St. Catherine of Alexandria Church, Riverside, California

The Mission of Hope: Catholic Lobby Day 2009

By Deacon John De Gano

More than seventy members of the Diocese of San Bernardino (including three from St. Catherine parish and four students and an adviser from Notre Dame High School) gave witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and participated in the annual Catholic Lobby Day in Sacramento, California on April 28, 2009.

They joined hundreds of representatives from the other 11 dioceses in California and spent the day learning about legislation, attending mass and visiting their congressional representatives’ offices in an attempt to lobby them on four issues of concern to the California Catholic Bishops, sponsors of the event.

These issues included: the state budget, extension of food stamps eligibility (AB 1057), the possibility of parole for certain youth offenders (SB 399) and safe surrender of newborns (AB 1048).

The one day visit concluded with a return flight home and a desire, as people of faith, to continue to make faithful citizenship a habitual way of life.

How do we do this?

We must speak truth to power. And, like the first disciples, we must be witnesses of the resurrection. Of the empty tomb.

We need to remind others that Jesus died on the cross so that we might be redeemed. This belief in redemption must be at the core of our hope. Anything less is counter-intuitive and a slap at Jesus’ self-sacrifice on our behalf.

But like any habit, we need to change our attitude and mindset. Easter is not just a day. It is not just a season. It is a lifestyle. We need to be people of hope, bringing the Good News! of Jesus’ resurrection and life to the world.

Our visit to the state capitol stood out in the hearts and minds of those attending, the legislators and aides that we met and the other lobbyists (including California consumer lawyers and city building officials) present because we speak from our hearts and not for our own selfish ends. We speak on behalf of those who can not speak for themselves.

Participation in Catholic Lobby Day is a great witness of God’s prophetic call and our mission to go out to the world.

But our actions are not complete unless you take up the call yourselves.

• You have access to the same legislators we visited.

• You can call their local offices and speak your mind and the will of the church to protect all life, from conception to natural death.

• You can and should write your representatives: city, school board, state and federal – and share with them the church’s social teaching on defending the unborn, the poor and voiceless in this time of budgetary strife.

You can and should be that voice ‘crying out in the desert’:

“Prepare ye the way of the Lord!”

And you can best do that by being faithful citizens. Lobbying your representatives and holding them accountable to you, as their employer, for their votes.

Offering hope to the world.

---------------------

To find a listing of your City Council or County Board of Supervisors, please consult your local telephone book or their website at: http://www.riversideca.gov or http://www.countyofriverside.us.

To contact your state or federal government representatives please go to their website at: http://www.legislature.ca.gov or http://www.usa.gov.

To stay informed on issues of interest to the California Catholic Bishops, please go to their website: http://www.cacatholic.org or join the Catholic Legislative Network and receive monthly e-mails.

To stay informed on issues of interest to the National Council of Catholic Bishops, please go to their website at: http://www.usccb.org

Deacon Don Reports on Mission to Philippines

"Hey Joe!” It seems “Joe” was my new name.

That is what they called me. It was something left from the days when there were so many American soldiers, or GI Joes, in the Philippines. By the grace of God, I was allowed to travel across the ocean to the Philippines to use the gifts given freely to me by the Holy Spirit at my baptism. One of my Spiritual gifts is the gift of missionary. I just returned from the Philippines after spending one month there. My primary purpose was to discern whether Butuan on the southern Island of the Philippines, the big island of Mindanao was the place I should focus my ministries. Mindanao is a place that is in turmoil. It is a place where the poorest of the poor in the Philippines live. Although the majority of people there are Christians, there is also a fairly large population of Muslims and other religions practiced by some of the indigenous tribes. Slightly more than a year ago, I visited Butuan and felt that of all the places in the Philippines, Butuan was the place that was calling to me. So a month ago, I traveled to Butuan to learn more about it. I needed to know if it was a place that I actually could minister to the people. I needed to know if the culture shock would be so great that my abilities would be significantly impaired. What I discovered was that Butuan, although very much different from the world I was accustomed to, was a place that I really fit into. People in the neighborhood that I was staying started coming to me for help with their emotional struggles. It was only by word of mouth, but the word spread among the people that there was someone who would listen to their problems. One woman, in her eighties, forgot that I did not understand Bisaya, the primary language of the people in Butuan, and talked to me for nearly an hour in Bisaya. What I have learned about body language, what is said with the eyes and the small amount of Bisaya that I had learned really helped in the way I was able to respond to the woman. I did learn that it would be her birthday in 3 days, so I visited her house on her birthday with some roses I bought at the local market. It really is a small world. The daughter of Nanay Nitang, the name of the woman in her eighties, had arrived from California to celebrate her mother’s birthday. I found that the daughter was a dentist in Glendale and that her boyfriend attends mass at my assigned parish, St. Catherine of Alexandria in Riverside, California. I was asked by the local priest to address his congregation. To my surprise, I found that he wanted me to deliver the address in Bisaya. With the help of one of my Filipina daughters, I managed to write a script in Bisaya. I delivered the address to which they gave me a wonderful ovation. What I learned is that not only would I be able to offer assistance to the people of Butuan, but also that they welcomed me in what I wanted to do. The questions I had about whether I would be of any value to the people of Butuan were answered by the fact that already I had started to counsel the people in Butuan. The people of Butuan speak primarily Bisaya. However, beginning in elementary school, they are taught Tagalog and English. When people encountered me, they would generally greet me in English. Some of the most fun I had was when I responded to them in Bisaya and watched their reactions. They would often ask if I understood Bisaya. When I told them I understood a little using Bisaya, they would ask me if I was married to Filipina. Most of the people were very much puzzled why anyone would come to Butuan to live. That is because there are so many of the people, who live in Butuan, who are trying to find their way out of the city. I learned how to go to the farmer’s market and shop the way the local people do. The freshest food is available at the farmer’s market on the weekends. That is when the retailer’s go to purchase the local produce that they will resell. Of course the farmers do not care if you are a retailer or someone who is buying their produce for personal use. The price for local produce is very inexpensive. On the other hand imported products purchased at the market are usually extremely costly. Over time people became more familiar with me. The family I was staying with would receive reports from the people in the market place that they had seen me earlier in the day. In a short period of time, I was already becoming a part of the community. I owe so much to the family I stayed with and feel as though that family is my own family. I visited one of the hospitals in Butuan several times because over the past year I have been working with their social worker to help children attend college and high school who ordinarily would not be able to continue their education. I found that the staff at the hospital cared very much about the people who came to them. When I toured the hospital and talked with the staff, I found that they were already aware of the program to help the students. One the day I was preparing to leave the Philippines, my Filipino family received a phone call from the woman who called me her adopted American son. She asked that I stop by her house before leaving. When I arrived Nanay Diding started to cry, “Do you have to leave. We will miss you.” Then she pointed to her great grandchildren. She said, “Do you see these children? They are your grandchildren.” When I arrived at the airport to leave Butuan, there was sadness in me. I had become a part of two separate extended families. I know in my heart, or in Bisaya my kasing-kasing, that Butuan is my home, the place the spirit is leading me to. I know I was accepted in this land where I was known as a foreigner, an alien in the land of the Philippines, but at the same time accepted into their families as one of their own. I know I will be back. But that didn’t stop my tears as the plane left the ground at Butuan

- Deacon Don


	© 2007 St. Catherine of Alexandria, Riverside - All Rights Reserved