Greetings from Guatemala! (Part 2)

As I am sitting in the internet cafe typing this up, little 4-year-old Sandy is playing with an orange balloon and telling the dog, Peter, to “quite pa´afuera!” because he bit a woman this morning and so he should not be inside. Juanita, the owner of this internet cafe, occasionally puts on slow jazz or marimba or 80´s pop. Cristian, the eldest son in the house (there are 4) just pulled up on his motorbike from a day of work.

From Cuautla, Morelos, I traveled to Asuncion Nochixtlan, Oaxaca, where my dear Antonio´s family picked me up and drove me another hour into the mountains to their pueblo, San Antonio Nduayaco. With them I spent two beautiful and relaxing and peaceful weeks and learned so much about rural campesino life in Mexico! Almost all of our meals came straight from the land (happy veggie girl!) and the occasional chicken from the backyard. We went for long walks into town, into the corn fields, up the hills, grasshopper hunting… I was the chauffer for those two weeks and tied my seatbelt to the buckle with a little rope since it was broken.

There was a lot of relaxing and resting during this time, which I think I needed in part because there was a period of adjustment to the well water (my best guess?) and also to the slow-paced and schedule-less lifestyle. The views were out of this world every single day!! Lots of nighttime rain (thanks be to God!) and muddy shoes.

Moving rain water from the cistern to the reserve
Monte Alban, Oaxaca

On the first weekend we drove to Oaxaca and saw a bit of the city as well as Monte Alban (incredible!) and stayed the night at Antonio´s almost finished but not quite yet house in the outskirts of a small town outside the city. Oh did I love those hours! Here is a brief journal excerpt about that time:

Even though we didn´t have electricity and there was so much dust and there were spiders in the latrine (they hadn´t been to the house in 3 years!), I loved it! Citlali and I went to two corner stores and got candles, matches, water, sweet bread, two Victorias, peanuts, roach spray, and a 1 day recarga for her cell phone. Then we relaxed and enjoyed the view (well, I did. Doña Trinidad and Don Rafa were sweeping and washing sheets and pulling weeds). By 8:30pm, it was pitch black. We went to bed by 9pm and Doña Trini, Citlali, Alberto and I slept together horizontally on a double bed with our feet hanging off onto chairs and stools. By 2:45am, we were all awake and talking to each other again. Doña Trini told lots of stories of when she lived in that house with all of her children for a few years and her eldest son´s partner was pregnant. Then I said, I wonder how I will be when I am pregnant! and then shortly after we fell back asleep. Just such a silly and memorable time.

After the cherished time in Oaxaca, I went to San Pedro Rincon de Tlapacoyan to visit the older brother, sister-in-law, and niece of my family´s housekeeper (who has worked for us for over 20 years!). Oh that was also such a lovely surprise! I got to join for the nightly novena for a recently deceased aunt, we went to see some amazing underground caverns, we wandered in a river and got caught in a downpour (lots of those around this part of the world!), and explored the market in the larger town 30 minutes down the road.

Then I headed to the airport to take a flight to Guatemala City, where I was picked up by the family I am with now. What a tender moment to arrive at the airport and have them waiting there for me!! (this has not been common) We drove back to their home in some rush hour traffic, stopping in the city about 30 minutes from their town to pick up a few groceries, one of the kiddos from school, and a new sim card for my phone. They decorated the room I am staying in with a beautiful handmade sign “Welcome Brinkley” and lots of balloons!!

Visiting Mixco Viejo, the ruins of a pre-colonial Mayan Kaqchikel Civilization

During my stay here in Montufar, I left for a week to visit the Proyecto Linguistico Quetzalteco, a Spanish language school in Quetzaltenango, where I stayed with a host mom and two other students and had an amazing week of adventure! My teacher and I mostly focused on more complex verb forms that I am slowly learning, and we went for a couple outings to show me the city. The school specializes in teaching Guatemalan history and highlighting the guerilla/subversive efforts during the 36-year armed conflict. It was really special and incredible to learn even more about this reality which I have studied in many books over the years. We visited a Mayan ceremonial altar, an ex-guerilla community, and a women´s weaving cooperative, and heard the testimony of a former guerilla and current community organizer and political activist, among many other activities. I spent hours in an Irish pub in deep conversation with a Canadian and New Zealander… such a memorable week!

Beautiful landscapes of Xela

And since that week I have come back to Montufar for a few more days to spend quality time with this family. The other day I accompanied the mom and youngest son to her land where she has chickens, turkeys, pigs, corn fields, and banana trees. We also went into the city and got some groceries and beautiful flowers (a whole incredible bouquet for Q5, which is less than $1).

The Indigenous women carry bags and boxes and bundles on their heads like they weren´t even there!

Another excerpt, from that day:

5pm: I am here with Felix waiting for the microbus in Caserio los Caneles. Doña Florencia just got on a man´s motorcycle and took off (something about a document?)…She and Felix fed the pigs and gave them water. They cost Q300-400 as babies and by 9 months she can sell them at about Q1300-1500. It´s not exactly lucrative, she says, given the cost and labor of caring for them, but it´s a way of accessing a larger sum of money once the pigs are sold…

Now we are in the microbus. This one is called Georgina. I like them because they always have music and go so fast! As long as there´s a little air, I don´t get too dizzy. The young gentleman who takes our money and directs the driver is still on the roof when we take off hauling. This is normal. Right now there are two schoolboys hanging off the back ladders as we go about 35mph up a windy road (we are in the mountains!). The young ones enjoy the adrenaline rush for sure. They stand on the edges and barely hold on. We just stopped in the middle of the road so that a woman from the street could pay her fare from the morning. Oh Georgina!

I lament that I have to skip over so many details to summarize all of these travels, but hopefully some day I can go deeper and be more specific, on this blog or elsewhere… !

Tomorrow, I will be going to Antigua for the weekend to meet with a new friend who will show me around. Then, hopefully, to Esquipulas, Chiquimula, to visit the family of another friend! (Most of the main highways in Guatemala are currently blocked by protestors demanding the resignation of the attorney general and other corrupt officials who have been involved in trying to stop the president-elect, Bernardo Arevalo, from assuming office in January. I am so moved by the mobilization of thousands of farmworkers and Indigenous people demanding accountability of their government. We will see if it persists through the weekend and changes my plans!)

After that, I am heading to El Salvador for 12 days to visit Centro Arte para la Paz in Suchitoto and FUNDAHMER in San Salvador. I was also invited to participate as a moderator in the panel “Experiences of integral accompaniment to people on the move in Central America and North America” at the Gathering of the Jesuit Migration Network on October 16 at the University of Central America, San Salvador!

My next stop from there is Honduras where I will visit lots more families of loved ones. Then I will wander down to Nicaragua for a week to reunite with two ladies I met my senior year of college and a former Annunciation House volunteer who is living down there, and then my final stop!! is Costa Rica for a week with my mama. So much movement and so much travel!! God willing I will make it out alive.

I am so blessed and privileged to be able to embark on these endless travels and move freely across so many international borders (a right that every human being should have, regardless of their place of birth or country of citizenship). Visiting these families is very bittersweet, because I have the freedom to come here but their husbands, daughters, sisters, brothers, and children who have gone to the U.S. do not, and they miss them terribly. Even as I am typing this, the two ladies sitting in the internet cafe behind me are talking about how painful it is when someone in the family goes to the U.S. (“when my brother left, my mom cried and cried for weeks”). So much to be said about this, so little time and space on this little blog page!!

Sophie from New Zealand at the Irish Pub in Quetzaltenango

I am excited, after this incredible year of travels, to return to a more stable, rooted, and working posture – I am eager to find new employment, to get involved in more activities that inspire me and give life to my dreams, to continue trying to cultivate and share my gifts with others! We will see how these months unfold… my prayer is that I think less and love more!

Thank you for reading this update and hopefully I can find a way to write another in the coming weeks before this chapter of the journey ends 🙂 <3

Peace and love and inspiration be with you all!

Greetings from Guatemala! (Part 1)

October 5, 2023 – Greetings from an internet cafe in aldea Montúfar, municipio San Juan Sacatepequez, Guatemala! This internet cafe is one of three businesses that operate on the ground floor of the home I am staying in with a family whose father and eldest brother live in the U.S. (and who I met working at Annunciation House).

I have had such a beautiful and special time traveling the past six weeks. I will do my best to briefly summarize all the travels… forgive me for not posting more frequent and detailed accounts! It is a little tricky given the lack of access to a computer and consistent internet, but even trickier given my stubborn unwillingness to type up posts on my cell phone…

My first stop six weeks ago was in San Antonio Calichar, Guanajuato, where I visited a woman (Viki) and her children and grandchildren. Those first days were very memorable for me because it was my first time in the interior of Mexico (I have visited a dozen border cities and of course Cabo San Lucas but never ventured farther south). We spent lots of quality time talking and eating and resting early, and we ventured over to Queretaro city where we wandered the beautiful historic streets (I felt like I was transported to Europe, for lack of a better comparison!) and visited a Franciscan monastery.

Exploring Queretaro with the young ones

After a few days with this family, I made my way to San Miguel de Allende via bus and was even more surprised there! I found Lucina (long time friend of Catholic Worker community “Casa Tabor” in San Antonio, TX) and Angelica (ballet instructor and woman´s organizer from Celaya) who welcomed me into delicious meals and long chats on the patio over cups of tea and accompanied me to the botanical garden, the local pulque place, and in prayer at 7 in the morning. Angelica drove me to Celaya to run an errand and we stopped for some typical Celayan gorditas and a tour of her home. What joy to end up in the company of such brilliant and dedicated women!

