighbor.
Neighbors in the 'burbs, and, the city need to connect and raise up each other as we stoop to serve in the spirit of Jesus who told us to love our neighbor as our self.
We love self enough to love Detroit as much then.
Can we do anything less for a broken city we grew up in and benefited from in countless ways?
For more information contact me at 586 530 7576 or 586 777 9116.
We hope to love God and neighbor as the scriptures of all world religions mandate, among other faith traditions.
We'll take our lead from what the City Council or Mayor suggest we do, and, to assist in spiritual and other ways to 'rev' up more hope, life and promise in our beloved and ailing neighbor.
Neighbors in the 'burbs, and, the city need to connect and raise up each other as we stoop to serve in the spirit of Jesus who told us to love our neighbor as our self.
We love self enough to love Detroit as much then.
Can we do anything less for a broken city we grew up in and benefited from in countless ways?
For more information contact me at 586 530 7576 or 586 777 9116.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Elder Sage Cares for Saint Claude Chapel in Clinton Township
Warren Purcell works daily at sawing fallen tree branches, shaping the evergreen trees, and more, at Saint Claude Chapel on Beaconsfield, north of Fourteen Mile Road in Clinton Township.
He was "buzzing" away at the branches to pile at his "FREE Fire Wood" sign when I stopped by to greet the 82-year-old parishioners who stewards well the multi-acre pastoral property that belongs to the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit's Archbishop. Landlords from a distance, however, don't seem to keep an eye on precious, God-given land, like the investment of local residents.
Numerous people like Mr. Purcel manage to give weekly offerings to the upkeep of the aging buildings and sprawling wooded-area that "makes me peaceful," Mr. Purcell admits.
After thanking him for his enduring care for Saint Claude's, one of the merged parishes, with more to come soon, the life he pours into this evergreen wooded-area makes this writer, at least, feel good when it seems that there is only bad news coming out of Catholic communities these days. Insufficient numbers of priests and fewer baptized babies works against what were vigorous churches half a century ago. My parents were among those who made parishes thrive while so much implodes these days.
One person at a time is how Jesus seemed to care for his flock. And, it will take others, like Mr. Purcell, to keep an eye on elderly or abandoned edifices as he ages well chopping wood and trimming trees these days as snow holds off.
Thanks be to God. Sto lat! (Polish for "one hundred years," may he live).
He was "buzzing" away at the branches to pile at his "FREE Fire Wood" sign when I stopped by to greet the 82-year-old parishioners who stewards well the multi-acre pastoral property that belongs to the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit's Archbishop. Landlords from a distance, however, don't seem to keep an eye on precious, God-given land, like the investment of local residents.
Numerous people like Mr. Purcel manage to give weekly offerings to the upkeep of the aging buildings and sprawling wooded-area that "makes me peaceful," Mr. Purcell admits.
After thanking him for his enduring care for Saint Claude's, one of the merged parishes, with more to come soon, the life he pours into this evergreen wooded-area makes this writer, at least, feel good when it seems that there is only bad news coming out of Catholic communities these days. Insufficient numbers of priests and fewer baptized babies works against what were vigorous churches half a century ago. My parents were among those who made parishes thrive while so much implodes these days.
One person at a time is how Jesus seemed to care for his flock. And, it will take others, like Mr. Purcell, to keep an eye on elderly or abandoned edifices as he ages well chopping wood and trimming trees these days as snow holds off.
Thanks be to God. Sto lat! (Polish for "one hundred years," may he live).
December Days, Daze
Somehow, my e-mail account was re-directed.
Contrived, whoever did it intended harm. And, wanted money sent to Madrid since I was ambushed and hospitalized.
Twice now this hacking happened.
Calls of concern poured in early today. Glad people checked before sending requested money in this horror story. What others must go through also. Man's inhumanity to man!
Here we go again trying to restore the system.
One's entire system has to be restored. All data needs to be erased. The computer has to be set like when it was purchased brand new.
There is no way to police such activity, I'm told.
The hacker(s) secure password or code and go to it.
Computers.
When will all this end?
Or, will it do us in? As so many are expereincing these days. And, left hanging there to fix the problem.
Contrived, whoever did it intended harm. And, wanted money sent to Madrid since I was ambushed and hospitalized.
Twice now this hacking happened.
Calls of concern poured in early today. Glad people checked before sending requested money in this horror story. What others must go through also. Man's inhumanity to man!
Here we go again trying to restore the system.
One's entire system has to be restored. All data needs to be erased. The computer has to be set like when it was purchased brand new.
There is no way to police such activity, I'm told.
The hacker(s) secure password or code and go to it.
Computers.
When will all this end?
Or, will it do us in? As so many are expereincing these days. And, left hanging there to fix the problem.
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