November 2023 News - Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, Houston, TX

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November 2023

Pope's Prayer For the Pope: We pray for the Holy Father; as he fulfills his mission, Intention may he continue to accompany the flock entrusted to him, with the for November help of the Holy Spirit.

PRAYER FOR ALL SAINTS DAY We thank you, O God, for the saints of all ages; for those who in times of darkness kept the lamp of faith burning; for the great souls who saw visions of larger truth and dared to declare it; for the multitude of quiet and gracious souls whose presence has purified and sanctified the world; and for those known and loved by us, who have passed from this earthly fellowship into the fuller light of life with you, where you live and reign, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, forever and ever.

Amen.

November 2023 News & Notes

The Story of Saint Andrew Dung-Lac and Companions Researched by Sr. Ethel Puno, CCVI The Portuguese brought Christianity to Vietnam. In 1615, the Jesuits established the first permanent mission in Da Nang where they served Japanese Catholics who had been expelled from Japan.

St. Andrew Dung-Lac was a Catholic convert and became a diocesan priest. He was born in North Vietnam in 1795 as Dung An Tran. He went to Hanoi with his family when he was 12 years old so that his parents could find work. A catechist there provided him with food and shelter, as well as assistance with his education. Dung was baptized and given the name Andrew; he went on to become a catechist and was finally chosen to train for the priesthood.

Andrew was ordained in 1823 and was known for being a powerful preacher as well as a model of holiness.

Andrew was imprisoned multiple times when the emperor began persecuting Christians.

His congregation paid for his release, but he was eventually arrested and imprisoned again, tortured, and decapitated.

The earliest martyrs in Vietnam were Dominican and Jesuit missionaries. In the seventeenth century, these religious orders carried the faith to Vietnam and established the roots of Christianity that have blossomed ever since. Christians have suffered under political administrations that suspect the faith of being a foreign influence from then on. Emperor Minh-Mang banned all foreign missionaries in 1832 and attempted to persuade all Vietnamese to abandon their faith by trampling on a crucifix. Many hiding places were provided in the homes of the faithful, much like the priest-holes in Ireland during the English persecution.

November 2023 News & Notes

St. Andrew was one of 117 martyrs in Vietnam between 1820 and 1862. Members of the companions group died for Christ in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries and were beatified on four separate occasions between 1900 and 1951. All were canonized under Saint John Paul II's pontificate. St. Andrew’s feast day is celebrated every 24th of November.

In the nineteenth century, between 100,000 and 300,000 Catholics were slaughtered or subjected to extreme suffering in the six decades following 1820. At least three severe persecutions were launched. The last martyrs who were executed in 1862 were 17 laypeople, one of them was a 9-year-old. A treaty signed with France that year promised Catholics religious freedom, although it did not end all persecution. In the last century, the Communist regime attempted to rid the country of Christianity, and over 600,000 Christians fled, leaving everything behind.

Roughly 7% of the population of North Vietnam’s population were Catholics by 1954.

Buddhists made up roughly 60% of the population. Continued persecution drove 670,000 Catholics to escape to the South, abandoning their lands, homes, and valuables. There were still 833,000 Catholics in the north in 1964, although many were imprisoned. Catholics in the south were enjoying the first decade of religious freedom in generations, bolstered by migrants. During the Vietnam War, Catholics were persecuted in the north once more and fled to the south in large numbers. Despite its reunification, the entire country is currently under Communist authority.

Reflection It may help individuals who only link Vietnam with a twentieth-century war to understand that the cross has long been a part of the life of the people of that country. Even when some people re-examine the unsolved issues concerning the United States' involvement and disengagement, the faith entrenched in Vietnam's soil proved more resilient than the forces determined to destroy it.

Sources: https://faith.nd.edu/ https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-andrew-dung-lac-andcompanions/

November 2023 News & Notes

Casa San Jose’s Learning Opportunities

by Alan Peralta Here at Casa San Jose in Brookdale Village Apartments, we are noticing that the people coming in to see us speak a very limited amount of Spanish. Sr. Mary Pat saw an opportunity to offer Spanish classes and took off with it. Every Wednesday at 2 pm we meet with whoever needs an hour of a Spanish lesson. As always, the first time it was a slow start, but we were persistent, and, as of this writing (Oct. 18), we had 5 people who attended the class.

In October, we brought to light the topic of Domestic Violence. Casa San Jose arranged for Yessica Marcela Flores from the Tejano Center and Concepcion Miranda from (Houston Area Women's Center) HAWC to come and enlighten these women with a charla (chat) about Domestic Violence. To bring awareness to this topic at Brookdale Village we had an informative talk about the subject on October 27th at 6:30 pm.

