Help us build the 'Beloved Community'
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Learning from the 'masters of resilience'
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"One of the beautiful privileges of mission is learning from the people of our host country and seeing life from a different angle," says Maryknoll lay missioner Rick Dixon in El Salvador.
We recently asked our missioners to tell us about
a time when they witnessed
surprising resilience in the face of adversity.
They shared stories of inspiring individuals they have met who have overcome incredible difficulties.
Meet three of these remarkable role models
—
Paulo
in Brazil,
Mama Ester
in Tanzania and
Agustín
in El Salvador
—
by clicking on their photos or names.
Find additional stories of resilience and perseverance
by clicking this button:
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Ted's Talk
Dorotheus of Gaza, a desert father and mystic, believed that as we move closer to God, we move closer to each other. How many of us feel that through the polarization and chaos in the world, we are moving away from, rather than toward each other and God? We grow weary of culture wars and cynicism, worn down by rhetoric filled with blaming rather understanding, with hatred and fear, rather than love and trust.
As a white man, I realize that I will never fully comprehend the mistrust and unjust treatment that racism inflicts upon our black and brown sisters and brothers. This toxic environment of negativity, the injustice of racism included, is a “soul sickness,” to borrow a phrase from theologian
Bryan Massingale
.
It is time to renew our commitment to what Martin Luther King Jr. called the “Beloved Community.” We cannot survive without community. When we allow racism and division to persist, our communities are shattered, our fragile relationships become endangered.
It is time to lean in and listen to one another. To enter into the presence of each other, honoring the space between us, recognizing the beloved in each person. To share the prayers of our hearts and listen to the words and the silence between the words.
At Maryknoll Lay Missioners, we are striving to listen more carefully to each other as well as our sisters and brothers of various cultural families and across socioeconomic realities. We are reflecting on the very real commitment and past efforts of many in Maryknoll Lay Missioners over the years, while also recognizing the work that is still needed to become a more radically intentional antiracist organization.
With this in mind, we offer
Our commitment to antiracism and the ‘Beloved Community’
. We invite you to reflect on this statement and to join and help us to lean into this ongoing journey. Together, as we grow closer to God, we move toward each other. As we grow closer to each other, we move toward God. May this be so!
Yours in mission,
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Ted Miles
Executive Director
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Please join us in our
"Virtual Chapel"
on our website to pray for healing, racial justice and peace.
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Help marginalized people around the globe weather the COVID-19 pandemic.
Support our emergency ministries for the many overwhelming new needs in the global South.
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All of us can learn from the "masters of resilience," the individuals and communities our missioners are accompanying and collaborating with.
Please consider a donation to Maryknoll Lay Missioners'
COVID-19 Emergency fund.
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DISCERNING WITH
A GLOBAL HEART
Virtual mission discernment retreat
From
July 24-26
, we invite you to a three-day virtual discernment retreat experience that will provide you time, space and a meaningful encounter with others to reflect upon your call in life.
We will gather in conversation to embrace the challenges of our times and how you are called in mission to them.
You will engage in a small group discernment process, spend time with an individual spiritual director/mentor, and join in moments of fellowship.
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Meet a Missioner Monday
Facebook Live and YouTube Live
Mondays at 11 am EDT
We are continuing to host "Meet a Missioner Monday." During these livestream interviews on both
Facebook
and
YouTube
, you can meet our missioners from around the world. You can ask them questions and learn more about their work and how their communities are persevering.
Don't miss:
- July 13, 2020, 11 am EDT – Mike Garr and Mohamed Abdalla (Mombasa, Kenya) on vocational training and challenges for young people
- July 22, 2020, 11 am EDT – Loyce Veryser (Mwanza, Tanzania) on secondary education and raising a family in Tanzania
- July 27, 2020, 11 am EDT – Gabe Hurrish, (Juba, South Sudan) on his work with Solidarity with South Sudan, education, healthcare and more
- Aug. 3, 2020, 11 am EDT – Jill Foster (Gros Morne, Haiti)
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Our next Discernment Webinar
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Interested in learning more about becoming a Maryknoll lay missioner?
Join us
July 16 at 2 pm EDT
for a webinar presentation about how to become a Maryknoll lay missioner.
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