Friday, February 6, 2009
Superior General walks with community at Dolores Mission
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Story by Sister Nancy Munro, CSJ
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On the first full day of his visit to California, the Superior General of the largest religious order in the world sat down to an evening meal of mole verde with five migrant homeless men at Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights.
For Jesuit Father General Adolfo Nicolas, it was an appropriate windup to a day that began at Verbum Dei High School and was followed by a lunch prepared at Homeboy Industries, interaction with former gang members, and Mass at Dolores Mission.
After all, Father Nicolas had spent more than 40 years of his priesthood in Asia, choosing near the end of his term as provincial to serve in a poor parish in Tokyo where he ministered to Filipino and Asian immigrants. That same care and concern shown in Tokyo was obvious as began his California visit by going directly to areas in Los Angeles that many choose to drive around.
Father Nicolas' busy weekend also included visits to Jesuit-administered Blessed Sacrament Church in Hollywood, Loyola High School in Los Angeles and Loyola Marymount University in Westchester - all in conjunction with the opening of the 100th anniversary of the California Province of Jesuits. Altogether, the recently-named Superior General was scheduled to visit 11 cities and nearly 30 different ministry sites over nine days in California.
His visit began with a tour of Homeboy Industries, where Bertha Cordova, a 33-year-old, third-generation gang member, spoke of her journey out of gangs at the lunch with Father Nicolas. Now an office clerk at Homeboy she has received "a lot of help from Father Greg Boyle [Homeboy Industries founder] and the staff. I've been through a lot. When I came here, I came as a broken soul. I had nowhere else to go. It was very hard to break the cycle."
With a 15-year-old son of her own, she told Father Nicolas that she is "trying not to let him walk in the same steps we walked. I'm letting him know that we are here to walk with him."
Cordova said she hopes Father Nicolas would see "that we are people just like anybody else. I want him to see me for who I am, just like Father Greg sees us. We make mistakes and we have a heart."
At Dolores Mission Church, the Superior General was welcomed by Jesuit Father Scott Santarosa, pastor, and parishioners Esperanza Vasquez and Rosa Campos. With a PowerPoint presentation the two women told Father Nicolas of their own personal struggles as mothers with children in gangs, jobless, living in a dangerous area and barely making ends meet, and frequently asking themselves, "What would Jesus do?"
That, they said, led to parishioners in the neighborhood forming small church communities to study Scripture and take back their neighborhoods. They held peace walks to fight the violence and established Camino Seguro (Safe Passages), with a parent at every street corner around the schools in the area to keep the children safe.
Vasquez and Campos also told Father Nicolas how they approached factories to find jobs for their children. They started an alternative school and, because the undocumented are excluded, they formed a child-care center of their own by taking turns. They turned their church into a sanctuary.
After the presentation Father Nicolas was taken on a tour of Dolores Mission, and presided at a concelebrated liturgy at which he thanked the parishioners for their warm hospitality.
For Jesuits serving in the area, the visit was especially significant.
"It was a brother coming to see what his brothers are doing," said Jesuit Father Joe Spieler, a marriage and family counselor serving at Dolores Mission. "I am filled with pride and humility at the same time. It reaffirms what we are doing. And he understands our philosophy of having the people ask the question, 'What would the Lord do?' He got that instantly."
Ineed, after the luncheon at Homeboy Industries Father Nicholas told the young women and men, "I can see and I can hear humanity here at its best. It's best because you have been able to come through terrible things and have made the best of yourselves. It's always the best of yourself when you give to others. If religion is about transformation, I think I see it here. It's not how many hours you spend in church. I see transformation here."
Chosen a year ago to be Superior General, Father Nicolas has taken on an enormous task leading over 18,000 men in 95 provinces around the world. But, as Jesuit Father John McGarry, Provincial Superior, noted, "Father Nicolas is a warm and friendly human being, a dedicated priest, a prayerful Jesuit, and a wise and learned leader. I very much look forward to introducing him to the California Province."
Source: http://www.the-tidings.com/2009/020609/jesuit.htm