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Our Better Angels

What motivates these prove souls to overcome
Fears, doubts and, oft times, it seems
Even common sense to go
No, run towards that from which most people flee?

And who are these who lay aside concern
For their own health and safety to minister
To strangers, whose only claim to assistance
Is their desperate need for hello and healing?

How is it thot despite perhaps on indifferent or
Ungrateful public, still these women and men arise
Even after little rest and no relaxation;
Ignoring death and defeat, to do and do again?

These are the very soul and conscience of our land
Who do what most dare not nor cannot comprehend
For in their selfless service more than individuals
Are saved, comforted or consoled.

For all of us, through them, are ennobled, encouraged,
Inspired and enriched beyond what we deserve
And because of these angels the human race will endure
With brighter eyes, clearer thoughts and purer hearts.

– Joe Veneroso, MM

Bringing Home Joy

When Maryknollers return from abroad to our Center in New York, they often bring home the characteristics and concerns of peoples they’ve come to know and love in mission. Some Maryknollers return passionate about social justice causes that improve the lives of so many faced with violence, poverty and oppression. Some Maryknollers return deeply contemplative of the interfaith and intercultural dialogue they’ve shared with others in ancient lands. It’s said of Maryknollers who return from Africa — they come home smiling.

All Maryknollers smile in a special way these days. We are “bringing home” to us in the ordination, on June 8th, of two men from Kenya — Joshua Mutende and Charles Ogony — the smiles and joy of peoples steeped in music, dance and the simple gratitude of lives that daily overcome some of the most pressing hardships the world can offer.

Joshua and Charles have journeyed through our Initial Formation Program for most of the past decade. Though eager to make final oath and be sent abroad as Maryknoll missionary priests, they have, from “Day One” as seminarians, never ceased being missioners; they have witnessed the joy of mission from their own cultures, families and personal gifts. We welcome them home to us, as life-long brothers in mission, smiling.

Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of a newly independent Ghana, remarked, “I am not African because I was born in Africa, but because Africa was born in me.” Maryknoll candidates and members from Africa give birth to Africa within Maryknoll; to its joys, its sorrows, its passions, its sufferings; to its music, dance and sense of hospitality unique among the world’s regions. As Africa is born within us, so is Christ. Congratulations Joshua and Charles! We are blessed.

Voices of Our World: Director’s Greetings

Dear friends,

Thanks for reading “Voices of Our World.” One of the questions I receive often from young adults is “Why do you stay in this vocation as priest?” Or, another way to put it, why haven’t I left?

Whenever I consider these questions, I’m reminded of wisdom shared with me by the late Maryknoll Fr. Jim Stefaniak, MM, who served many years in Peru. He counselled me that the reasons for joining missionary and religious life are not the same as those for staying.

Twenty years ago on May 13th, the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, I was accepted as a Maryknoll seminarian. This month, I celebrate thirteen years as a priest, a life that has both challenged and rewarded me in ways that still surprise me. It’s occasions like these when I take time to consider my reasons now for staying. I have three — Jesus, Maryknoll, and Our Lady of Fatima. Primary of these is Jesus.

The late Jesuit superior, Pedro Arrupe, SJ, observed:

“Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in a love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the mornings; what you will do with your evenings; how you spend your weekends; what you read; who you know; what breaks your heart; and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.

Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.”

Take the love of Jesus away from me and everything crumbles. Without the mission of Maryknoll, my way forward loses direction. Without the protection of Our Lady of Fatima, I grow discouraged. All three sustain me.

My reasons for remaining a Maryknoller may, of course, change in the future. It is, nonetheless, important for someone contemplating a life of mission to have reasons to join as well as reasons that motivate one to stay. Join Maryknoll and stay with us; it is worth it!

Frontiers of Faith

Frontiers of Faith

Listen to the podcast on Buzzsprout

Tune into this week’s enlightening episode of Frontiers of Faith, where we explore the impact of Catholic mission work with our guest, Joe Healey, a devoted Maryknoll missionary. Joe shares his passion for Small Christian Communities and discusses how this successful global model can be effectively applied within the U.S. Discover actionable insights and be inspired to foster deeper community connections in your own local area. Available now on all major podcast platforms. 

