A joy-filled day to you!
We've got lots to share with you this week. To the left and down a bit, you'll find the Song of the Week which calls us to reflect on our prayer life. And, just below, you'll find an announcement about a prayer service focusing on a major issue of the day, then a report on last week's poverty simulation, and a brief reflection on next Sunday's gospel reading. We also ask that you help spread the word about what we're up to by forwarding this epistle to a friend and "liking" us on Facebook (The links are over there to your left).
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 Our friends, the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, will host a public prayer service to pray for compassionate immigration reform legislation this Friday, August 23 at 7 pm at St. Patrick's Church, 55 Grand Street, here Newburgh. This prayer service is an opportunity for persons of faith to reflect on the scriptural bases underlying support for comprehensive immigration reform. The event is timed to coincide with the congressional August recess, after which members of the House of Representatives will return to Washington to continue their debate on this important issue affecting the lives of so many in the Hudson Valley. We hope to see you there! |
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Poverty simulation - learning vital things
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"Students" at the simulation's central school review their answers to a poverty quiz in which they are asked facts about poverty and its impacts.
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About 70 people participated in our first poverty simulation which was held last Wednesday. They included Newburgh City mayor Judy Kennedy, City Councilman Curlie Dillard as well as service providers and others hoping to gain some insight into what it is like to live in poverty.
Participants spent four 15-minute weeks playing the roles of family members who went off to school or to work or to apply for benefits or shop for groceries and discovered the frustrations that come from standing on long lines for the simplest of things. They also got a sense of what it is like to live under the threat of eviction and homelessness.
"I want to thank you for such a moving and beneficial
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The Olson family stratagizes they will dig themselves out a financial mess without losing their home.
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experience yesterday at the Community Action Poverty Stimulation," wrote Michelle, one of the participants. "I had such a phenomenal experience and learned a some very vital things that make me feel even more connected to the clients I serve in supportive housing."
We're thankful to our co-sponsors - the Greater Hudson Valley Family Health Center, HONORehg, RECAP, and the Greater Newburgh Ministerial Association - for their support and assistance with making this event happen. In case you missed it, you're in luck - we're working with another of our favorite groups - Community Voices Heard - to schedule another simulation to be held on a Saturday in October. Stay tuned for details. If you're still trying to figure out what these things are all about, check out this brief video.
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It's all in the hands . . .
During the last years of her life, my mom was stooped over, bowed by osteoporosis, a progressive and debilitating bone disease. I cannot help thinking of her each time I read Luke 13:10-17 which
is this week's gospel lesson. Yet, I'm not only reminded of her, I'm reminded of so many others who are bent over - physically, spiritually, emotionally - by the burdens of life.
Scroll back toward the top of this page and you will see two blurbs about diseases that have people stooped over, unable to look up. But, look around and look inside and you will see too many people bent under the weight of everything from debt to poor health to addictions of one sort or another . . . even their own judgments and preconceived notions. We meet them at Our House all the time. Through the doors each day come women and men who have been beaten down in some way or another. Sometimes it's because they're older and lost a job and no one wants to hire them. Sometimes, it's because they've got a disability and don't have the income they need to have a safe place to live, maintain a decent diet, cover the Medicaid co-pay so they can get their meds. And, sometimes, it's because they got hooked on some substance - illegal or legal - that has led them to and sometimes over the brink. In this passage from Luke, we are reminded that we're called to live in a judgment-free zone where it doesn't matter how or why a hurting person ended up in the situation in which she finds herself. What matters is that any time is the right time to touch the heart of another with God's tenderness and compassion, the two hands that can bring healing.
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