The Dream Act

I would like to tell the story of one woman who would be eligible for Dream Act.  Some identifying factors  have been changed to protect the innocent.

I know a woman who came to the United States when she was 14 years old.  She had no say in the matter. Unlike our own adolescents, those who come from Central and South America, they rarely  question their parents' decisions.  She had to learn a new language and culture, but she was so intelligent and applied  herself so diligently that she won a full scholarship to a college which she was unable to take advantage of because of her immigration status.  She pledged allegiance to the flag, sang the star spangled banner and knew American history as well as any American-born person.  In some cases, even better.

She made a very poor decision in selecting a mate.  She had 4 children with him, before she divorced him.  Now, unable to work because of her immigration status, she was put in a position where she had to support her children as a single mother, without legal documents.  In today's world, that is almost impossible.  Unable to get a legal license to drive, she, who was ordinarily a law-abiding person, felt she had no choice, but to drive without a license.  Single mothers understand this.  She has to take her children to many places, including picking them up from school.  She has had to  pay much money to pay court fines for driving without a license.  This is money she could have better used to buy much needed food and clothes for her children.

Our current laws are really unfair to her and millions of others who were brought over to this country as minors.  I strongly support the Dream Act, and hope you do, too.

Retreat

Hi,
I wanted to show you my pictures from my retreat but am having a hard time.  It was a beautiful retreat on Harvey Cedars on Long Beach Island.  It is in between the ocean and the bay.  When I figure out how to work the camera, I will show them to you.

Image via WikipediaOne day a friend of mine, who was doing a project for school,  asked me about my thoughts on  immigration.

One of the things that I feel very strongly about is the Dream Act. I would go even further than the current Dream Act. If anyone came to this country younger than 18 years old and is a high school graduate, I would give them a path to citizenship. I don't believe in fines as many of these people are dirt poor, yet they are contributing members of society, and certainly they are not responsible for what their parents did. Many grew up thinking the U.S. was their country. They pledged allegiance to the flag, sang the Star Spangled banner, studied American history and many did not know they were not citizens until they tried to function in the adult world. I don't even like the no criminal record requirement, because many of these people are accused unjustly, taken advantage of because they do not have the money to prove themselves innocent. Some of these children turned adults get involved in drugs and gangs because they feel so hopeless about supporting themselves. This does society no good.

Also, if their children are U.S. citizens, I do not believe they should be forced to be raised in another country because their parents are not. I think parents should be given permission to live in this country if their children are U.S. citizens, as long as they have not abused children. That is the only crime, if it is proven, that I would not tolerate.

Some people think immigrants come just to make their children citizens. I have never come across such a person. They come because they feel desperate in their own countries and are starving. They come here to survive and many times with the intention of returning to their homeland. The problem is when the children are born here, the children do not want to leave.

These are the two incidences that I feel very strongly about because the family is the foundation of society and to tear families apart does not help the country.

If any of the immigrants are career criminals, I would not let them stay in the country.

Immigrant Hispanics have the same problems everybody else does plus some problems that are unique to them because they do not have legal status, and because they are living far away from their support systems.

 Many times young males, who were born elsewhere, but were raised in the United States, will turn to drugs and gangs because they see no hope for the future. Single mothers who came over as minors have to break the law to survive; i.e. driving without a license, insurance fraud because they are seriously ill and cannot get insurance, lying to get housing, using false social security cards, etc. Some people have been deported simply because they were Hispanics and were not carrying their legal documents on them leaving women and children to fend for themselves when they could barely speak the language. These women and children are usually suffering from depression or possibly post-trauma if they were present when ICE took their father away. (ICE has a tendency not to be gentle.)  Can you imagine seeing your father who you love and respect, being abused by ICE.


My friend asked me if I had the resources how could my non-profit make the necessary changes to help these people. I find that counseling itself helps these people cope with their many problems. They really can feel empowered especially when they learn there are resources for them and that they have the power within themselves to change things, i.e., a young teenager was going to join a gang because of discrimination and felt he needed the protection of the gang. He learned there were ways that he could volunteer and help to change things through constructive activities; for example, marches, writing to congressmen, letter-writing campaigns. He also became aware of organizations that already exist that he could join and add his clout to.

These are just some rambling thoughts on this Memorial Day to honor our soldiers who have given the ultimate sacrifice.  I am sure we are all aware that we are a nation of immigrants.  Hopefully, the Dream Act will be passed soon to help those adults who were brought here as minors.

Entertainment the Irish Way

Image via WikipediaI haven't written in so long.  Last night Neumann University gave the Sisters a treat.  They served us a dinner with lot of choices and provided entertainment.  The entertainment was Mark Rust.  He was a one man band with a beautiful voice.  He sang Irish Songs.  He played the banjo, fiddle, and guitar.  Of course, we had some sing-alongs, also.  It was a great night out and many thanks to the Neumann students who organized it and served us.