Find Small Christian Communities at:
https://www.smallchristiancommunities.org
https://www.facebook.com/www.smallchristiancommunities.org

Pentecost at Tepeyac? Pneumatologies from the People, with Orlando Espin

Pentecost at Tepeyac? Pneumatologies from the People, with Orlando Espin

In Pentecost at Tepeyac? Orlando Espin develops a Latinx pneumatology, or theology of the Holy Spirit, by exploring the image and enduring popular devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe.

He argues that all symbols are cultural creations, and furthermore, the Spirit being divine is beyond all cultures. Therefore, no one symbol–whether dove, flame, breath, or any other—can be the only symbol possible. The feminine too can culturally symbolize the divine.

To experience and express their faith in God non-European cultures can and must culturally symbolize the divine, in their respective ways.

By focusing on the empowering action of the Spirit among the indigent and marginalized majority of humankind and their cultures, Espín provides a clear and compelling vision of the Holy Spirit’s subversive, empowering role in human history, societies and cultures.

In Pentecost at Tepeyac?

06:18 Guadalupe symbol as female expression of faith.
07:52 Reflecting on Guadalupe, Mary, and the Holy Spirit.
11:02 Questioning the use of masculine language for God.
16:00 Guadalupe’s historical timeline and peoples’ devotion.
18:18 Our representations of God are not truth.
23:42 Jesus killed for supporting the poor. Not divine.
27:17 Elizondo questions Guadalupe’s miracle and its significance.
30:02 Latino family with strong Catholic commitment and marginalized.

Orlando O. Espín is professor emeritus of systematic theology, University of San Diego, where he also served as director of the Center for the Study of Latino/a Catholicism. A founder of the Academy of Hispanic Catholic Theologians of the U.S (ACTHUS) he is the winner of the John Courtney Murray Award from the Catholic Theological Society of America. His many books include Idol & Grace, The Faith of the People, and Grace and Humanness (all Orbis).

Come, Have Breakfast: Meditations on God and the Earth, with Elizabeth A. Johnson

Come, Have Breakfast: Meditations on God and the Earth, with Elizabeth A. Johnson

In this One On One Interview, Robert Ellsberg and Elizabeth A. Johnson, discuss her new book
“Come, Have Breakfast: Meditations on God and the Earth” .

“‘Come, have breakfast’ (Jn 21:12) These three simple words followed by generous action open a portal into an ecological image of the living God who is active with cordial hospitality toward all creatures, nurturing their lives, desiring that all should be fed.”

Come, Have Breakfast: Meditations on God and the Earth

Addresses contemporary socioeconomic concerns from a biblical and mission-based perspective. Offers a tool (a social justice inventory) for evaluating ourselves in light of a biblical theology of wealth and poverty.

In her latest work, prize-winning theologian Elizabeth Johnson views planet Earth, its beauty and threatened state, through the lens of scripture. Each luminous meditation offers a snapshot of one aspect of the holy mystery who creates, indwells, redeems, vivifies, and sanctifies the whole world. Together, they offer a panoramic view of the living God who loves the earth, accompanies all its creatures in their living and their dying, and moves us to care for our uncommon common home.

Christ Among The Classes: The Rich, the Poor, and the Mission of the Church, with Al Tizon

Christ Among The Classes: The Rich, the Poor, and the Mission of the Church, with Al Tizon

Christ Among the Classes: The Rich, the Poor, and the Mission of the Church
https://maryknoll.link/86j

Addresses contemporary socioeconomic concerns from a biblical and mission-based perspective. Offers a tool (a social justice inventory) for evaluating ourselves in light of a biblical theology of wealth and poverty.

