In today’s interview, you will meet Cecilia Flores. Cecilia is the daughter of Filipino immigrants and has spent 15 years working with communities of faith to address issues of poverty and injustice in the US and in Central America. In our conversation, we speak about her missionary experience in Honduras, what we really mean by the phrase “meet people whey they are at”, the importance of remembering her motherland, culture and how that intersects with social justice, her experience as a first-generation American, raising intercultural kids, unity, and much more! 

Building a common language segment: Community Organizing

Source:

Catholic Social Teaching Segment

Source: Dialogue between generations, education and work: tools for building lasting peace

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In this month's episode, you will meet Alex Quezada. Alex serves as Hispanic Ministry Coordinator at St. John Paul II Catholic Parish in Kankakee Illinois. Alex has also been working as Relief & Development Coordinator at the office for Human Dignity in the Diocese of Joliet since 20019. As an immigrant from Mexico, Alex works to promote social justice for all following the principles of Catholic Social Teaching. Given our shared cultural identities, we talked a lot about the immigrant experience but also touch on racial justice in the black community as well. We talked about the importance of names and the different ways immigrants like him have to put aside core parts of their identity just to be able to fit in to this country. We also talk about a really tough question his daughter once asked him while in High School and how she’s developed into an anti-racist advocate. 

Key Points

Building a common language: Anti-Racism

Source: 

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In today’s episode, I speak with Tom Ulrich. Tom Ulrich has over 40 years of professional experience in assisting faith communities and national organizations develop their social justice ministry efforts. Tom is the author of two books: Parish Social Ministry: Strategies for Action. (2001) and recently released ‘On Earth As It Is In Heaven’ - Organizing Social Justice Ministry in Faith Communities: A model that works. (2021). We cover the main themes and topics of his most recent book, of course, but we also touch on his own upbringing as a Catholic and how he was introduced to Catholic Social teaching. One of my takeaways from this conversation was the way he constantly links his work on social justice back to his family and vocation. 

Learn more about Tom Ulrich HERE

Purchase 'On Earth As It Is In Heaven' HERE

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It's the end of season 2! Check out this special episode featuring two clergies who share their different but complimentary perspectives on the immigration issue. Included in this episode is an apology/explanation for being MIA the past two months!

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In this episode, I speak with Molly Sheahan. Molly is the Associate Director for Life and Family Advocacy at the California Catholic Conference. She has an extensive lobbying portfolio, including legislative and grassroots advocacy on pro-life policy, foster care, human trafficking, domestic violence, bioethics, disability rights, end-of-life care, and the death penalty. Molly speaks nationally on human dignity concerns, and her writings have appeared in The Public Discourse, Angelus News, Grotto Network, Rehumanize International, and other publications. She is also the founder of We Are Pro-life Women, a new media movement highlighting the stories of underrepresented pro-life women.

In our conversation, we cover topics like what it was like growing up pro-life, How the unborn and elderly have been impacted by the pandemic, Underrepresented women of color behind the pro-life movement, A pro-life saint you might have not heard about before, and The lessons mary teaches us about what it means to be pro-life.

This interview is particularly timely and relevant given the recent leak of a draft opinion on Roe vs Wade. I hope that this episode helps us recognize that no matter what happens, we still have work to do to ensure that we live in a world where everyone is allowed to survive and flourish.

Snippet from the show

"Everyone deserves to live free of aggressive violence. But it doesn’t stop there. We’re supposed to be looking for a world that celebrates human dignity and human goodness and allows us to flourish. That’s the catholic vision: is to see people as good and worthy and deserving all that meets the reality of their human goodness."

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In this episode, I speak with Jaqueline Romo, a Chicago-based Latina young adult catholic who combines her artistic skills with her faith and developed the artwork of “The Passion of the Monarca Migrante”, which is a contemporary interpretation of the stations of the cross that uses the monarch butterfly, a symbol of the resilience and resistance of the migrant communities, to depict Jesus on the stations of the Cross in his Passion. Jacqueline has inspired many young adults and members of Academia with her artistic and theological work. The original artwork is permanently displayed outside the chapel at Dominica University, the school she attended and created this artwork, and the second set of prints resides outside a chapel in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In addition to talking about her art, we also spend time reflecting on the role language plays in our faith and struggle for justice. This is also a perfect episode for Easter season that we’re in because one of the themes you hear from Jaqueline is that suffering is never the end. We have the hope of the resurrection to look forward to. I left the interview inspired and my experiences affirmed so I am excited to share this episode with you.

Snippet from the show

"As Latinos we identify with [Jesus] in the struggle. But we also know and sometimes forget that the resurrection comes in the end."

Learn more about Jaqueline and "The Passion of the Monarca Migrante": https://romojaqueline.myportfolio.com/work

Reference from Teaching Segment: https://chalicepress.com/products/the-wolf-shall-dwell-with-the-lamb

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This episode was recorded and is being released during women’s history month so we talk about influential women from her life, the blessings and challenges she has experienced as a woman in the church, and more broadly the role of women in the church. In the month of March we also solemnly remember and celebrate the lives of Blessed Rutilio Grande and Saint Oscar Romero, both martyrs from El Salvador, so we talk a bit about them and the impact their stories have on Salvadorans today. 

Snippet from the show

"If you don't see women sitting at the table...invite them in. Look around you." 

"They weren't casualties of war. These were men that the government found to be threatening because they were raising their voices for the atrocities that were being committed against the Salvadoran people. [...] They serve to be images of hope that we can aspire to be the voice for those that don't have a voice"

Quotes used in the teaching segment: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pPG255bTOg9VlM8N9MkmSQP9cyx63DsXQKrspsvH1eg/edit?usp=sharing

Read or listen to all of Romero's homilies at: http://www.romerotrust.org.uk/homilies-and-writings/homilies

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Learn about the Good News People, a small-group process of prayer, reflection, and action coming to St Anthony this Easter. Not a member of St Anthony? This episode might still be interesting to you because it deals with questions of our time like: Where are all the families? Why aren't they coming back? What can we do to attract them back to the church?

Registration form to sign up for Good News People at St Anthony Catholic Church in Tigard: https://forms.gle/zbyqyJHPcQfjsn3ZA

Hear the not so unusual story of a black man in the church. Auxiliary bishop of New Orleans, the most reverend Fernand Cheri, joins the podcast to share his lived experiences of racism in the seminary as well as the parish. He describes specific moments of crisis he has gone through in his ministry. Such as when he was refused ordination and the time he was ousted from a parish for bringing “strangers” to the church. He also talks about the difficulties of obedience and the power of trusting in God’s providence.

Snippet from the show

"I'm a priest today not because of the seminary. I think I'm a priest today because my story as a black man in the church is not an unusual story. Many of the Black priests that were ordained before me had the same story."

Quotes from Brothers and Sisters to Us used in the teaching segment:

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In this episode, you will meet Yohan Garcia from the USCCB. He talks about his experience growing up, who and what inspired him to live a faith that does justice, and the theology of Samaritan he has developed. 

Snippet from the show

"Our ticket to heaven is not going to depend on how many masses, how many rosaries, how many liturgies I went to but rather whether you were able to see the needs of those living on the road, the needy, with so many necessities. So for me, our faith has to be a mature faith that is able to take action. And that is done through the works of mercy and actions of social justice."

Excerpts from the teaching segment:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oKLNnWsnYPKZnbwkc72mqqy0GUTjGm1RmRWSs6gGfCs/edit?usp=sharing

Sign up for the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering: 

https://web.cvent.com/event/cf67da4e-97ce-46ab-945e-8e38fcb03447/summary

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