January: Poverty Awareness Month  https://www.povertyusa.org/facts 

Fr. Malloy’s Midweek Message.  January 25, 2023

Friends,

Does it make any sense to claim there is something good about poverty?  What does Jesus mean when he talks about “the poor”?  Why does he proclaim the poor “Blessed”?

In Jesus’ time, the Roman overlords were taxing the people into destitution.  The despised tax collectors got in on the game by fleecing their fellow Jewish brothers and sisters, extorting even more than the Romans demanded.  Seeing all this, Jesus called for a revolution of love, based on the reversal of values.  The rich were not to be extolled and emulated.  The poor were to be prized and cherished.  In the Kingdom of God, we are to love our enemies, not retaliate against them.  Practicing such non-violence, Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. changed the world!

On Jan 29^th, The Gospel for the 4^th Sunday in ordinary time announces the Beatitudes, the preamble to the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5-7).  In the first beatitude, Jesus says, “Blessed are the Poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.”  In Luke’s Gospel, the truth is stated even more starkly: Blessed are you who are poor…. Woe to you who are rich (Luke 6: 20, 24).

The whole Sermon on the Mount is a way of living that makes us happy.  The word “Blessed” is a translation of the Greek word Makarios.  It can be translated, “happy,” “fortunate,” “blessed.”  Jesus and many of his followers have noted that often those who live on slender means are more content and peaceful than those who are always scheming to make a buck off others.  Those who practice forgiveness are more content and consoled than those who harbor hate.  Those who thirst for Justice and Truth make a better world than those who hoard wealth and destroy the common good.

In the Kingdom of God all will share equitably in the goods of creation and the joys and benefits of community. transformed in Christ we will be blessed, happy, fortunate.  In order to bring to bear on our present existence the realities of the promise Reign of God, we must work to eradicate destitution that plagues the desperately poor. 

We also need to know our own spiritual poverty and our need for God to be God in our lives.

Repetition is the mother of all learning.  Let listen again this week to “The Cry of The Poor.”

 https://www.povertyusa.org/facts

Listen to Jesuit Fr. John Foley’s beautiful song, The Cry of the Poor

Peace,

Fr. Rick Malloy, S.J.

Keep Safe.    Keep Sane.    Keep Smiling

       

Enero: Mes de Concienciación Sobre La Pobreza https://www.povertyusa.org/facts

El Miercoles Mensaje del Padre Malloy, S.J.  25 de Enero, 2023

Amigos y Amigas,

¿Tiene algún sentido afirmar que la pobreza tiene algo de bueno?  ¿Qué quiere decir Jesús cuando habla de "los pobres"?  ¿Por qué proclama a los pobres "bienaventurados"?

En tiempos de Jesús, los señores romanos cobraban impuestos a la gente hasta llevarla a la indigencia.  Los despreciados recaudadores de impuestos entraron en el juego desplumando a sus hermanos y hermanas judíos, extorsionando incluso más de lo que exigían los romanos.  Al ver todo esto, Jesús llamó a una revolución del amor, basada en la inversión de los valores.  Los ricos no debían ser ensalzados ni emulados.  Los pobres debían ser valorados y apreciados.  En el Reino de Dios, debemos amar a nuestros enemigos, no tomar represalias contra ellos.  Practicando la no violencia, Gandhi y Martin Luther King Jr. cambiaron el mundo.

El 29 de enero, el Evangelio del 4º domingo del tiempo ordinario anuncia las Bienaventuranzas, preámbulo del Sermón de la Montaña (capítulos 5-7 de Mateo).  En la primera bienaventuranza, Jesús dice: "Bienaventurados los pobres de espíritu, porque de ellos es el Reino de los cielos".  En el Evangelio de Lucas, la verdad se expone de forma aún más cruda: Bienaventurados los pobres.... Ay de vosotros los ricos (Lucas 6: 20, 24).

Todo el Sermón de la Montaña es una forma de vivir que nos hace felices.  La palabra "Bienaventurados" es una traducción de la palabra griega Makarios.  Puede traducirse por "feliz", "afortunado", "dichoso".  Jesús y muchos de sus seguidores han observado que, a menudo, los que viven con pocos medios están más contentos y en paz que los que siempre están maquinando para ganar dinero a costa de los demás.  Los que practican el perdón están más contentos y consolados que los que albergan odio.  Los que tienen sed de Justicia y Verdad hacen un mundo mejor que los que acaparan riquezas y destruyen el bien común.

En el Reino de Dios todos compartirán equitativamente los bienes de la creación y las alegrías y beneficios de la comunidad. transformados en Cristo seremos bienaventurados, felices, afortunados.  Para que en nuestra existencia actual se hagan realidad las promesas del Reino de Dios, debemos trabajar para erradicar la miseria que asola a los desesperadamente pobres. 