Al Tizon holds a PhD in missiology from the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA. He is affiliate professor of missional and global leadership at North Park Theological Seminary, Chicago, and lead pastor of Grace Fellowship Community Church in San Francisco, where he and his wife reside. He has been engaged in community development, church leadership, advocacy, and urban ministry both in the Philippines and the United States. His books include Whole & Reconciled: Gospel, Church, and Mission in a Fractured World.

Church as Sanctuary: Reconstructing Refuge in an Age of Forced Displacement, with Leo Guardado

Church as Sanctuary: Reconstructing Refuge in an Age of Forced Displacement, with Leo Guardado

Church as Sanctuary: Reconstructing Refuge in an Age of Forced Displacement
https://maryknoll.link/4ju

No study has yet examined the tradition of sanctuary as the starting point for rethinking the church in an age of global displacement. Church as Sanctuary, argues that if church sanctuary is going to be legible as a pillar of ecclesial existence in modernity, then we need a theology of sanctuary that reconstitutes this rich tradition anew, placing it at the service of a displaced world. By its very nature, church sanctuary is and has always served as a creative ecclesial and sacramental response to persons whose life is threatened by generalized or state violence, and in our contemporary society the church’s rejection of its own tradition places at risk other forms of sanctuary that exist in symbolic relation to the church’s historical practice.

Leo Guardado is assistant professor, the department of theology, Fordham University. The Salvadoran Civil War forced Guardado and his mother to migrate to Los Angeles, CA, where he grew up from the age of nine.

Get your copy online with Orbis Books: https://maryknoll.link/4ju

The Gospel of Peace: A Commentary on Matthew, Mark, and Luke from the Perspective of Nonviolence, with John Dear

The Gospel of Peace: A Commentary on Matthew, Mark, and Luke from the Perspective of Nonviolence, with John Dear

Orbis Publisher, Robert Ellsberg, discusses “Wade in the Water: The Wisdom of the Spirituals – Revised Edition” with author Arthur C. Jones in this One On One Interview.

Wade in the Water celebrates the spirituals both as art form and as unique and powerful cultural expression. Exploring the African roots of the spirituals, Jones explores the way the songs conceal a language of freedom and resistance, and the way that their spiritual consolation reinforces community solidarity. First published in 1993, this new edition traces the rediscovery and transmission of this tradition and its meaning for a new generation and new challenges.

Check out more One On One podcasts – with Orbis Books ( https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_I9zTQkaIOvdWF_dm6kbINWCZ-fkjpXt )

#OrbisBooks #ArthurJones #RobertEllsberg #OneOnOne #Podcast #Spirituality#African Roots #Cultural Expression #African American Culture #Spiritual Consolation #Cultural Heritage

ABOUT MARYKNOLL

We are a Catholic Society of priests and brothers based in the United States. We are dedicated to missionary work overseas in over 20 countries. Additionally, we animate Catholics in the United States to follow their own baptismal call to share God’s compassion and love with the poor, the sick, and all those in need.

OUR GENERAL COUNCIL

L-R Tom O'Brien, Ray Finch, Joe Everson, Russ Feldmeier

(Fr. Lance P. Nadeau, Fr. James M. Lynch, Fr. Timothy O. Kilkelly, Fr. Juan Montes Zúñiga)

The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers is overseen by our General Council, led by Superior General Rev. Lance P. Nadeau, M.M.

OUR FOUNDERS

L-R Tom O'Brien, Ray Finch, Joe Everson, Russ Feldmeier

(Our Co-Founders Father Price and Father Walsh)

PLACES WE SERVE

EVANGELIZATION, PARISHES, AND PROJECTS

USA

STORIES OF MISSION

(Africa) Education and Formation of African Clergy

The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers Africa Region will provide tuition assistance to African clergy, male and female religious at institutes of higher education or specialized training. Read More

Stories of Our Global Mission

The calling of a lifetime

The life of a Maryknoll missioner is challenging, fulfilling, and deeply rewarding. Follow your baptismal call to mission by sharing God’s compassion with the poor, the sick, and people most in need.