Here is a little journal excerpt from that time which reflects how I was feeling during those days, written specifically on the bus ride to Mexico City:

There is so much beauty and substance in these encounters I am having, truly! I must confess that I feel a little emotional disconnect (this one is strong these days). I want to feel joy, love, connection, and delight. It is fascinating to have so many months of consecutive introspection and noticing – I love it and at the same time notice that I often feel blue, and while I am sure that some of that can be attributed to cyclical hormonal shifts, other days I don´t know why! And so I am tender with myself and try to be tender with those around me and I pray for a more stable and unwavering joy whenever – God willing – I can cultivate that!

Guanajuato is breathtaking. The green mountains, the beautiful view for miles and miles… I came at the right time. The clouds cover most of the sky but they are dynamic, fluffy, and rolling like the hills. There are fields and fields… one gets the sense just by looking out the window just how clear and fresh the air is. I can see Queretaro many many miles in the distance fading behind the mountains… I wish I knew my plants and my trees, I would name them all! Such a precious earth we have…

From San Miguel de Allende, I went to Mexico City to stay with close family friends of a couple who received me in my early days of the pilgrimage (Tim & Clare Broyles of Phoenix). What a different and faster paced experience! Each day I left the house just before 11 to get to the metro post-morning rush and would take it about an hour into the city center. I visited the Basilica of Guadalupe (the site where the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego in 1531), the museum of Anthropology (so incredible!), the Zocalo (historic city center), the forest of Chapultepec, the Frida Kahlo museum. I even got to take the Cablebus, which was my most favorite experience of all!!! So so much joy there. Listening to the stories of the parents and their involvement in the sanctuary/liberation theology movement in the 80´s and 90´s was also so moving. So much more I could say about that…

Then from CDMX to Cholula, Puebla, to stay with the brother of the previously mentioned man from CDMX (also connected to the couple from Phoenix), and two of his sons. I was picked up from the bus stop by the younger son, Diego, in the middle of an aguacero (downpour) and walked into their house soaking wet as Arturo and a friend were roasting and packaging coffee in the living room. Oh how I loved Cholula! Not to mention the delicious vegetarian lasagna that greeted me on the first night!! I enjoyed quality wandering time in Puebla, a tour of the Universidad IBEROAmericana campus (and a peaceful journaling session accompanied by a student pianist playing classics like “Chiquitita” by Abba), a dentistry graduation for a cousin of the family, some delicious coffee and chats, and a tour of the Enlaces house in the campo. Also drinks and some dancing and long and lovely conversation at “La Enamorada” until 2:30 in the morning. I want to go back!

Cablebus adventure in CDMX!
Cholula, Puebla decorated for Mexican independence

Then from Cholula I traveled for one night to Cuautla, Morelos (thank you modern, affordable, and pleasant bus system in Mexico!) to spend the afternoon with a former coworker and friend and his parents, and we enjoyed micheladas by the pool (!!) and delicious tamales! Every stop I made in Mexico was enchanting, to risk sounding cliche. I felt so comfortable there and was constantly delighted by the beautiful landscapes and the even more beautiful company. And this only after two weeks…

Please stayed tuned for part 2 for the second half of this update! <3

Un viaje al descubrimiento Ago 19, 2023

 ¿A qué tipo de trabajo me gustaría dedicarme? ¿Cómo quiero usar mi corto tiempo en esta tierra de una manera significativa? ¿Qué creo que Dios me está invitando a hacer con mi vida?

¡Hola al mundo un sábado de agosto!

He estado viajando durante siete meses, haciendo lo que hago: vagando, intencionalmente, en un viaje de descubrimiento espiritual y centrado en el corazón. He visitado tantas ciudades y organizaciones diferentes; He conocido a tantas personas diferentes; Volví a mi blog y mi diario, que estaban cubiertos de telarañas; He aprendido mucho.

He amado absolutamente la libertad, el movimiento, las experiencias, la soledad. De hecho, antes de irme, aunque realmente tenía en mi corazón que me iría por un año y que iría a ciertos destinos y que eventualmente volvería a casa, originalmente estaba abierta a la posibilidad de quedarme en un lugar nuevo. Y mucha gente me preguntaba, bueno, ¿estás buscando un lugar al que te quieras mudar? ¿O estás buscando algo nuevo en lo que involucrarte? Pero mi instinto siempre ha sido que Dios estaba y me está invitando a reunir más conocimiento y experiencia (me he sentido así desde que me gradué de la universidad y me di cuenta de que no estaba lista para ser una maestra certificada), para construir más relaciones, para ampliar y profundizar mi perspectiva para poder volver a casa y vivir mi llamado allí.

Creo que probablemente sea cierto que la mayoría de nosotros en esta vida no logramos abrir las puertas a nuestros anhelos más profundos porque hay demasiadas cosas que nos bloquean. Demasiadas responsabilidades financieras, presiones sociales, creencias sobre la autoestima y la productividad, expectativas profesionales, desafíos familiares; demasiado ensimismamiento y apego a los placeres y comodidades. Al obtener “más” como lo hacemos cuando accedemos a nuevas oportunidades, a veces estamos cada vez menos en sintonía con nosotros mismos y con lo que realmente nos importa. Y por eso estoy tan agradecida de haber podido ir más allá de la superficie y abrir las puertas, aunque sea solo un poco. Y recomiendo encarecidamente a todos que intenten hacer eso también.

Perdóname, creo que me desvié un poco al tratar de establecer la escena! De todos modos, volvamos a las grandes preguntas. ¿A qué tipo de trabajo me gustaría dedicarme? ¿Cómo quiero usar mi corto tiempo en esta tierra de una manera significativa? ¿Qué creo que Dios me está invitando a hacer con mi vida?

Comenzaré a responder esta pregunta retrocediendo a 2016, cuando estaba visitando la comunidad del monasterio de Taizé en Francia. Tuvimos un taller sobre reconciliación que se centró en sanar la relación entre musulmanes y cristianos (si recuerdan, durante ese tiempo hubo una serie de ataques terroristas en Europa junto con la guerra civil en Siria y el desplazamiento de millones: xenofobia e islamofobia en “ países occidentales” era muy alto). Este momento de reflexión que tuve fue la primera vez que recuerdo que el Espíritu puso una invitación vocacional en mi corazón. Estaba abrumada con energía y entusiasmo mientras escribía en mi diario sobre la posibilidad de trabajar en un centro para la reconciliación, un lugar de encuentro donde las personas podrían asistir a talleres sobre habilidades de mediación de conflictos, comunicación no violenta y justicia restaurativa, y que existiría para servir a todos de la comunidad, comenzando con relaciones 1:1 y yendo a gran escala para trabajar con diferentes grupos demográficas.

Dos años más tarde cuando trabajaba en la Casa Anunciación, sentí la profunda invitación a trabajar en la hospitalidad y el acompañamiento: este lugar me transformo tan radicalmente; tuve la experiencia de encuentro y de compartir comidas, lágrimas y risas con personas cuyo conocimiento de la fragilidad de la vida, la cercanía de la muerte, la finitud de la riqueza y el éxito y esas cosas, era como el océano, mientras que la mía era como una gota de lluvia. Y luego, cuando trabajé en Caridades Católicas, sentí el profundo llamado de acompañar a las personas de curación posterior a la supervivencia y del desarrollo de habilidades, yendo más allá de la ayuda humanitaria y hacia la construcción de comunidad, esperanza y curación a largo plazo.

Y eso me lleva a donde estoy ahora, y haré todo lo posible para articular qué es lo que llena mis sueños, que me emociona hasta la médula, que se siente más bien en comparación con todas las demás, también muy buenas opciones que podría perseguir. ¡Por favor, salta conmigo a mi imaginación contemplativa, si lo deseas!

Imagine un lugar no muy alejado de la ciudad, un terreno grande en un vecindario transitable, cerca de transporte público, servicios públicos y parques. Has llegado. Estás en el Centro; es un lugar donde todos están invitados a vivir una vida integrada que tiene sus raíces en la Acción Católica informada por la Doctrina Social Católica y las enseñanzas del Papa Francisco.

“Dios… nos anima a crear una cultura diferente, en la que resolvamos nuestros conflictos y nos cuidemos unos a otros” (Papa Francisco, Fratelli Tutti)

Principios de la Ensenanza Social Católica:

  • La vida y la dignidad de la persona humana
  • El llamado a la Familia, la Comunidad y la Participación
  • Los derechos y deberes
  • Priorizar a los pobres y vulnerables
  • La dignidad del trabajo y los derechos de los trabajadores
  • La solidaridad
  • El cuidado por la creación de Dios

Ofrecemos hospitalidad, principalmente a refugiados e inmigrantes, pero también a algunos veteranos y otras personas que han perdido su vivienda, y a voluntarios. Ofrecemos talleres sobre mediación de conflictos, salud personal y manejo del estrés postraumático. Nos reunimos dos veces por semana para estudiar juntos las Escrituras, los escritos espirituales o la teología, analizar sus implicaciones para nuestros tiempos modernos y orar; todos son bienvenidos. Vamos a misa juntos. Nuestros terrenos son tan ecológicos y sostenibles como podamos imaginar: recolectamos agua de lluvia (la rara vez que llega), plantamos solo plantas autóctonas que se adaptan al clima, hacemos compost con nuestros restos de comida e integramos la sostenibilidad y la relación con el medio ambiente en todos los aspectos de nuestro ser. Disponemos de huerta y todos los meses tenemos talleres de productos de temporada. Tenemos una comunidad que vive allí, pero todos los días viene gente de toda la ciudad, el condado y el país para visitarnos y aprender. Tenemos ofrendas de sanidad una vez por semana; a veces hacemos que los practicantes vengan a ofrecer masajes, tratamientos faciales, clases de yoga, o sonoterapia gratis o a bajo costo y, a veces, hacemos círculos de paz que se enfocan en temas específicos. Disponemos de guardería para las personas que quieran participar y necesiten un lugar donde puedan ir los más pequeños.