The abused child and a challenge to the media

I am a mental health counselor and have seen many abused children. I get a little disconcerted when I see so much attention put on priest abusers. That is only a small fraction of a much bigger problem. The child is hurt on so many levels. The majority of abusers in my experience are step-fathers, some grandparents, some uncles, some older brothers, boy scout leaders, bus drivers. One time in my career of 12 years as a counselor, one person told me they were abused by a priest. No matter who does it, it is a despicable evil act. In fact, there are no words in the English language that can adequately describe the horror it is for the abused child. The ones I find most heart-rending are when a step-father abuses a child, and the mother abandons the child so she can be with the step-father. I disagree with those who who say the priests should be held to a higher standard. That is to ignore the problem. The problem is that millions of children are being abused daily whether it is through human trafficking or relatives or trusted friends of the family who are the abusers. We need to hold everyone to the same high standard. To do otherwise, is to ignore the millions of children being abused daily.

I would like to invite and challenge newspapers and media across the country to really look into the abuse of children and see what we as a people can do to stop it. To focus on one group of abusers, while ignoring the rest, does little to solve this horrendous evil.

Reflections on the Ripple Effect or Quantam Physics

Have you seen the movie "The King's Speech?" I have not, but I have read reviews and heard others talk about it. To me the story of the Duke of York, Albert, shows the power of how all our positive actions can benefit so many people by the ripple effect. Some people call it Quantam physics.

A brief review of history for those who may not know it. Albert was second in line for the throne of England. His older brother, who would have assumed the throne, fell in love with an American divorcee, and was therefore disqualified from becoming the King of England. His brother was next in line. The problem was, his brother stuttered. The Duke's loyal wife, Elizabeth, encouraged him to to visit the eccentric elocutionist Lionel Logue. When World War II broke out, the people needed a morale booster from their tongue-tied King, and they got it. What would have happened had Elizabeth not encouraged him to see the elocutionist? What would have happened if Lionel Logue showed deference to the King, instead of challenging him? What would have happened to the people of England if they did not have their King who was able to encourage them, through verbal communication? We can see how one positive action led to another and led to another with a tremendous impact on a nation.

The same is true of negative actions. We have only to look at the priest scandal in the Catholic Church. Some who were abused as children became priests, and they, in turn, started abusing other children. It is common for the abused to become abusers. Abusers look for easy targets. Priests in the 50's & 60's were so well respected, parents frequently did not believe their children if they told them "Father" did something horribly wrong to them. Words cannot describe the terrible suffering these innocent victims endured from the trusted abusive priests and the well-intentioned parents who possibly did not believe them. The sexual abuse is one type of suffering. The disbelief of the parents, who the children thought would protect them was a whole other type of pain.

Those children grew up and some of them started suing the church. Now Catholic dioceses are going bankrupt and all the good they were able to do before is now paralyzed. An example of this is the diocese of Wilmington where I work. The Bishop is proposing to liquify the money from the Foundation started by Raskob to pay for all the lawsuits. Here are just some of the ministries that will be effected by that: Ministry of Caring who has women, men's, and family shelters, daycare for the poor, addiction services for adolescents, job placement center, a dining room to feed the homeless, and many others. Catholic Charities who provides much needed social services will also be effected. St. Paul's School, which serves poor children, mainly Hispanics and blacks, will also suffer. These are just a few of the services and people who will suffer because of the lawsuits. These innocent poor people were not even born when the abuse by some priests took place. Now thousands of innocent people are being deprived of much needed services, when they had nothing to do with the original abuse.

The point of my reflection is this: I do not believe any of our actions, whether positive or negative, just effect ourselves. They have the potential to effect a nation as with Albert or thousands of innocent poor people as we see today as a result of the abuse scandal.

Franciscan Volunteers

Last night, four Franciscan volunteers visited our motherhouse. The Franciscan Volunteer program consists of volunteers who give one to two years of their lives to help out at a certain missions. St. Paul's in Wilmington has 4 volunteers this year.

They came for supper last night. They first ate supper with us. One is extremely outgoing and was greeting all the Sisters at the different tables. We have quite a few round tables in the dining room that seat 6 people. He went around to all of them and talked to everyone. Another one hopped from one table to another. They seemed very much at home.

After supper the tour began. Sister Rose Immaculate, a prize-winning photographer showed them the collection of her pictures that line the second hall corridor. They were enthralled by the beauty of the collection. Then, she gave them each a book.

From there, we went to the fifth floor, where you can see three different States. One view shows the Philadelphia skyline; another, the bridges going into New Jersey and the western shore of New Jersey, and the third view allows you to see the edge of Wilmington, Delaware.

From there, I showed them the first floor. The life-size statue of St. Francis greets visitors at the entrance. Then, the history of our congregation is depicted along the walls in script and pictures. From there, we went into the heritage room, where there were memorabilia of our Sisters in the early days of our community, along with somethings of St. John Neumann who was instrumental in founding our community.

Then, I took them into our Spiritual Center. One of the volunteers, Chris, had helped with a retreat there some time ago. It brought back memories. From there, Chris wanted to see the main chapel. The volunteers were enthralled with the chapel. Chris imagined he was talking to the Sisters at the pulpit.

The spirit of those young volunteers were with me this morning as I walked in the hallway down to chapel for early morning Mass. I could see each one in my mind's eye as I walked to chapel. I know the priest was talking to us, but I could see Chris there giving us a reflection. Their spirits now live in our hallowed halls.