May 11, 2020
 

Our next Accompaniment and Solidarity gathering is May 14, 2020. We convene at 12 noon ET: 11 am CT; 10 am MT; and 9 am PT. CLICK HERE to register for the meeting.

Our agenda follows:  

• Prayer for Humanity.
• How will we celebrate Pentecost this year?
• Sharing the Journey – what is new with you?
• Building Solidarity – what is new in the world of mission?

Last week, we had 28 missionaries come together to journey with each other and build solidarity with the peoples of the world.

People are beginning to talk about reopening and anticipate what that must look like. There is a general feeling that reopening will be a slow, gradual process, and we do not want to assume that we will resume “mission” as usual.

Others noted that there are food shortages in Africa and Haiti. In some countries, people are facing starvation as well as the pandemic.

Some reflected on the technology we have begun to use and how that may influence the way we do mission in the future. Some missionaries are providing “virtual support” for construction and agriculture. There was a general feeling that technology can be a tool to support mission but it cannot replace the face-to-face, in-person missionary relationship.

The technology, however, may help us broaden our perspective and help us maintain, even develop, a global perspective.

Amid the challenges of the pandemic, life goes on. Two dioceses reported that their bishops are retiring (Joliet and St. Cloud). There are other life-threatening disasters happening as well, such as flooding around Lake Victoria.

Solidarity

Pope Francis has called on us to join an interfaith day of “prayer and fasting” among all people of faith, especially Muslims, Jews, and Christians. To learn more about, see this ARTICLE. USCMA will have a prayer as part of our Accompaniment and Solidarity gathering next week. USCMA members are encouraged to reach out to those of other faith traditions, inviting them to join us in prayer and fasting on May 14^th and to pray with and for each other.

Prayer

May 14^th is the Prayer for Humanity – a joint effort of the Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim communities to beg God for deliverance from Covid-19. The artist India Arie has written a beautiful song, Prayer for Humanity, which you can listen to on YouTube.

Resources

• The USCCB Office of Evangelization and Catechesis has done a 25-minute video on Outreach to the Unaffiliated. It pulls images and voices together to unpack and promote the insights Bishop Robert Barron shared with the bishops in November 2019. You can view the film HERE.
• Here is LINK to Bishop Barron’s Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Easter (May 3, 2020) where he talks about “evangelical preaching.”