Seguimos las enseñanzas del Evangelio, la sabiduría de los Santos, de los Trabajadores Católicos, de San Francisco, del Papa Francisco, centrando a los pobres, los marginados, los huérfanos, los encarcelados, los desplazados y trabajando por el bien común – pero incluimos a todos, de todos los antecedentes económicos y sociales, para que sean parte de vivir la vida con relaciones justas entre nosotros, la tierra y uno mismo (y como entendemos que Dios vive en todos nosotros, esto se traduce en la relación-justa con Dios).

¿Tal vez algún día tengamos un programa de banco de tiempo e intercambio de habilidades? ¿Tal vez tenemos un armario de préstamos que permite a las personas tomar prestadas herramientas, suministros, etc. y compartir? ¿Un lugar para que las personas donen alimentos no deseados que podríamos usar en nuestra cocina donde preparamos comidas todos los días y/o tener acceso a cualquier persona que necesite alimentos adicionales? La idea sería construir continuamente formas alternativas al sistema económico y social que tenemos ahora. Imaginar un futuro y dar todos los pasos que podamos para actualizar esos valores en nuestra comunidad, para que jóvenes y adultos de todos los lugares puedan venir y ver una mejor manera de hacer las cosas. Será muy importante para nosotros inspirar agencia y eficacia en cada persona que entre por la puerta, para que podamos combatir juntos el cambio climático, el aislamiento, la violencia, la pobreza y la división.

Tomaremos decisiones en discernimiento comunitario y en oración, y buscaremos la sabiduría de nuestra tradición para resolver problemas de manera creativa. Haremos todo lo posible para crear un lugar que, ante todo y sobre todo, fomente la esperanza en un mundo tan herido y perdido. Aunque nos esforzaremos por mantenernos siempre anclados en la realidad y en nuestra comprensión del mundo que nos rodea, practicaremos la sanación y la construcción de comunidad llena de alegría con regularidad para desarrollar la resiliencia y fomentar una creatividad más profunda para que todas y cada una de las personas se sientan inspiradas para usar sus propios dones y talentos para ofrecer lo mejor de sí mismos a nuestra familia humana. Y no tengo la intención de crear esto sola–de alguna manera esto nacerá de una comunidad. Todos haciendo su pequeña parte. Este es el Centro.

? Amén!! Entre ideas diferentes que imagino para mi futura obra, sigo volviendo a este lugar que me gustaría ayudar a crear. Sé que parece mucho, probablemente al borde de la locura. Pero eso es lo sorprendente de dejar que nuestra imaginación nos lleve más allá de los límites de nuestros sistemas actuales: ¡realmente llegamos a un lugar hermoso!

A partir de ahora, mis próximos pasos son terminar de pagar mis préstamos estudiantiles y construir relaciones localmente con personas que también deseo de vivir la enseñanza de la Iglesia y la llamada del Espíritu de manera concreta, integrada y plena.

Si he entendido correctamente la invitación del Espíritu, si Dios quiere, podré ser valiente, sabia y paciente en la búsqueda de este lugar que imagino. Me siento honrada, curiosa, esperanzada y abierta, y estoy especialmente agradecida por cada persona que se toma el tiempo de leer esto y se sube a mi imaginación conmigo. Y si alguien está intrigado por esta visión que estoy articulando, ¡vengan a buscarme! Aunque no estoy segura de por dónde empezar cuando se trata de transformar esta visión en una realidad, tengo la profunda impresión de que si es la voluntad de Dios, sucederá de alguna manera. Tengo cuatro meses más de viajes por delante -el lunes de este mes iré a México, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua y Costa Rica – y veremos qué llego a entender que es la invitación después de eso.

¡Paz, amor y esperanza para todos! ?

Join me on a brief imaginative journey! Aug 19, 2023

What kind of work would I like to dedicate myself to? How do I want to use my short time on this earth in a meaningful way? What do I believe God is inviting me to do with my life?

Hello to the world on a Saturday in August! 

I have been on the road now for seven months, doing as I do – wandering, intentionally, on a spiritual and heart-centered journey of sifting and uncovering. I have visited so many different cities and organizations; I have met so many different people; I’ve jumped back into my blog and journal, which were both covered in cobwebs; I’ve learned so much. (Forgive me for so many so’s!) 

I have absolutely cherished the freedom, the movement, the experiences, the solitude. In fact, before I left, though I really had it on my heart that I would be gone for a year and that I would go to certain destinations and that I would eventually come home, I was originally open to the possibility of encountering something along the way. And a lot of people asked me, well are you looking for a place that you want to move to? Or are you looking for something new to get involved in? But my gut has always been that God was and is inviting me to gather more insight and experience (I have felt this way since I graduated college and realized that I was not ready to be a certified teacher), to build more relationships, to broaden and deepen my perspective so that I could return home and live into my truest self there. 

I think it is probably true that most of us in this life do not get to open the doors to our deepest yearnings because there is too much in the way. Too much stuff, too many social pressures, bills, beliefs about self-worth and productivity, career expectations, familial challenges; too much self-absorption and attachment to pleasures and comforts. In obtaining “more” as we do when we access new opportunities, sometimes we are less and less in tune with ourselves and what really matters to us. And so I am so grateful that I have been able to get past the clutter and open the doors, even if only a little. And I highly encourage everyone to try to do that, too.

Forgive me, I think I got a little side-tracked there trying to set the scene. Anyways, back to the big questions. What kind of work would I like to dedicate myself to? How do I want to use my short time on this earth in a meaningful way? What do I believe God is inviting me to do with my life? 

I will start to answer this question by jumping back to 2016, when I was visiting the Taize monastery community in France. We had a workshop on reconciliation that focused on healing the relationship between Muslims and Christians (if you remember during that time, there were a series of terrorist attacks in Europe alongside the backdrop of the Syrian civil war and the displacement of millions – xenophobia and Islamophobia in “western” countries was particularly high). This moment of reflection I had was the first time I can recall the Spirit placing a vocational invitation on my heart. I was overwhelmed with energy and excitement as I journaled about the possibility of working in a center for reconciliation – a place of encounter where people could come to workshop conflict mediation skills, nonviolent communication, and restorative justice – and that would exist to serve the whole community, starting with 1:1 relationships and going large scale to working across different demographic lines.

Fast forward two years to Annunciation House; while there, I felt the deep invitational call to be in hospitality and accompaniment – I was so radically transformed by this place of encounter and sharing meals and tears and laughter with people whose knowledge of the fragility of life, the closeness of death, the finiteness of wealth and success and stuff, was like the ocean while my own was just like a raindrop. And then at Catholic Charities, I felt the deep call to accompany people in post-survival healing work and skill-building, moving away from humanitarian aid and towards building long-term community, hope, and healing

And that sort of leads me to where I am now, and I will do my best to articulate what it is that fills my dreams, that excites me to my core, that feels the most right compared to all the other also very good options that I could pursue. Please, jump into my contemplative imagination with me, if you wish!

Imagine a place not too far out of the city, a big plot of land in a walkable neighborhood, near public transportation, public services, and parks. You have arrived. You are at the Center; it is a place where all are invited to experience living out integrated life that is rooted in Catholic Action informed by Catholic Social Teaching and the teachings of Pope Francis

“God…encourages us to create a different culture, in which we resolve our conflicts and care for one another” (Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti) 

Principles of Catholic Social Teaching:

  • Life and Dignity of the Human Person
  • Call to Family, Community, and Participation
    • Rights and Responsibilities
  • Prioritize the Poor and Vulnerable
  • The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers
  • Solidarity
  • Care for God’s Creation

We offer hospitality – mostly to refugees and immigrants, but also to some veterans and other people who have lost their housing, and to volunteers. We offer workshops on conflict mediation, personal health, and managing post-traumatic stress. We gather twice a week to study scripture, spiritual writings, or theology together, analyze its implications for our modern times, and pray – all are welcome. We go to Mass together. Our grounds are as eco-friendly and sustainable as we can imagine – we collect rain water (the seldom that it comes along), plant only indigenous plants that are adept to the climate, compost our food scraps, and integrate sustainability and relationship to the earth in every aspect of our being. We have a garden and every month have workshops on seasonal produce. We have a community that lives there, but everyday people come from across the city and county and country to visit, to learn. We have healing offerings once a week; sometimes we get practitioners to come offer free or low-cost massages, facials, yoga classes, sound healings, and sometimes we do peace circles that are focused on specific topics. We have childcare for people who want to participate and need a place for the young ones to go.

We follow the teachings of the Gospel, the wisdom of the Saints, of the Catholic Workers, of St. Francis, of Pope Francis – centering the poor, the marginalized, the orphaned, the imprisoned, the displaced, and working towards the common good – but we include everyone from every economic and social background to be a part of living life in right-relationship to one another, the earth, and oneself (and as we understand that God is living in all of us, this translates to right-relationship with God). 