También necesitamos conocer nuestra propia pobreza espiritual y nuestra necesidad de que Dios sea Dios en nuestras vidas.

La repetición es la madre de todo aprendizaje.  Escuchemos de nuevo esta semana "El Grito de los Pobres".

   https://www.povertyusa.org/facts

Eschuca La Canción del Padre Jesuita John Foley El Grito de Los Pobres

La Paz,

P. Ricardo Malloy, S.J.

Sigamos Seguro.    Sigamos Sano.    Sigamos Sonriendo

   

January is Poverty Awareness Month

Fr. Malloy’s Midweek Message.  January 18, 2023

Friends,

January is Poverty Awareness Month.  The Catholic Bishops of the USA Campaign for Human Development provides a great deal of information on their website . 

We all need to hear the cry of the poor (Psalm 34) and respond to the needs of those suffering in poverty.

Poverty Facts:  37 million live in Poverty in the USA.  In 2020, 11.4% (37 million persons) of the USA lived in poverty.  Use our interactive map to take a closer look at poverty statistics in the United States.

According to the US Government, a family of three with $19,985 a year is poor.  For four people, the poverty line is set at $25,701.  Even with those low thresholds, 5.3% of the population—or 17.3 million people—live in deep poverty, with incomes below 50% of their poverty thresholds.  And 29.9% of the population—or 93.6 million—live close to poverty, with incomes less than two times that of their poverty thresholds.

Median family income in the USA is $65,712 (half are above that, half below that).  Median rent is $1,062 a month.

Who Lives in Poverty?  http://www.povertyusa.org/ 

    

Listen to Jesuit Fr. John Foley’s beautiful song, The Cry of the Poor

Peace,

Fr. Rick Malloy, S.J.

Keep Safe.    Keep Sane.    Keep Smiling

                  

Enero es Mes de Concienciación Sobre La Pobreza

El Miercoles Mensaje del Padre Malloy, S.J.  18 de Enero, 2023

Amigos y Amigas,

Enero es el mes de la concienciación sobre la pobreza.  La Campaña de los Obispos Católicos de EE.UU. para el Desarrollo Humano ofrece mucha información en su sitio web. 

Todos debemos escuchar el clamor de los pobres (Salmo 34) y responder a las necesidades de quienes sufren la pobreza.

Datos sobre la pobreza:  37 millones de personas viven en la pobreza en Estados Unidos.  En 2020, el 11,4% (37 millones de personas) de EE.UU. vivía en la pobreza.  Utilice nuestro mapa interactivo para echar un vistazo más de cerca a las estadísticas de pobreza en Estados Unidos.

Según el Gobierno de EE.UU., una familia de tres personas con 19.985 dólares al año es pobre.  Para cuatro personas, el umbral de pobreza está fijado en 25.701 dólares.  Incluso con esos umbrales tan bajos, el 5,3% de la población -o 17,3 millones de personas- vive en la pobreza extrema, con ingresos inferiores al 50% de los umbrales de pobreza.  Y el 29,9% de la población (93,6 millones) vive cerca de la pobreza, con ingresos inferiores al doble del umbral de pobreza.

La renta familiar media en Estados Unidos es de 65.712 dólares (la mitad está por encima y la otra mitad por debajo).  El alquiler medio es de 1.062 dólares al mes.

¿Quién vive en la pobreza?   http://www.povertyusa.org/

 

Eschuca La Canción del Padre Jesuita John Foley El Grito de Los Pobres

La Paz,

P. Ricardo Malloy, S.J.

Sigamos Seguro.    Sigamos Sano.    Sigamos Sonriendo

Quotes from Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

Brilliant thoughts from 

a Prophet for Our and All Times

Quotes from 

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness. ”

“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”

“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”

“Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.”

“The past is prophetic in that it asserts loudly that wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows”

“He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.”

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”

“Only in the darkness can you see the stars.”

“Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.”

“Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.”

“Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a constant attitude.”

“Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.”

“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.”

“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality… I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”

 “Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.”

“We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.”

“History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.”

“A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan.”

“No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

“The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood.”

“It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important.”

“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”

“Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.”

“Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.”

“At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.”

“Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. I am not unmindful of the fact that violence often brings about momentary results. Nations have frequently won their independence in battle. But in spite of temporary victories, violence never brings permanent peace.”

“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.”

“Mankind must put and end to war or war will put an end to mankind.”

“I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits.”

“By opening our lives to God in Christ, we become new creatures. This experience, which Jesus spoke of as the new birth, is essential if we are to be transformed nonconformists … Only through an inner spiritual transformation do we gain the strength to fight vigorously the evils of the world in a humble and loving spirit.”

“Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, ‘Love your enemies.’ It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. Just keep being friendly to that person. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies.”

“The God whom we worship is not a weak and incompetent God. He is able to beat back gigantic waves of opposition and to bring low prodigious mountains of evil. The ringing testimony of the Christian faith is that God is able.”