Sr. Mary Pat with the people in the class

November 2023 News & Notes

At Casa San Jose, the team is often presented with heartbreaking and difficult situations experienced by new immigrants to the area. Men, women, and youth come from all over seeking assistance because they know they will be received with compassion and find help. Alan Peralta, our social services coordinator, shared a story with me this week that really highlights the mercy extended through this special outreach ministry. – Monica Hatcher, Social Concerns Director.

Lost in a New Country

An Immigrant Father Seeks Help in Locating His Missing Daughter from Casa San Jose.

By Alan Peralta, Social Services/Program Coordinator, Casa San Jose & St. Austin Center Over the past month, we got a random visit from a concerned father who recently arrived in the country from Guatemala. He came to us because he had no idea how to locate his pregnant daughter, who had been missing since July. The father explained that his daughter, 16, decided to make her journey to the USA months before he decided to make the journey himself.

The only information he had was that in the daughter’s last communication with her mother back in her home country, she said she was in a shelter. That was all. Was it an immigration facility or a homeless shelter? In what state? He did not know. We just started making calls.

The man stopped by each time we were open the entire month of September to ask if we had new information. We did not. And there was a little more we could do. The father, however, had mentioned that the girl had called her mother. So, we advised him to ask Mom to write down the number on the caller ID the next time she rang.

A few days passed, and the father came back to us with a phone number, remembering our instructions.

We called the number. The person answering told us she could not provide information because we were strangers, nor would she confirm whether the daughter was under their care. She simply advised us to call CPS. It’s never a simple task to reach the appropriate contact at a very large state agency, but I want to make this story short. We called CPS and were connected to the immigrant CPS division. We were told they had a girl who matched the description of the man’s daughter, but before confirming her identity, they would need to meet the father.

With our assistance, the father gathered all the paperwork needed to prove his relationship to her.

CPS met with him and confirmed the relationship. Dad was finally told that his daughter and her newborn were safe and sound in San Antonio at an undisclosed 24-hour shelter with wraparound services for pregnant and parenting teen mothers. The daughter is currently under protected status and taking parenting classes.

Obviously, this father was beyond relieved to have located his daughter and new grandson. We were relieved we could help him.

CPS is currently working on a safety plan so that he can be reunited with them soon.

November 2023 News & Notes

DISCOVER. LOVE. ANEW.

By Sr. Kim Xuan Nguyen, CCVI Caritas 64 Retreat at the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word’s Home in Houston, TX. After three years of being on hold due to the pandemic, the Caritas retreat finally returned on Sept. 28-Oct.1, 2023. We had 42 retreatants, 16 facilitators, and many helpers. The Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word collaborated with Christus Ministries and hosted the Caritas 64 retreat for young adults at the Villa de Matel. It was facilitated by Fr. Tri Dinh, SJ, Fr. David Romero, SJ, and a team of religious and lay ministers. This year, we had Fr. Juan Ruiz, Sr. Val Roxburgh, Sr. Roxanne, Sr. Pauline Troncale, Sr. Kim Phuong Tran, Sr. Symphonie Ngo, and Sr. Kim Xuan Nguyen sharing and assisting with the retreat. The retreat was open to all faith groups. We had a diverse group in age, religion, background, and state of life.

The retreat included the following: presentations, testimonials, personal prayer, meaningful activities, liturgies, and conversations based on topics such as Longing to Love and Be Loved, Love Chooses Me, What’s Love to Me, Love without Condition, Love and Sexuality, Love and God’s dream, and Love and its 10,000 Imitations. Sr. Symphonie Ngo shared her story on Love and God’s dream. Her presentation and other talks touched the hearts of these young retreatants. They resonated with these witnesses and came to a personal, heartfelt awareness of Christ’s love for them as they are. It was a grace-filled experience to see each of the young adults being open and vulnerable to share and experience God’s love in their lives. The uplifting effect of the retreat did not stop on the last day but empowered these young adults to live and share God’s love with others as they returned to their daily lives. The group will meet again for a day in November for a Caritas Rediscovery follow-up. The retreatants, facilitators, and helpers expressed their deep gratitude to the Sisters of the Congregation for opening their home, sharing the facilities, for their warm welcome, and most of all for their prayers.

November 2023 News & Notes

Stewardship, Geared Toward Flourishing

By Monica Hatcher, Social Concerns Director

The call to be good stewards was a key refrain emerging in a workshop about charitable giving with grants consultant Angela Briaud last February. We had gathered to begin clarifying our giving values and setting a path for a year-long project of updating the Congregation’s stewardship programs. In emphasizing the value of stewardship, the Sisters who participated were nearly unanimous in feeling a deep responsibility to make good use of God’s gifts to the Congregation for the poor and the vulnerable.