Maybe someday we have a time-banking program and skills exchange? Maybe we have a lending closet that allows people to borrow tools, supplies, etc and share? A place for people to donate unwanted food items that we could use in our kitchen where we prepare meals everyday and/or have accessible to anyone who is in need of extra foodstuffs? The idea would be to continually build on alternative ways to the economic and social system we have now. To envision a future and take every step we can to actualize those values in our community, so young and old from every place could come and see a better way of doing things. It will be so important to us to inspire agency and efficacy in every person that comes through the door, so we can combat climate change, isolation, violence, poverty, and division together. 

We will make decisions in communal discernment and prayer, and look to the wisdom of our tradition to creatively problem-solve. We will do our very best to create a place that, primarily and above all, fosters hope in a world that is so wounded and lost. Though we will strive to always remain grounded in reality and our understanding of the world around us, we will practice healing and joy-filled community building regularly to build resilience and foster deeper creativity so that each and every person feels inspired to use their own gifts and talents to offer their best self to our human family. And I do not intend to create this alone – somehow this will be born of a community. Everyone doing their small part. This is the Center.

? Amen!! This is one iteration of what I keep coming back to, a place I would like to help create. I know it seems like a lot – probably bordering on the insane. But that is the amazing thing about letting our imaginations take us beyond the limits of our current frameworks – we really get somewhere beautiful! 

Starting when I finish my pilgrimage, my next steps are to finish paying off my student loans and building relationships locally with people who also desire to live out the Church teaching and the call of the Spirit in a concrete, integrated, full way. 

If I have understood the Spirit’s invitation correctly, God-willing I will be able to be courageous, wise, and patient in the pursuit of this place I imagine. I am humbled and curious and hopeful and open, and I am especially grateful for every person who takes the time to read this and climb inside my imagination with me. And if anybody is at all intrigued by this vision I am articulating, come find me! Though I am pretty unsure where to start when it comes to transforming this vision into a reality, I am under the deep impression that if it is God’s will, it will happen somehow. I have four more months of travels ahead – on Monday I will set-off for Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica – and we will see what I come to understand is the invitation after that. 

Peace and love and hope to all! ?

Hello June (Part 2) and July!

Thanks be to God by the end of that long week I was able to find a live-in caregiver position with a family whose mom/grandma needs mobility assistance and all kinds of other support, which was such an incredible chance given my funky schedule, lack of experience, and the amount of caregivers searching for jobs on Care.com! I spent the following week in an airbnb in North Miami prior to moving in with the family. Here is a journal excerpt from that time: 

June 22, 2023: Hello on a Thursday from the dining table at my tiny Airbnb in North Miami / Biscayne Park ?

I am so grateful this little place was available. My bedroom is a tiny, windowless closet, but the space is perfect – I am alone – they gave me a bike – there is a lovely window in the kitchen/dining space looking out to green – and it was so affordable. I am looking forward to moving in with the family – these days I am experiencing my journey as sweet cherishing of the present mixed with an overwhelming eagerness for the future!

My online Haitian Creole class started three days ago. I am enjoying it – the professor is so funny and precious, and I am amazed that I can understand essentially everything that he is lecturing us about! And I really enjoyed last night’s homework – studying the song Bon Bagay by Beethova Obas. In it, Beethova sings about how the people of Haiti need to free themselves of the yoke of foreign powers and transform their own situation – that they have what they need to create a better future for their children. 

A beautiful mango tree – one of many! – in the neighborhood in North Miami where I stayed for one week before starting my employment.
A Catholic Church 10 minute walk from my Airbnb

One month later – looking back over this time!

July 25, 2023: This chapter of the journey has been challenging because I am not particularly involved in anything that I love or that deeply interests me – my extended stay in South Florida (while a delightful and exciting vacation!), has been a time to focus on the 4-week Haitian Creole class that I took (wow! it came and went fast!) and gather the financial resources to continue onto Mexico and Central America. So lots of library stops, random site seeing, and reading different books in my downtime (I highly recommend Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World by Katharine Hayhoe, and the Catholic Worker Movement: Intellectual and Spiritual Origins by Mark & Louise Zwick). I just finished the Che Guevara Reader: Writings on Politics and Revolution (Don’t tell my Cuban friends!).

I am also being challenged in this work, mostly because it involves waking up multiple times in the middle of the night to accompany Miss S to the bathroom. The reading helps me stay mentally grounded along with lots of podcasts (The Daily & Today Explained as well as the newly discovered Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel) and (thanks Professor Leger!) Haitian music.

Listening to one of those ^^ with the family’s kitty, Trouble

Another gift of this past month and a half in Miami has been the deepening of one of my friendships with a Cuban family I met in previous work in San Diego. My friend is a musician and so I have been able to go to some amazing live music (yay dancing!) and have spent quality time with his parents and extended family too. Lots of rum, homemade food, and politics (ha ha…). I am so grateful for this friendship which has offered me moments of community, laughter, ease, and closeness amidst this time of being relatively isolated and disconnected in my living/work space. 

Romel, an extremely talented musician!
Romel’s Mama, Barbara <3

One other activity I have been involved in this past month is my participation in intense fitness classes! In the interest of my mental and physical health and my sleep, I got a one-month membership at a studio that offers yoga classes, cycling, and pilates (among other activities that are much too advanced for me). Every single class totally kicks my butt – in fact three times they left me so sore / blistered that I had to take a couple days off! What I am especially grateful for is the chance to get really connected to my body, to pray through physical challenge, to stretch myself in a way I have not done in a very long time (or ever?). The mental strength that is required to push oneself when the body wants to give up (picture doing sprints or holding a painful plank!) is something I almost never tap into, and I have found it extremely profound and euphoric to enter into that struggle.

In case you are interested, here is a little glimpse into my mind as I motivate myself during the cycling sprints when my body wants to quit. I made the discovery that even intense physical challenge can be a prayer! The music is so loud that I can barely hear the instructor, who is yelling. The lights are dimmed with a blue glow coming from the floor. I am peddling as fast as I possibly can and in closing my eyes, it feels like I am going fast enough to run around the world. To push through the pain, I imagine Super Hero Brinkley – I run (or bike?) all around the world, to all the war-torn places, dragging an enormous mesh net behind me that somehow collects all of the guns and all of the bombs and all of the weapons of destruction. My body wants to quit, and I say keep going. I run through Haiti, through Israel and Palestine, through Ukraine, through the United States, through Mexico. I keep running and collecting all the manmade objects that are meant to kill humans. To keep myself from quitting, I imagine myself running and spreading energy of healing, of peacemaking, of fraternity to every corner of the earth, and I am praying and praying and praying for a new dawn. Then the instructor says “annnnnd slow it down” and I almost fall off the bike as I try to slow down my legs which have totally run away from me.

Thoughts that I have after exercising in a studio 3 times: what if all the bodybuilders and intense physical trainers and everyday gym goers channeled all their energy and strength into uplifting our brothers and sisters in crisis and nonviolent peacebuilding, what a world we could live in!

The water was almost as hot as the air 😀

My time in Florida has been totally different than the rest of my pilgrimage, funky and challenging and confusing and new, crawling with lizards and lush with a diverse abundance of tropical flora. It is truly beautiful here, even when the thunder and lightning and rain roll in and the humid heat crawls under my clothes and the mosquitos bite at my ankles. I am departing in two weeks (with my beloved Antonio! eeeeep!!) to head back west, full of gratitude and perspective and new discoveries, ready to move into the final chapter of my Pilgrimage in Mexico & Central America… 🙂

Hopefully the people of Florida can liberate themselves from the yoke of tyrannical leadership and transform their society with all of the potential it has soon!!

Hello June (part 1)!

Checking back in – six weeks later – to bring my blog up to date! It has been many months of retroactive updating, and I ask for forgiveness for that. Bare with me as I finally arrive to the present!

From Houston to Georgia – My path is lit up with joy and affirmation once again!

On June 4th, I drove from Houston to Mobile, Alabama, where I stayed the night at a Sisters of Mercy Convent that was referred to me by one of the Sisters of Mercy in the Rio Grande Valley (I owe it to these Sisters for facilitating this journey!). I had sent a few texts back and forth with Sr. Chab, who worked there, and followed google maps to this house in the woods. While there, I shared my story with many of these elder and wise women who have spent their lives in service and received lots of advice and encouragement. One of the women came into my room the morning I was to leave and offered me a pair of khaki pants, another took me to the kitchen to gather some snacks for the journey, and I was offered a profound ushering through to the next stop on my way. While sitting in their chapel, I contemplated the incredible surprises that have lit the way – the ways that the Spirit has surprised me with affirmation, with love, with tenderness, with healing hospitality. The experience of visiting this convent was one of those full-of-light-and-scattering-darkness stops that showed me that, somehow, I am following the right path as I undertake this journey.

While I was staying with these sisters, I shared with the ones at my dinner table that I did not know where I would be staying in my next long-term stop (Miami) or what kind of employment I might find. I was basically out of money – I had just under $3,000 in my account, but seeing that I was due to pay $1,500 for a Haitian Creole language program starting in 2 weeks and would inevitably be spending money on food, parking, gas, etc. while in Miami, I knew that I would run out of funds and wouldn’t be able to continue on without a loan or a miracle, and so my plan was to find a place to stay and then work. And these two sisters were counseling me for over 30 minutes, telling me to search different religious congregations and show up at their door. And so sitting with them encouraged me to continue on with hope even though the great unknown was coming towards me. I was filled with excitement, eagerness, and inspiration after those delightful and beautiful 18 or so hours.

From Mobile I drove to Atlanta where I met with Carol (from Ajo!!) for lunch with her sister and we filled each other in on the long months that had passed since we were together. Carol left town the next morning so it was perfect timing that we could reunite once again!

