PRAYER - STUDY - ACTION
Third Week of Advent, Dec. 12-18
Advent Acts of Decolonization: Centering Indigenous Voices & Images
Thursday, December 9, 2021
Greetings of peace!

Two weeks ago, Lauren Bailey invited us to Decolonize the Season of both Thanksgiving and Advent. Last week, Johnny Zokovitch shared a personal experience of being Empowered for the Inner and Outer Work of Decolonization. This week, we deepen our understanding of taking steps to decolonize our hearts, minds, relationships, and world.

We share this Third Week of Advent PSA on the feast of Juan Diego (December 9), and this year, the third Sunday of Advent coincides with the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (an occurrence which happens once every six years). This feast honors the last of five appearances of Mary as an indigenous Aztec woman on the hill of Tepeyac in 1531. Mary appeared to Juan Diego (Aztec name: Cuauhtlatoatzin) and spoke to him in the native Aztec dialect. This feast and commemoration invites us to ask whose voices and language do we prioritize and how can we as individuals and as a community continue to promote and act for equity in relationships?
God chose to incarnate God’s self in the person of Jesus of Nazareth in an occupied territory, controlled by Roman colonizers. The United States of America was built on the unceded lands of the people of the First Nations and our history includes enslavement for capital gain -- the ripples of which we still see today in the fabric of our economic system. May we continue to center voices and perspectives that have been historically dismissed and oppressed. May this practice be one of many that brings us one step closer to the kin-dom of God, so that together, we can more fully proclaim, “Rejoice, the LORD is near!”

In the upcoming Sunday’s reflection from this year’s Advent booklet, Guide Our Feet In the Way of Peace, Sr. Jose Hobday, OSFS (d. 2009), reflects on an experience of racism that she witnessed when a server at a restaurant refused to serve her Seneca-Iroquois mother. Sr. Jose’s voice and message in this reflection urges us to choose the nonviolent path. Her voice continues in the cloud of witnesses (both living and deceased) within the Pax Christi body as we ask God to guide our feet in the way of peace. (Read her reflection in the "Prayer" section below.)

We invite you to Monday’s Advent Prayer Service on Zoom and to integrate other resources for Advent & Christmas, which can be found on our website at this page.
In peace,

Michelle Sherman
50th Anniversary Coordinator, Pax Christi USA
PRAYER
A reflection for the third Sunday of Advent, Dec. 12
Gaudete Sunday, Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
by Sr. Jose Hobday, OSFS

“What then should we do?” (Lk 3:10)
In the Southwest, where I grew up, certain places didn’t serve Native Americans. One day my mother — who was a beautiful, full-blooded Indian with lovely, long, black hair — and I were shopping. We decided to take a break and go into a restaurant and get something to drink. We sat down in a booth, with a formica tabletop and nice green leather seats. I’ll never forget that booth. I’ll always remember the name of the restaurant, too, though I won’t mention it here. Mom sat on one side of the booth, I on the other. She ordered a cup of coffee and I, a glass of milk.

The waitress brought my milk, but she didn’t bring my mother’s coffee. Instead, she went over near the cash register and stood. I walked over to her and said, “You forgot my mother’s coffee.” She just looked at me, didn’t say anything, but didn’t bring the coffee either.

We waited a bit. Then my mother said, “Jo, I think this is one of those places that won’t serve Indian people. I don’t think she’s going to bring my coffee.” I remember sitting there looking at my mother, thinking how beautiful she was and wondering how anyone could do this. I was half-Indian myself, though I didn’t look it because I was fairer and had brown hair. And because of that, I got served and my mother didn’t. I got very angry...
>> Join us each Monday evening in Advent over Zoom from 8:30-9pm for an Advent evening prayer service with Pax Christi USA members from around the nation. Click here to register.
STUDY
Reflecting on Our Lady of Guadalupe
by Dr. Arturo Chávez
Ed. Note: Because this year the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe falls on the third Sunday of Advent, we offer this reflection which draws from the traditional liturgical readings for the feast day. This was written by Dr. Arturo Chávez originally for our Advent-Christmas 2006 reflection booklet, Awakening the Prophet Within: Reflections for Advent 2006. Dr. Chavez is the President and CEO of the Mexican American Catholic College in San Antonio and former National Council member of Pax Christi USA.

[This feast day] we celebrate one of the holiest days of the year for Americans throughout North, Central, and South America. The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Mother of the ONE Church in America, is a story of how God acted in a people’s history to bring light in a time of great darkness. The earliest account of the Guadalupe story states that “when it was night,” a great sign appeared in this part of the world: “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon at her feet” (Revelation 12:1).

This gentle, pregnant woman came with a message of hope, a vision of unity from the God of “What is Near and Together.” Speaking to the powerful through a humble and wise Indian man, she offered all her children the opportunity to build together a Church where the homeless are welcomed, the sorrowful comforted, the sick healed, and the voiceless empowered. The imprint of her lovely brown face on the strands of Juan Diego’s garment still calls to the Church in America to weave together the many races and cultural groups of the continent into a “new creation.”...
>> Watch Why Black Lives Matter: A Catholic Perspective on Racism, a talk given by our Bishop-President Bishop Stowe at his diocesan Catechist Conference in August.
ACTION
March on Washington, Dec. 13 & Walk for Liberation, Dec. 14
MORAL MONDAY MARCH ON WASHINGTON, MONDAY, DECEMBER 13: With the pandemics of systemic racism, poverty, voter suppression and COVID-19 still wreaking havoc on our daily lives, our democracy, and our nation’s social and moral infrastructure, we need Congress to pass voting rights protections and the Build Back Better plan before the end of the year. Join the Poor People’s Campaign for a Moral Monday March on Washington, D.C. on December 13, 2021 at 12pm ET to tell Congress: Get It Done in 2021! The rally will take place at Union Square, on 3rd Street between Madison and Jefferson, in front of the Reflecting Pool. Pax Christi USA is an endorser of this action.


We are calling all partners and participants in the Moral Monday March on Washington on 12/13 @ 12pm ET to join us for a call with co-chairs Bishop William J. Barber, II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis on Friday, Dec. 10 @ 4pm ET to hear the most up-to-date plans for Monday and prepare for a final push over the weekend. Please plan to join us if you can!

Topic: All Call for 12/13 Moral Monday March on Washington
Time: Dec 10, 2021 04:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting:
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Meeting ID: 823 0294 5482
Passcode: 120419
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WALK FOR LIBERATION IN DC ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14: The Congregation Action Network (CAN), Faith in Action and our partners in the We Are Home Campaign are organizing a Walk for Liberation on Tuesday, December 14 to make a final push with Senate leadership to include as broad a pathway to citizenship as possible within the Build Back Better Act.

We will leave from the Holiday Inn Washington-Capitol (550 C Street, SW) at 3:30 pm and walk in a procession that will go past the Hart & Senate Buildings, ending outside of the United Methodist Building entrance (100 Maryland Ave). There, we will have a brief program featuring remarks from immigrant leaders and faith leaders. We plan to end by 4:30.
PAX CHRISTI USA TURNS 50 IN 2022!
If you can make a special contribution to our 2021 Advent-Christmas Appeal in celebration of our upcoming 50th anniversary, we'd be so grateful! 
Just click on the donation button to the right
to give securely & quickly online. Thanks!!