A time to lament
— and a time to change
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Help refugees at the border and improve life in El Salvador
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Maryknoll lay missioner
Heidi Cerneka
serves as an immigration attorney with Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center in El Paso, Texas. In her ministry at the border, she helps serve the legal needs of immigrants, including refugees and asylum seekers. In a state where only 2 to 3 percent of asylum claims are granted, it is an uphill battle, but Heidi’s skill and tenacity made the difference for Ugandan asylum seeker Zam, whose asylum case Heidi recently won.
Meanwhile, Maryknoll
lay missioners in El Salvador
continue to wrestle with the many push factors that have been driving Salvadorans and other Central Americans to leave their country. Gang murders, shootings, violence, extortion and threats are common in many of the communities where our missioners work. Peter Altman, Maryknoll Lay Missioners’ regional director in El Salvador, says, “We are helping to create a better future and more opportunities for people here in El Salvador.”
In this time of special need — both for legal assistance for immigrants and for making life better in countries like El Salvador — your generous donation to our new
“Border and El Salvador Fund”
makes a big difference
on both sides of the border.
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Ted's Talk
"Not only does their cry reach heaven. It reaches us,"
said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, the president of the U.S. bishops' conference after the horrific death of a father and daughter at the border and the news of appalling conditions for migrant children.
It is a time to lament! A range of emotions comes with each breaking news story about the horrific plight and unnecessary treatment of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border and elsewhere, ranging from grief and anger to utter frustration and helplessness. Each one of these made in God’s image is suffering. Jesus sees each one, and each one matters. Each one is a member of our global family, and the Holy Spirit urges us to act in one accord, to love each one as sister or brother, and to do what we can to welcome the stranger with compassion, understanding and hospitality.
Our
lay missioners in El Salvador
and elsewhere strive to improve conditions that push people to leave their homelands. People have a right not to migrate and to live with dignity and hope at home; sometimes it takes someone to accompany them to make the necessary difference. At the border, many church workers, including lay missioner
Heidi Cerneka
, offer radical hospitality and faithful accompaniment in navigating complex situations and procedures.
What will you do?
Something has to change; perhaps it is each one of us. Now is not the time to look away, as tempting as it may be.
May we offer our deepest prayer for each one. Let us ask forgiveness for the ways we are complicit to this reality. Can we allow their cries to reach us and break our hearts, urging discernment of at least one way God can help us respond in mercy and love? This situation demands nothing less than our loving as one and living for all.
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Ted Miles
Executive Director
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Celebrate the
25th anniversary of the
Maryknoll Association
of the Faithful
August 15, 2019, 11 am to 2 pm
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Although Maryknoll's lay missioner program was launched in 1975, it was 25 years ago that Maryknoll happily announced the founding of a new association within the Maryknoll Family – complementary to the Maryknoll Society of Priests and Brothers and the Congregation of Maryknoll Sisters.
All are welcome to join us for a
Celebration Mass at 11 am
Queen of Apostles Chapel
Maryknoll Society
55 Ryder Road, Ossining, New York
Followed by lunch and program in the Founder’s Room.
Space is limited. RSVP is required by July 31 for the lunch.
The program in the Founder's Room will be
livestreamed
on our website.
Please visit
www.mklm.org
on Aug 15 to celebrate with us.
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Video: Health ministries in East Africa
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In Mwanza, Tanzan
ia,
Maryknoll lay missioner
Joanne Miya
leads a center that provides hope, healthcare an
d education to people living with HIV/AIDS. Nurse
Kathy Flatoff
helps lead a health clinic that provides crucial services in a slum of Mombasa, Kenya. And
Anne Berry
and
George John Stablein
, a married couple with two daughters, are working as physicians at a r
ural hospital in Bukumbi, outside Mwanza, Tanzania.
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Are you called? And are you listening?
Join our July 26 - 28 Discernment Retreat
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at the Maryknoll House in CHICAGO
This retreat is open to all considering a call to serve in overseas mission — whether as a lay person, a sister, a priest or a brother.
Hurry to register for this retreat beginning next week Friday.
For more information, to
REGISTER
or to learn more about the opportunities for mission as a Maryknoll lay missioner, contact
retreats@mklm.org
or
914-467-8857.
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Friends Across Borders
Immersion Program
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Only three more days left.
Act NOW to register for our trip to Kenya
•
October 17
–
28, 2019:
KENYA
DEADLINE for signing up: July 17, 2019
Karibu Sana Kenya
– Welcome to Kenya!
Participants of our Friends Across Borders trip to Kenya will experience not only Kenya’s stunning natural beauty but will also have the opportunity to walk with Kenyan people on their daily journeys.
The focus of the trip is meeting and making friends with Kenyans and learning about their culture, faith, and history. The experience will showcase ministries of Maryknoll Lay Missioners.
Call 914-236-3474
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FRIENDS ACROSS BORDERS:
Come travel with us and see what life is really like in communities where Maryknoll lay missioners are living out their faith and helping to create a more just and compassionate world.
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