Carol & I at a Greek Pizza place in Atlanta, photo courtesy of her sister <3 🙂

And then I made my way to Decatur where I spent three lovely days with a dear friend who I made while participating in the Contemplative Leaders in Action program, Lauren. Though we had only met on zoom prior, Lauren graciously folded me into the fabric of her family’s life the moment I got to town. We were grocery shopping, cooking, walking the dog, going to the kids swim meet…  I got to explore the Atlanta Botanical Garden (so amazing!) while listening to podcasts. On the third day, she took me to the Ignatius House Jesuit Retreat Center where she met with a spiritual director and I sat on a bench by the river journaling. Lauren also encouraged me in my search for hospitality and employment in Miami (what a treasure to be ushered through life by so many selfless, nonjudgmental, and kind people)! 

Riverside Contemplation
Lauren & I at Farmer’s Market
Atlanta Botanical Garden

From Atlanta I drove down to New Port Richey where I spent a few nights with childhood friends from California that I had not seen in many, many years. We ate delicious food together, hung out on the beach, and kayaked through Weeki Wachee River – complete with lots of day drinking, hot hot heat, and manatees!

And then I drove down to Miami, my very first adventure that I was completely and utterly unsure about. I had a list of places I would go to in search of hospitality, and a few friends that I could hopefully cross paths with, but it was truly my first exercise in surrendering to God and relying on the generosity and guidance of others. My first week I stayed in a hostel in Miami Beach and spent my days scouring over different websites and postings, visiting two different churches that serve the Haitian community looking for housing/volunteering/anything, and winding down at the beach in the afternoons.

In search of hospitality…

Before I was halfway through the week, I was starting to doubt the likelihood of my finding religiously affiliated hospitality. At one point I met with a priest at one of the parishes with deep excitement and hope in my heart, but I never heard back. I was flooded with feelings of hopelessness and doubt. This week was a journey in self-discovery (Lord have mercy, I am not as resilient as I thought!). At another parish I was kindly referred to a homeless shelter (and given $40. What complex emotions I experienced that day!). The spiritual desolation that followed was intense – it prevented me from continuing to knock on the doors of strangers. In fact, I started to think my idea was absurd, was unrealistic, was unwelcome in this place (I told you the desolation was intense!). Something about the way I was received not with curiosity but with pity discouraged me.

What did this experience mean?

I had talked about this possibility with the sisters at the convent in Mobile – these days, people are very reluctant to receive strangers without a direct connection, because we are living with much more fear of the other than our ancestors did. This reality was affirmed when the priest mentioned a background check in response to what I thought was a unique, exciting, and super appealing invitation to receive me on my pilgrimage! I was humbled really quickly. And I am sure there are people that would say, hey Brinkley, welcome to reality! To which I would respond, yes, and let us continue to challenge this reality and remind ourselves that distrusting others and putting up walls and barriers between ourselves and strangers is a choice, and while it may be an informed choice (past bad experiences, etc), the Gospel teaching that we subscribe to does not say we are allowed to reinterpret it in light of how “these days you never know who people are or what they are capable of.” In fact, when we think and act like that, we are the Pharisees, not the Apostles. We follow the status quo, and not the Gospel, which requires living radically, being our Brother’s and Sister’s Keepers, and trusting entirely in the Creator that made us all. I digress!

This experience and challenge helped me to get a teeny-tiny glimpse of what it might feel like to be marginalized and in search of refuge (refugees, migrants, people experiencing homelessness & detached from their communities, ex-cons), constantly subjected to the suspicions and rejections of others, to the endless referrals to another place that isn’t here, to the struggle of finding work and housing where some people are kind and others are exploitative and hateful. It helped me to see clearly my own weaknesses, especially because I took these encounters personally and let them overwhelm me. (I have a gift at imagining best case scenarios but have room for growth in trudging through the thick and sticky mud that is often the present scenario). And of course, becoming vulnerable with strangers and entering into the unknown always runs the risk of failure and disappointment! Perhaps if I had had more time or less of a financial need, I would have tried a little longer, but my inner voice said “SOS! Look for a live-in job! Hurry! Your class is starting!” I will never know if I did the right thing in closing that search and pivoting my energy, though I trust in the way that things unfolded as they did, and I am grateful for the struggle in all that it taught me.

A beautiful mural in North Miami

Stay tuned for part 2 where I finish out my time in South Florida!

Renewing my Spirit of Adventure in Houston

Back in Early May

It is the afternoon before I am to leave El Paso for San Antonio, and I am sitting with the (most amazing) Sr. Bea Donnellan for the first time since I arrived at our once common home. We are just crossing paths for one day because she has been at her motherhouse since I came to town, but we share a treasured afternoon. We are in the volunteer “sala” at Casa Papa Francisco, and I am telling Bea all about my pilgrimage, where I have been and what is planned for the coming days.

“I am staying with two sisters of Mercy until May 18th, and after that I don’t know where I will stay! I have been trying to find a place in Brownsville but haven’t had any luck.” That I only know my exact accommodations two weeks ahead of time is not new on my pilgrimage, but for the first time I have less than two weeks planned ahead, and so I am a little bit more nervous and mention it to everyone who gives me their ear.

Sr. Bea picks up her phone, goes into her contacts, and makes a phone call. “Therese darling, how are you?” she asks the person on the other end. It is Sr. Therese with La Posada Providencia, an immigrant and refugee shelter in San Benito, Texas, not too far from where I will be headed. A brief conversation ensues and within 5 minutes I am guaranteed a place to stay for an additional 3 nights. I am overjoyed!

Rio Grande Valley, continued…

I arrive to La Posada two weeks later, sweating and in need of a bathroom after spending the morning in Reynosa, MX at Casa del Migrante. That morning, we celebrated Mass in the large patio of the shelter and at least 10 different nationalities were present in the group. After mass we spent about 90 minutes playing hilarious and high energy games with groups of children and their parents. I was in charge of the blue team – about halfway through our games, I bent over to pick up a fallen toy from the ground and my pants split in two!

They had a long life – I received them used from a donated bag of clothes in 2019!

At first I heard it, a loud and unmistakable ripping sound. Then I felt the breeze! Thank goodness for the oversized t-shirt I was wearing, or I would have flashed all of the women sitting behind me. Through the excitement and chaos, one of the Daughters of Charity (the nuns who operate the shelter) took me to a back closet where the donated pants were stored. Within minutes I was properly clothed once again and made it back to my group in time for clean up and taping drawings of Jesus’ ascension into Heaven on the walls (you can imagine how funny those drawings are)!

Casa del Migrante, Reynosa MX

Whoever you are, you have entered this house where the God who dwells in everything lives. Whoever you are, God receives you, with your joys and sorrows, your successes and failures, your hopes and disappointments. Be welcome! Generations before you have loved and prayed in this place, have helped build it, to make it beautiful. Respect it. If you are a believer, pray. If you are searching, reflect. If you doubt, ask for light. If you are suffering, ask for strength. If you are joyful, give thanks and hopefully you can stay joyful! In this house you can also find sisters and brothers with whom you can pray to God. That your stay in this place warms your heart and brings joy to your eyes! Whoever you are, God receives you. Receive God too.

After crossing back over into Texas, I drove the 45 minutes to La Posada, so by the time I arrived I was sweaty and exhausted. Sr. Therese popped out of a meeting, greeted me, and showed me to the ESL classroom. “I have a student waiting for me to return from the meeting, do you mind working with him?” Within a minute, Melvin was reading English paragraphs to me and we were chatting about his childhood in the mountains. 

Those three days were a beautiful respite and oasis. The shelter grounds are a bit out of town and so there are enormous trees and so many birds and space for an abundant garden. They are able to compost all of their food scraps and use the soil to grow produce for the meals. On one of the mornings we sorted through recycling before a volunteer came and picked it up. 

The kind and generous Sr. Therese, who has worked with La Posada for 18 years!
The dining area of La Posada

On my third day there, I was invited to South Padre Island by two new friends and spent the afternoon (in delight!) at the beach. The sky was overcast but the water was warm, and we danced the night away. I felt a bit guilty for staying the night out of Sr. Therese’s house during such a short visit, but the time with my new friends was so special because we connected so well and sometimes that is the invitation in the moment and thank God I am such a flexible and easily accommodated person because it just allows me to be gifted with the most serendipitous adventures!

My kindred spirits Mark & Jorge!!

Houston, my last Texas adventure (for now!)

After San Benito, I officially departed from the U.S.-Mexico Border to Houston. I suppose this was the start of the second of three chapters of pilgrimage (First chapter along the border, second Texas, Georgia, & Florida, and third Mexico & Central America). In Houston I was received by Martha & Rick, long time friends of my mom from when she was a teenager. Their generous hospitality allowed me to connect with Casa Juan Diego, the Catholic Worker House in Houston that I had heard about for years and dreamed to visit!

Casa Juan Diego typically only accepts out-of-town volunteers for 3 months or more, but I was able to show up in a perfect transition time where they were in need of extra hands and felt comfortable allowing me in due to my previous experience and language skills. The first day I arrived, I sat with Louise Zwick, the co-founder of the house, and she shared with me all of the things they do. Food distribution, rental assistance for sick and injured immigrants, sheltering, free health clinic, prescription assistance, a cooperative that employs the male workers, a newspaper !! There are not very many places in the world, I suspect, that have the Catholic Worker ethic, and I felt so privileged to be able to witness and be a part of one for those 10 or so days that I was in town. 