As Christian disciples, stewardship is central in our life of faith, deeply rooted in our experience of God’s unlimited generosity. We recognize that all we are and have is a gift from the Creator, absolutely free and totally unnecessary but for God’s desire to give us life and to love us. In a 1999 document entitled “Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response,” the U.S. Bishops ground their definition of stewardship in the sense of gratitude that flows from this truth. Starting with our very lives, all that we have is gift. The Christian steward, they say, is “one who receives God’s gifts gratefully, cherishes and tends them in a responsible and accountable manner, shares them in justice and love with all, and returns them with increase to the Lord.”

Defined this way, stewardship encompasses a way of discipleship, they say – how we use our talents, our time, and our treasures to serve others for the Lord’s sake. It is totally comprehensive of our aims, means, and motives. It can help us better understand the responsibility we have to be ambitious in remolding these programs to be generative in new ways, yielding profit for the Lord. We strive to return God’s gifts with an increase in human flourishing, the flourishing of families.

We know from the Scriptures that we’ll be asked to give an account of our stewardship in the end (we have Jesus separating the sheep from the goats, the parable of the talents, the wise and foolish virgins). The Lord will ask us how we have cared for the gifts he has given us, and how have we made them fruitful. By striving to be good stewards, we can at least be assured we are on the right track.

November 2023 News & Notes

by Sr. Deenan Hubbard, CCVI and Rosanne Popp, CCVI The season of Fall brings with it just that bit of change in the weather that allows us in Houston to thoroughly enjoy the Nun Run. Some of us like to think of the Nun Run as THE social event of the year. Once again so many people have been generous to the cause of ensuring health and or care, when needed, to the children under the direction of Sr. Rosanne’s school-based clinics.

This year’s beacons of generosity included 381 registered participants (includes all riders and donors), 172 bikes, although it sure seemed like more bikes than that, and, 3 special guest riders and 25 Sister riders, (whoo-hoo...best number yet). The major donors included very faithful folks: Stellar Bank, CHRISTUS Health, Valero, Chick-fil-A, Harriet Foster, Lynch-Enger Family Charitable Fund, Pam and Bill Wallace, Enrique Batres, M.D., Kevin and Margaret O’Donnell, Ernie Sadau, Betsy and Hunter Nelson, JoAnn and Eugene Allspach, Stephanie and David Baird, Jr, Michael Beal, Robert L. Hargrave, Klein Funeral Homes and Memorial Parks, Sandy Lawrence and Gerald Yoakum. Special appreciation goes to the Blue Knights, Sheriff Department Officers, and local City Police Departments, who skillfully escorted our way through traffic, intersections and construction. All kinds of people do all kinds of work behind the scenes to make it all happen, Danielle and Amy from the Foundation Office, and the Villa maintenance, dietary and housekeeping staff. Special mention needs to go to “Grego” a local radio host who helped MC. All this good will and work and generated a grand total of...drumroll please … of $62,524!

Amidst all the activities of the morning, I was graciously blessed to find God-glimpses among the people present on that magnificent day. Traveling around the area near the Dubuis Conference Center, I noticed a little boy about 8 years old, with big round dark eyes and lots of dark curls, watching my scooter. I stopped and asked him if he wanted a ride, his eyes lit up and he jumped on. He was so little he was able to stand between me and the steering bar on the scooter. As we drove around admiring the bikes and greeting the bikers, I asked him to tell the bikers Thank you for coming.” He was very enthusiastic about it and after a little while he added (on his own) “We appreciate it!” The look on the bikers’ faces at first was puzzlement as if trying to decipher who he was. As they watched us pass, they all put sweet smiles on their faces. Some of them even said: “You’re welcome.”

November 2023 News & Notes

Some of the bikers were willing to take some of the visiting kids for a ride on their bikes around the Nun Track (on the Villa property). I spotted the same little, large round-eyed boy riding with one of the bikers.

The biker was very gentle and sweet with the child. I watched them take off to go around the Nun Track with placid faces, but when they came back both the biker and the child had huge smiles. As they were backing up into their parking spot, the biker told the boy, “Yell, ‘Beep, beep, beep’ as I back up.” The boy yelled “Beep, beep, beep,” as loud as he could! When they were parked the biker told him he did a good job.

The next little boy whose turn it was to ride with this same biker looked like he was about 10 or 11 years old. He was just a bit reticent about riding. He also took off on his ride with a serious face. When they came back, he had a big smile. The biker also instructed him to say, “Beep, beep, beep,” while they were backing up. The little boy quietly said “Beep, beep, beep.” The first little boy came rushing out of the crowd yelling with his arms in the air, “No, not like that; you have to say it loud,” and demonstrated it as loudly as he could with a great deal of confidence.

