A Shepherd In The Field

  My Siblings in Christ, Since the beginning of this year, I have had 131 meetings with our churches, with you. I spend every waking hour and many sleepless nights thinking about how we can strengthen our churches, deepen our faith, and make your prayers a reality. At each visitation, I deeply listen to your dreams, fears, and challenges.  The number one question I am asked is:  How can we grow? Beginning this Advent, and continuing for the next three to four years, the diocesan offices will not launch new initiatives. Once again, all our financial, spiritual, and physical resources will be used to grow our churches, empower your ministries, connect churches, and build up the resources you need to meet the challenges ahead. (See the list of resources we have and are continuing to build for you:  https://www.diopa.org/help . ) I believe our parishes and their ministries are the direct connection between the world and the Gospel. The purpose of the diocese is to w...

  My Siblings in Christ, This has been a trying time for our country. The election results have left some joyous and others despondent and fearful. Our public discourse made the darkest parts of our human interactions painfully evident. The willingness, ease, and capacity to hurt people should unsettle our collective consciousness. Our light as a people seems somewhat diminished. There is a growing sense of bitterness and distrust—a gnawing despair in the realization that we do not know our neighbor or community. Yet we hope when all seems hopeless. That hope is not in institutions or governments. It stems from our true identity. While we rejoice when the values we hold dear as Christians align with those of our elected officials and despair when they do not, our identity rests in Christ. Through the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have been adopted into a family that transcends earthly governments and politics. (John 1:12) Jesus taught us true humanity and ho...

 I am catching up on two days. All have been packed with visits and events. Each day, we start before sunrise and conclude late into the evening. For me, this is not tiring but invigorating.   Let’s start with the dedication of the Anglican Communion Forest in Central America located at El Maizal in El Salvador.  It was a two-hour drive from San Salvador, and we were warned it would be warm (minor understatement).  The drive was spectacular, and the people are beautiful.  I feel so at home in Latin America.  The faithful traveled from various parts of the diocese, and the service was an outdoor Eucharist filled with singing.  The warning about the heat was an understatement.  The humidity hovered around 88%, and well into the third hour, the “feels like” temperature read 106.  We traveled another hour and had lunch on the Pacific Ocean at a restaurant that leases on property owned by the Diocese of El Salvador. The view and the food were spec...

The last two days were difficult to describe.  We spent yesterday at the Casa Myrna Mack, which is a respite center for migrants who are traveling through Guatemala. Founded by Jesuits and named after a migrant activist, Myrna Mack, who was martyred, the center is part of a network that also provides education and advocacy for migrants and offers programs to address the violence and displacement due to climate change, which are the main reasons people need to leave their home.  There are no pictures, just a heart that was breaking listening to the stories of migrants from Venezuela who walked to Guatemala City with young children.  Looking into the eyes of the parents worried about their children and the long, uncertain, danger-filled journey ahead.   Looking into the eyes of the children, sensing they are far away from their homes, not understanding why, just reaching out seeking reassurance that everything will be alright.   We must be the church and embrace b...