Thank God that Louise is a writer and so she has written and co-written with her late husband, Mark Zwick, some books about the Catholic Worker Movement and Casa Juan Diego. In the pages of “Mercy Without Borders: the Catholic Worker and Immigration,” they chronicle their journey to founding the house together and the events that ensue. Frequently, theology of the gospel is mixed in:

“We have searched the Scriptures and have not been able to find any time when Jesus required identification from the people he helped…the day we start requiring hungry people to prove their legality is the day the Gospel is denied.”

I found myself challenged at Casa Juan Diego not because they are offering so many different forms of assistance that the volunteers never seem to have a break but because some of the daily-life tasks seemed to suffer as a result (think sticky floors and dirty dishes). I managed to get stuck in the small stuff while all of this magnificent and miraculous big stuff was going on around me! That’s what I get from visiting so many different places who are doing similar work – we start comparing, a little too much, when no one even asked us, and it robs us of our joy! And yet this experience invited me to reflect on the deeper underpinnings of the spirit of this particular Catholic Worker house which had a revolving door of incredibly hard working, kind-spirited, dedicated and spiritually free volunteers, most local to Houston and two year-long live-ins from out of town.

I got stuck in the minutiae but did not stay there, thank God! Instead of wondering whose job it was to sweep and mop the floor, I started to do it (and two people showed up to help once I began). Instead of wondering who was going to finish the dishes or start the load of laundry or make the coffee, I helped where I could! And that was my time here – mostly filling in the blanks where I saw them. I taught 5 consecutive English lessons to some of the women and children, picked up a mom and her new baby from the hospital, and helped organize the diaper storage. 

Marjorie, a registered nurse who has been volunteering as a Catholic Worker for 10 months
Patrick, a former seminarian who has been volunteering as a Catholic Worker for 4 weeks

Pause. I am sitting in the Miami Dade library typing this when a woman approaches me. I have been here for maybe an hour and a half. She tells me “I saw you when you were walking into the library. Your energy, your countenance, your expression, was peace. Whatever you are doing, God be with you. Be blessed.” This after a random man in the church parking lot bought me breakfast. Hello Holy Spirit!!! I only ask for a bed to sleep in and I will do the rest!!!

Okay, going back to the Catholic Worker house… I could go on for days. I am so grateful for the brief moment on the journey that I shared with the wonderful people there, singing songs in the men’s shelter during Mass, talking about Salvadoran politics at the breakfast table, reading writings by Pope Francis and discussing them as part of the work… (Please read this!!!)

What is freedom?

“The freedom of the Gospel is quite different from rugged individualism or doing whatever we want. It involves a revolution of the heart that cannot be suffocated by the forces of comfort, possession, pleasure, egotism, and narcissism. The freedom we have to do good, to create a world where it is easier for others to be good, is quite different. Catholics do not have to wait for orders from Rome to begin washing others’ feet, to be “go-givers rather than go-getters.” We do not have to act in the bureaucratic way that has become a model or be afraid of doing something different…” Mercy Without Borders, 104

Here, Mark and Louise speak to the freedom that I have leaned into deeply on this pilgrimage. I have financial freedom that allows me to stop working for upwards of a whole year with a few dollars in the bank to fill my gas tank (and get new brakes and pay for Miami street parking), but more than this I have been cultivating, for years and with some success, this type of spiritual freedom that is unshackled from any socio-cultural expectations or pressures, from attachments to material goods or comfort or luxury; that is unafraid of doing something different. And this freedom is so beautiful, such a profound and meaningful foundation from which to choose and love and work and exist!! And maybe some are under the impression that it has to do with being religious, or maybe just avoiding the drudgery of the 40-hour-work-week, but I swear it is just me trying to clear everything out of the way to get to my own heart, where the Creator’s invitations are. One of my friends recently said that my posture towards listening to God’s invitations has the energy of “running up to the mail delivery person at the mailbox.” She is gifted at making accurate comparisons.  

So somehow this stop on my journey was spiritually very affirming, educational, inspiring, clarifying. Though many of my days on this pilgrimage are somewhat ordinary, complete with my own personal insecurities and doubts, somehow I am graced with experiences like this one that affirm the compass I am trying to follow, that illuminate my path as I delve into the unknown. And each of these encounters in South Texas and Houston, along with all of the rest, are deepening my conviction to a life of vocational work centered on building community, welcoming and healing — on responding to the voice of God, to the most wise teachings of the church and other spiritual traditions, to the Pope!!!

In whatever place we decide to build our future, in the country of our birth or elsewhere, the important thing is that there always be a community ready to welcome, protect, promote and integrate everyone, without distinctions and without excluding anyone. Only by walking together will we be able to go far and reach the common goal of our journey.” – Pope Francis, For the 109th World Day Of Migrants And Refugees 2023

Walking together with the guests of Casa Juan Diego

Stay tuned for some reflections on my brief stops in Mobile, Alabama, Atlanta, Georgia, and New Port Richey, Florida leading up to where I am planted now for the next two months, Miami! 🙂

Catching up from Texas: March, April, & May

June 4, 2023 – Greetings and joy from the Convent of Mercy retirement home in Mobile, Alabama! I find myself here for the night after driving 7 hours from Houston on my way to Decatur, Georgia, another 5 hours away. I am three months overdue for a proper update on this beloved journey of mine! 

If you will forgive me, I will attempt to summarize the past three months in the best way I can. In early March, I arrived to El Paso, Texas with so much excitement, eagerness for familiarity and rest, and a big question mark on my schedule. I stayed with the Marist & Maryknoll community for the first month in the lovely bedroom off the dining room (complete with sliding barn doors, my own bathroom, and easy access to the coffee machine straight from my bed!). For the second month I was blessed with hospitality at the Columban Mission Center.

During those two months, I delighted in delicious food and the presence of inspiring human beings and I started working as a no-prior-experience server at the Village Inn. I got to accompany a group of Seminary students on a trip to Palomas, Mexico where we ate a delicious potluck and purchased the beautiful artisanal goods from the women’s cooperative who received us. I attended Mass in two different migrant shelters, spent the night on the couch at a third, and got to experience a proper Mexican “Way of the Cross” in Anapra, Juarez, which is of the most impoverished, violent, and stigmatized neighborhoods in the city, where I had the extraordinary opportunity to walk with people whose daily life experiences reflect the continual crucifixion of Christ in our world today. 

Our final destination of the Way of the Cross Pilgrimage
Memorial for the 40 migrants who died in the Juarez detention fire

I reunited with people I had not seen since the start of the pandemic, camped in Big Bend National Park, and assisted with translation for a pro-se asylum application for a Venezuelan couple and their daughter.

Mass celebrated by Father Yarek at Holy Family Migrant Shelter

It was a true gift to be able to go back to this place which is so so special to me in a different, slower way, and to sort of just dwell in the inspiration and the emotion of it all!

Visited at work by some of my best friends from El Paso, Christa and Mary!
The spring desert bloom!

From El Paso I drove the 8 hours over to San Antonio, where I was greeted with the warm, moist air of the Texas grasslands. I stayed in an AirBnB for three nights so I could have some solitude for the closing retreat of my Contemplative Leaders in Action program, and it was soo lovely! I turned my phone off for just under 48 hours and prayed. On my third day in town I found Sr. Rita at the mother house of the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate. Here is a journal entry from that day:

May 7, 2023: Sr. Rita and I are sitting on a bench in the outdoor patio at the Holy Spirit Convent, each drinking a cup of tea. We are talking about politics and division and fear in our communities since there were two really tragic tragedies today in Texas. I ignorantly asked her if she had seen the news yet, even though it was already past 3pm. “Yes of course, so sad,” she says as we look on at the trees dancing in the breeze and the water dripping from the rain gutters. It is humid but, thanks to the rain clouds, not too hot outside. 

“The whole Republican party is beholden to the NRA,” she says, among so many other things. We are lamenting the shooting in Allen, Texas when a bright red bird begins to bathe in the fountain on the other side of the patio. “Wow, look at that bird!” I say, amazed at how it splashes around. 

Rita replies “Well that is a male cardinal. He must have a date, he’s getting all cleaned up.” I must confess I am charmed by her Irish accent.

We first met about a month ago when I was visiting Casa Papa Francisco, one of Annunciation House’s hospitality homes. Her energy is warm and welcome, and I share with her my journey and ask her about her own. After 20 years of teaching high school math and 10 more working for her motherhouse, she went to Mexico for another 20 years to work in a school in Nayarit. She is finally entering her retirement years (she is, as they say in Spanish, in her third age) but still offers herself as a volunteer from time to time.

At one point, Sr. Rita goes inside to attend to a matter and I am left enjoying the patio and scrolling through my messages. Another sister walks out, stops, and just looks at me. 

“I’ve found an ice cream and I’ve come outside to enjoy it,” she says, and continues past me. This woman is also speaking with an Irish accent, for your information, so naturally I am fascinated by this exchange also.

The birds in the grasslands part of Texas where the air hugs you and the green is lush are singing so loudly all day. It is so beautiful and has such a different energy that I can’t quite explain.

On my way out of the mother house, Sr. Rita takes me to the kitchen and makes me a care package with apples, oranges, bananas, and yogurt. She offers me juice but I decline. “Are you allowed to be taking this?” I ask since we are sneaking around the kitchen while the workers are taking their break. It is a large facility and since all of the sisters are in their third age, the kitchen and other essential duties are staffed (there is even a hair salon onsite!). “It is my house” she says with a bit of a chuckle. Of course there are 40 other women, more or less, who live here, but who’s counting.

“Do you have any advice for the younger generation?” I ask to try to move us out of the heaviness of our conversations about politics, guns, gerrymandering, and people who are becoming violent as a result of the lies they hear on extremely biased news sources.