“The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But… the good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?’

 

    

Epiphany.  Wise Ones Still Follow the Star

Fr. Malloy’s Midweek Message.  January 4, 2023

Friends,

A few years ago, Mr. Walter Reap, our Vice President for Academic Affairs, challenged our students to refer to one another as scholars.  This has been quite a gift to the children served here at CRJ.  Last year, at an awards ceremony, one young woman voiced her appreciation for how deeply the naming of her and her colleagues as “scholars” changes a young person’s sense of self and self-worth.  To be named scholars is a gift.

The Magi, the Three Kings, travel far and come to realize who Jesus is: God with us, Emmanuel, a gift that brings salvation, i.e., health and wholeness to all. The foreigners, those outside the halls of Herod’s tyrannical power, know what is really going on and going forward.  The shepherds, the lowly animal keepers, not the celebrities of the day, are the first to hear the angels and see the child is swaddling clothes. 

We are now called to return to our everyday lives after the celebrations of Hannukah, Christmas and Kwanzaa.  The freezing polar vortex of the last days of December have given way to remarkably warm days as we begin January.  Our New Year’s Resolutions hopefully have made it through the first days of the year. 

Now begins the work of Christmas, the making real of God’s presence among us.

Howard Thurman (1899-1981), theologian, pastor, educator, author, and civil rights leader, grew as a boy in segregated Florida.  His grandmother, Nancy Ambrose, who had been enslaved, instilled in him a sense of self-worth.  From her he caught the “contagion of religion.”  Valedictorian at Morehouse in 1923, he went on to found the first interracial and interdenominational church in the USA.  He became the Dean of the Chapels at Howard and Boston Universities.  He was a mentor and friend of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“The Work of Christmas” by Howard Thurman.

When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.  

Click here to hear the Angel City Chorale sing We Three Kings

Peace,

Fr. Rick Malloy, S.J.

Keep Safe.    Keep Sane.    Keep Smiling

   

 

                                        Epiphania. 

            Los Sabios Todavia Siguen La Estrella

El Miercoles Mensaje del Padre Malloy, S.J.   4 de Enero, 2023

Amigos y Amigas,

Hace unos años, el Sr. Walter Reap, nuestro Vicepresidente de Asuntos Académicos, retó a nuestros alumnos a que se refirieran a los demás como eruditos.  Esto ha sido todo un regalo para los niños a los que atendemos en CRJ.  El año pasado, en una ceremonia de entrega de premios, una joven expresó su agradecimiento por lo profundamente que el nombramiento de ella y sus compañeros como "becarios" cambia el sentido de sí misma y su autoestima.  Ser nombrado becario es un regalo.

Los Reyes Magos viajan lejos y se dan cuenta de quién es Jesús: Dios con nosotros, Emmanuel, un regalo que trae la salvación, es decir, salud y plenitud para todos. Los extranjeros, los que están fuera de los salones del poder tiránico de Herodes, saben lo que realmente ocurre y avanzan.  Los pastores, los humildes cuidadores de animales, no las celebridades del momento, son los primeros en oír a los ángeles y ver al niño envuelto en pañales. 

Ahora estamos llamados a volver a nuestra vida cotidiana después de las celebraciones de Hannukah, Navidad y Kwanzaa.  El gélido vórtice polar de los últimos días de diciembre ha dado paso a días notablemente cálidos al comenzar enero.  Con suerte, nuestros propósitos de Año Nuevo han superado los primeros días del año. 

Ahora comienza el trabajo de la Navidad, la realización de la presencia de Dios entre nosotros.

Howard Thurman (1899-1981), teólogo, pastor, educador, autor y líder de los derechos civiles, creció de niño en la segregada Florida.  Su abuela, Nancy Ambrose, que había sido esclava, le inculcó el sentido de la autoestima.  De ella se contagió "la religión".  Estudió en Morehouse en 1923 y fundó la primera iglesia interracial e interdenominacional de Estados Unidos.  Llegó a ser decano de las capillas de las universidades de Howard y Boston.  Fue mentor y amigo del reverendo Martin Luther King, Jr.

"El trabajo de la Navidad" de Howard Thurman

Cuando se calme el canto de los ángeles,

cuando la estrella en el cielo se haya ido,

cuando los reyes y príncipes estén en casa,

cuando vuelvan los pastores con sus rebaños,

comienza la obra de navidad:

para encontrar a los perdidos,

para curar a los quebrantados,

para alimentar a los hambrientos,

liberar al prisionero,

para reconstruir las naciones,

para llevar la paz al pueblo,

hacer música en el corazón.

Click here to hear Angel City Choir sing We Three Kings

Peace,

La Paz,

P. Ricardo Malloy, S.J.

Sigamos Seguro.    Sigamos Sano.    Sigamos Sonriendo