The line dance was a lot of fun for even more than just those doing the dancing. I noticed several audience members moving certain parts of their bodies in sync with the music. Most, however, were well entertained watching the dancers, especially when they bumped into each other and then laughed. It was fun observing those who were not in the habit of dancing and had some difficulty managing to move their feet without almost tripping, sway their hips, curve their backs, and move their shoulders imitating the lead dancer. One participant, someone we know who loves to dance and takes every opportunity to do it; I won’t mention any names but her initials are CT, had a good time moving and was graceful. Another participant was a large man, used to swinging his hips and legs over his motorcycle, but that is not the same kind of movement required for dancing. Another participant, again I won’t mention a name, but his initials are JT, his giggles made his efforts to dance definitely contribute to the fun of the whole affair.

The celebration continued especially once the bikes with their bikers and Sister Riders rolled out and safely reached their destination, the Top Water Grill in San Leon, Texas. We could not have had better weather, more delicious food, and wonderful fellowship. I think it well to say, everyone had a really good time.

See you all next year!

November 2023 News & Notes

Nun Run 2023 November 2023 News & Notes

West Houston Assistance Ministries October 4, 2023 Site Visit By: Cristina Contreras, Grant Administrator West Houston Assistance Ministries (WHAM) has been around since 1982 with the goal of alleviating poverty, building a thriving and healthy community and giving hope to the hopeless.

Every week they see 600-700 households experiencing emergency circumstances such as furloughs, layoffs, illness/disabilities or unexpected expenses. They have a three-tier approach: basic needs, stability and self-sufficiency.

Their basic needs approach focuses on providing food security through their platinum-ranked food pantry. They have several programs to fit the needs of the community, including specialty meals for those with underlying health conditions. They mostly distribute via a drive-thru but do have days for those without vehicles and homeless to go by once a week. In addition to food, they provide household items, pet food, and clothing along with Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. In 2022 WHAM provided over 2,643,702 pounds of food worth $4,732,237 to 125,708 individuals.

WHAM’s second tier is Family Stability. Their case managers learn about the families to understand their short-term basic needs that will help create the path for long-term financial stability. Their goal is to identify if the family: 1) is in crisis with immediate financial need (possibly with rent or utilities to prevent eviction); 2) is in need of additional case management services (possibly mental health care); 3) will be moving into a longer stability program for up to three months (or more if needed). Each family or individual has different needs but with WHAM’s case management, shelter assistance, support services, partnerships, and rapid rehousing services, they are able to deliver relief. They were able to provide $1,090,673 in financial assistance and helped over 5,000 clients.

Their values are prominently printed on one wall.

November 2023 News & Notes

The third tier of their approach is Self-Sufficiency and Empowerment. This provides long-term benefits by offering clients education and job training. They provide them with job leads, workshops, résumé building, mock interviews, office support, computer classes, transportation to job interviews, professional attire, ESL and GED classes. They have also been able to get scholarships for some of their clients to obtain their CDL or other short-term certifications. In addition to the aforementioned, they empower the community through financial literacy and offer classes on money management, identity theft, credit scores, budgeting, homeownership, and retirement. In 2022, WHAM was able to assist more than 1,800 individuals with these programs.

Outside of their three-tier approach, they operate the WHAM resale store which relies on donations and is open to the public. Through their social enterprise, they are able to generate some income while helping the environment and benefiting the local economy. Last year they saved over 400,000 pounds of consumable items from going to landfills.

Through their extensive programming, WHAM was able to assist over 132,000 individuals last year alone. They keep evolving and growing as needed by the community. In the past year, they have added special programming for survivors of domestic violence and childcare assistance. They are a true asset to the community and the staff has a strong heart for service. Let’s pray they are able to secure more funding for their continued demands.

WHAM Resale Store

Food ready for the distribution line

November 2023 News & Notes

Prepackaged items for the homeless or those without vehicles

Front of the building

Their garden. They have been able to include some of the produce in the drive-by food distribution.

They usually borrow space from churches to host their classes, but if it is inhouse they hold classes here.

November 2023 News & Notes

Halloween Fun! Trick-or-treating with the Sisters at St. Placidus and St. Anne’s.

November 2023 News & Notes

Another CCVI Becomes a United States Citizen!

Sr. Otilia proudly waving the American flag and holding her certificate of naturalization.

Congratulations to Sister Maria Otilia Guerra Chinchilla on becoming the newest U.S. citizen among the CCVIs of Houston!

Sr. Otilia attended the oath-taking ceremony and received her naturalization certificate on Thursday, October 12, 2023, accompanied by Sisters Edis Marilu Yanes Reyes and Maria Mendez .

God bless America and its people!

Sr. Otilia taking her oath with other new US citizens.

November 2023 News & Notes

A round of applause for the new citizens of the United States!