“Keep on peddling” she tells me as we hug goodbye.

A view of the chapel in the Holy Spirit Convent

After my visit with Sr. Rita, I make my way over to another El Paso connection Yvonne Dilling’s house who graciously receives me for another night in town before I head south into the valley. It is barely noon but we are talking about the 1980s and pilgrimages and cross-cultural relationships and theology. We go to the Greyhound Bus Station to volunteer with the “chalecos azules” Interfaith Welcome Coalition and offer advice, coordination, and basic-need supplies to immigrants passing through from the various border towns. There are a number of people who arrive to the station with no idea of where to go from there, and they are sent to a Welcome Center that is supposedly at full-capacity and has an overflow of around 100 people staying in the parking lot. I mostly give out some juices and sandwiches and learn about how the non-profits support people here, and Yvonne and I get some thai food in between our double shift. 

I love wearing the blue vest (extra pockets and identification!) but I love more spending the time in meaningful and deep conversation with Yvonne who has a wealth of knowledge and shows me how to live out the values that I hold so dear. We scoop mulch off the bed of a pick-up truck into wheelbarrows and she gives me a copy of her book “In Search of Refuge” which details her experience volunteering with Caritas in a Salvadoran Refugee Camp in Honduras during the early 1980s.

From San Antonio I venture down into the Rio Grande Valley where I am welcomed by two Sisters of Mercy, Patricia and Terry. Within a few hours, Patricia and I are laughing hysterically and making memories about Mongolian food and whataburger drive-thrus. I am so pampered, once again, with my own bedroom where I spend my evenings on the phone with my most supporting and loving partner, Antonio (which explains where all of my free time goes!).

While in the Valley, I spend a day with the South Texas Human Rights Center learning from Eddie and Nora and Chris and talking about the tragedy of missing migrants and people dying trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico Border. I visit the Team Brownsville/Good Neighbor Settlement House Welcome Center next to the bus station in Brownsville and support the distribution of clothing and hygiene items to recently released immigrant families and individuals. Sr. Terry takes me to see the Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Sr. Pat takes me to visit the Arise Adelante office and eat a delicious meal with a group of university students from Misericordia U while listening to the testimony of one of the new staff members who recently arrived from Tamaulipas, Mexico, and I take myself down to the National Butterfly Center where I see lots of butterflies, birds, and a giant tortoise (and I drive along back roads in search of the gofundme border wall that is falling into the Rio Grande).

As close as I could get to the private border wall

I am so grateful for all of the hospitality and accompaniment I have been graciously given on this journey. Each and every encounter that I have had deserves its own blog post, truly – if only I could keep up with my experiences, or my memory could store it all perfectly! And worse is that when I let the time pass me by without documenting, I end up simply writing a list of where I have been and missing the opportunity to delve more deeply into the ways these experiences have impacted me. But I trust that the time for more in depth writing will come eventually… 🙂

Crossing the border into Reynosa, Tamaulipas. The Rio Grande in South Texas is a real river!

The Prayer of Catherine McAuley, the foundress of the Sisters of Mercy: My God, I want to always associate with you. Teach me to trust in you because I know that you love me. Help me to always search for your will, even if it is difficult. Empty my heart of all fear and anxiety. That nothing makes me sad that does not cause me to stray from you. Help me to always be full of joy because I know that you are my God and one day I will be with you forever.

Next up: Three more days in the RGV and two weeks in Houston with Casa Juan Diego (!!)

How do we meet this moment?

Hello from the home of the Sisters of Mercy in the ranchlands of South Texas! Here I am writing to you after two months of radio-silence. I ask for forgiveness to anyone who has been patiently waiting for some kind of update (and to myself for not meeting my own expectations!). It has been an incredible and full two months and probably each week (even some of the days!) could be entire posts themselves. 

These days I am reflecting on the present moment as I write from the Rio Grande Valley where there are hundreds and thousands of migrating people trying to access safety and work that these days seems more and more concentrated in the lands of the few. In response to the echo chamber of !crisis! And ?we can’t possibly help all these people? And of course the farther right narratives of invasion (God forgive us), I keep returning to the importance of taking the long arc view of the history of these beloved Americas.

Before I begin, I want to preface two things: 1. Please forgive me for my extremely long sentences, and 2. I hope you can appreciate my thematic generalization while knowing that each country’s complex situation is related to this history in its own unique and specific ways – in other words, there is a glacier of realities underneath the tip of the iceberg that I am outlining here.

There are hundreds of books, podcasts, and publications that can explain, so clearly, why we are seeing increasingly unlivable communities today given the global history of the past 300 years. My understanding is that it is, at least in part, the natural consequence of the imperialist and capitalist pursuits of the powerful and wealthy of the world during the 18th-21st centuries, pursuits which were conducted entirely or in part for the extraction of wealth from resource-rich lands (and/or from large exploitable labor forces). These pursuits included:

  • installing corporate-friendly authoritarian leaders abroad and propping up their murderous regimes
  • supporting genocides of the poor, of indigenous/native communities, of students and of church leaders and workers, of visionaries & revolutionaries in order to oppress, repress, and carry on business as usual – often by providing security, combat, & torture training to military & paramilitary forces as well as weapons & resources that have now been adopted by many gang, cartel & international criminal organizations
  • creating extractive and environmentally degrading “free-trade” agreements that have decimated local economies in many places and forced the migration of millions of previously self-sustained rural farmers
  • forcing the privatization of natural resources & public industries for profit (oil, minerals, bananas, palm oil, water, energy, etc) and the international abuse of governments who attempt to nationalize those resources or resist American-friendly trade agreements

Throughout the centuries, wealthy and powerful governments have taken every possible measure to create easy pathways for resource exploitation abroad and to ensure that a docile, exploitable labor force remains readily available to our manufacturing plants and produce farms by way of weakening other governments’ sovereignty and increasing their dependance on international aid while also strengthening their military and policing forces through training and arms to weaponize when there are uprisings or when people try to survive by migrating. And what we see today are these deep divides between the wealthy, industrialized, and rather stable societies and economies that the “developed” parts of the world enjoy and communities reeling from the lasting effects of poverty, instability, environmental degradation, and corruption in public and private life, and somehow along the way most of us have been taught to blame it on cultural inferiorities, individual political leadership failures, or, of course, communism. 

All of this to say, the present moment that we are facing in the Americas is not at all surprising when we do our homework and understand why people are risking their lives by the tens of thousands in leaving their homes. It is this history of imperialism and neo-liberal economic policies that have extracted so much wealth and labor resources from these countries and have weakened their governments and social systems which brings us here today. Not only are people suffering grinding poverty, but they are also experiencing extreme and unbridled violence from gangs and criminal organizations who have sprung up in the pain and misery of generations of trauma (using the same violent military and torture tactics learned from our military and with the weapons manufactured here). 

I think it is also worth mentioning that it matters little how open and welcoming the U.S. government is when people are fleeing life-threatening situations – and how absurd and shameful that we wield our power and wealth to abuse other peoples lands, workers, governments, and sovereignty, and then pretend that we are innocent and that the only factor to people making that choice is what the president says during his campaign? It is probably true that a small percentage of people who have listed their pros and cons and have the necessity to leave their homes will see a government’s amiability as the missing piece or the “green light,” but certainly nobody who was happy and safe in their homes would suddenly say goodbye to everything and everyone they know because another country’s president mentioned that they would be less cruel than the previous guy. 

A poster showing the number of deportations under the last 6 presidencies

And so when we are able to take a look at the long arc, we can understand that what we observe in the world today is a consequence of 300+ years of very violent and short-sighted decision making of the most powerful and most wealthy of our global community. Just like climate change, human displacement is a reality of our world that we absolutely have to face, and when we try to hide from it – “America First! Build the Wall! Close the open/porous border” etc – we not only become responsible for the deaths and suffering of thousands of people who are trying to access protection and dignified work, but we also increase our own anxieties and stresses because we close our minds to the possibilities of facing the moment and become unable to see a way forward that would uplift the dignity and humanity of everybody involved. We owe it to our neighbors and those suffering loss of home, livelihood, and safety to reject the xenophobic narratives. By benefiting from the history I described, we are morally and ethically obliged to try to pursue justice for those who have suffered from it.

So in my humble opinion, as a person driving my little stick shift car around the southern border and meeting hundreds of people and reading news articles and praying all the time…

I spent a few hours volunteering at the Greyhound Bus Station in San Antonio, assisting migrants with travel plans, sandwich bags, my hotspot, and accompaniment!
The utility closet at the bus station has been converted into a resource storage with snacks, diapers, shoelaces, water, medicines, and other relevant resources

We need to lean into our deepest imaginations. Many of us struggle to imagine a different reality wherein people are free to move, economies support communities (and not the reverse), and human rights are respected and upheld to the extent possible in all corners of the globe, but I ask you to try! Try to imagine a radical hospitality embraced by our whole national community…

What would it look like to welcome people who are asking to be welcomed, like our ancestors did before us, offering as little or as much as we are willing?

What would it look like if every family, every church, mosque, temple, and place of worship, every school and university, reached out to one person or family or group of families in need, and accompanied them in their journey to dignity and thriving?

What would it look like if, instead of hoarding our resources, wealth, and time, we shared them with each other?

We cannot run away or isolate ourselves from those whose homes our corporations, militaries, and governmental leaders have directly or indirectly made unlivable. And so, I believe, the invitation is to run to them, compassionately and without fear, willing to offer welcome and reparations and draw on their strengths and skills to build a world that we would all like to live in together. We have to open the doors of our imaginations and mindsets, throw away the belief in scarcity and impossibility, and move into the beautiful and messy place of solidarity and creativity and working together as a human family. 

We can build a world where there is room for everyone at the table, if only we dream of it and use our gifts and talents and opportunities to work towards it. For the love of God, laughter, joy, freedom, the Earth and right relationship, we must!

Check out this video: An Economic Hit Man Confesses and Calls to Action | John Perkins | TEDxTraverseCity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btF6nKHo2i0&t=71s

Ideas to get involved:

  • Learn more and counter false narratives about people migrating and immigration policy
  • Consider donating to a local non-profit that works with immigrants, or one on the border!
  • Consider volunteering with a local non-profit that works with immigrants and refugees, or one on the border!
  • Consider hosting an asylum-seeking individual or family in your home!

If any of these things spark your interest and you would like more information, please feel free to reach out to me! 🙂

Sosteniendo el fuego de nuestras imaginaciones (español)

11 marzo 2023

¡Hola después de dos meses de mi peregrinaje a lo largo de esta frontera tan tumultuosa y llena de noticias! Actualmente estoy sentada en un escritorio en una habitación que me prestaron por un mes en la casa Marist-Maryknoll en El Paso, Texas. Hay una hermosa lámpara de cristal de colores a mi derecha que ilumina el espacio sin ventanas, y estoy comiendo una barra de coco teñida con los colores de la bandera mexicana. Esta mañana me siento ligera, me siento inspirada, me siento esperanzada.

La bendición de este capítulo (en El Paso) es la oportunidad de tomar una pausa más grande y procesar de donde vengo. Hay días en los que me siento desconectada y sin rumbo (seguramente, más días de los que desearía que fueran así) y puedo caer en la duda. Esa experiencia tiende a resonar para mí independientemente de dónde esté o de lo que esté haciendo. Al crecer, mi madre lo llamó estar “en un funk”.

Pero luego hay otros días en los que escucho música de películas que nunca he visto (actualmente escucho “Half Brothers” de Jordan Seigel) y sonrío al cielo y me siento inspirada, abrumada con convicción y gratitud más allá de las palabras. A veces es difícil transformar esos momentos en la acción que busco. Estoy dedicando este tiempo a cultivar esa convicción e inspiración en lugar de tratar de transformarla tan rápido. Llegará el momento de eso, estoy segura.

Los pocos días que pasé en la Iniciativa Kino para la Frontera fueron informativos y hermosos. Aunque tuve algunos días desafiantes, atesoro las pequeñas interacciones de la comunidad que compartí con el personal y los voluntarios a quienes reporté. Escuché las noticias de NPR muchas mañanas mientras conducía con las hermanas Tracey y Marilu. Me sentí tiernamente vista y cuidada por la Hermana Nancy. Compartí una comida con algunas voluntarias y Misioneras de la Eucaristía (¡completa con tequila y salsa casera de habanero!) con muchas risas y lamentos. Compartí conversaciones profundas y leí las reflexiones del padre de mi ex compañera de coro de Seattle U.

Admiro los esfuerzos de la organización para animar y apoyar a la comunidad de voluntarios/personal; a pesar de que solo ofrecí 9 días de obra, me celebraron con un hermoso pastel de tres leches en mi último día y una tarjeta firmada con dulces mensajes. Muchos miembros del personal repitieron que esperaban que yo regresara algún día (¡y casada! ¡Con mi cónyuge!) en un futuro no muy lejano.

Con la Hermana Luz Elena, Misionera de la Eucaristía de Jalisco y Coordinadora del Comedor

Mi parte favorita de estar en Kino fue poder presenciar y aprender sobre el corazón de su enfoque organizacional. Al principio pensé que el protocolo era lo que quería aprender, pero rápidamente me di cuenta de que los protocolos son situacionales, regionales y cambiantes. La misión y los valores subyacentes es lo que más me inspira. Lo que quiero, más que nada, son respuestas a las preguntas “¿qué futuro imaginamos para todos nosotros? ¿Qué tipo de comunidad, y mundo, queremos construir, y cómo lo haremos?”

Durante mi orientación, compartieron conmigo sus “prioridades estratégicas” en las que se están enfocando durante estos próximos 3 años como una organización en constante crecimiento y evolución. El acompañamiento integral de los migrantes es la primera prioridad, incluyendo la recreación, el cuidado espiritual, el empoderamiento y el acceso a los derechos. La siguiente es la integración de migrantes en los Estados Unidos, sustentando comunidades de acompañamiento mutuo y motivando y equipando socios educativos para recibir y acompañar a los migrantes. La siguiente prioridad es la hospitalidad local, que incluye la creación de redes y la hospitalidad, en Sonora, México, seguida de un cambio de políticas: crear voluntad política en los EE. UU. para promover políticas migratorias humanas, justas y viables a través de cambios en el sentimiento público, transformando comunidades indiferentes hacia la empatía. Su última prioridad explícita es la equidad y el bienestar: promover la dignidad, la equidad y el bienestar entre el personal y los voluntarios.

Todas las organizaciones que he visitado hasta ahora (Ajo Samaritans, Casa Alitas, Fronteras Compasivas, la Iniciativa Kino Para la Frontera) realmente están tratando de enfrentarse a la oscuridad con esperanza, ofrecer apoyo vital, y vivir los valores de amor, justicia, dignidad, y comunidad. Ninguna de estas organizaciones afirma estar haciendo todo, o resolviendo todos los problemas, o ayudando a todos. No sugieren tener todas las respuestas a la migración masiva de personas en todo el mundo. Ellos, como cualquier otra organización o colectivo orientado al servicio social, son capaces de discernir el valor de hacer algo, por pequeño o temporal que sea, a pesar de los muchos obstáculos y desafíos. De plantar semillas, de emprender el trabajo que les corresponde.

Una Cruz pintada en la Capilla de la Iniciativa Kino

Creo que a veces hay un miedo a que te rompan el corazón que impide que las personas se comprometan con personas y comunidades que están experimentando un sufrimiento particularmente agudo (eso, mezclado con nuestro ensimismamiento que nos convence de que en realidad no tenemos tiempo ni energía o capacidad ;; El Jesuita Greg Boyle dice que las personas no somos egoístas, solo estamos absortos en nosotros mismos. Estamos distraídos por nosotros mismos, lo que nos impide ver a los demás). Cuando no nos criamos con la normalización del voluntariado, la ayuda mutua y la acción orientada a la comunidad, esas cosas se convierten en elecciones que solo hacen “gente realmente buena”, o “santos”, o personas con “gran corazón”, o personas que son “valientes”, pero no nosotros. 

Y luego, debido a que todavía estamos viendo las noticias e yendo al centro de la ciudad y evitando viajar a ciertas áreas, no sabemos cómo involucrarnos en ningún problema de la comunidad; entonces gastamos nuestra energía, dinero y tiempo tratando de anestesiar el dolor y el miedo que surge naturalmente. Tratamos de recuperar el control de todos los aspectos de nuestras vidas, utilizando nuestras cámaras de seguridad, aplicaciones de planificación financiera y entrenamiento personal en el gimnasio, para contrarrestar la angustia de nuestro entorno incontrolable. Y cuanto más nos desconectamos del mundo que nos rodea, más nos hundimos en la apatía y la indiferencia. Y como dice Patrick Saint-Jean, S.J., en El Trabajo Espiritual de Justicia Racial,

“…cuando nos dejamos hundir en la apatía y la indiferencia, el fuego de nuestra imaginación se apaga. Ya no podemos vislumbrar la posibilidad de un mundo mejor. Algo dentro de nosotros está muerto”. (pág. 313)

Sospecho que la obsesión de mi cultura con la adquisición material y la promoción comercial y política de mejorar la eficiencia, la comodidad y el placer de nuestras vidas sin tener en cuenta a nuestros vecinos o el medio ambiente explicaría por qué tantos de nosotros estamos tratando de aumentar nuestras protecciones y participar menos aún con nuestras comunidades. Luego también tenemos la continuación del paternalismo supremacista blanco y el capitalismo explotador desenfrenado que eleva la caridad individual mientras aniquila cualquier intento de reforma estructural. Ninguno de nosotros es inmune a lo que hemos heredado de nuestros antepasados, lo bueno y lo malo, y los contextos sociales dentro de los cuales nos formamos como seres humanos.

Una pintura en el Museo de Arte de Nogales, hecho de Lika: Una Lagrima Va;ada de Sangre

Y, sin embargo, todos estamos dotados de conciencia para discernir, fuera de una mentalidad de supervivencia, para tirar (o transformar) lo que no nos sirve y no servirá a la séptima generación que viene después de nosotros. Aquellos de nosotros que crecimos en un contexto cristiano o practicamos sabemos que durante este tiempo de Cuaresma, no nos estamos preparando espiritualmente para la Crucifixión. Nos estamos preparando para la Resurrección.

“La Resurrección es una llamada a imaginar. Nos desafía a ampliar nuestras perspectivas y descubrir el volumen completo de lo que Dios nos está llamando a ser y hacer. La imaginación alimenta la empatía, permitiéndonos explorar lo que significa sentir, ver y pensar como otra persona”. (Patrick Saint-Jean, S.J., El trabajo espiritual de la justicia racial)

Y entonces pido a Dios para que cada uno de nosotros pueda discernir nuestras propias prioridades estratégicas, como Kino, que explícitamente nos llaman a una relación más profunda con nosotros mismos, nuestros vecinos y nuestro hogar ecológico, usando nuestra imaginación para “re-crear nuestro mundo, permitiéndonos ser co-creadores con Dios.” ?<3

Palabras de un Migrante