Mariia Simian, from Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, is living through war for a second time. Just three years old when World War II tore across Europe in the 1940s, she says the memories haunt her.

“I remember everything,” she says. “I often remember. My mother hid our whole family from this horror wherever she could – in the basement, in fields behind the house – because the Nazis were looking for Roma.”

Simean, who is Roma, spoke at a recent remembrance ceremony for Roma victims of the Holocaust, hosted by ELCA partner organization Phiren Amenca in Budapest. As many as 500,000 Roma people were among those murdered by the Nazis during World War II.

Speaking in Ukrainian, with her granddaughter Anzhelika Bielova translating into English, Simeak continued, “I really want everyone to remember these horrors of war, the crimes against humanity, against Roma people…Evacuation, frightened people fleeing from death, mass graves of civilians, destroyed houses, all this is now in Ukraine after 80 years.…I want peace, only peace, and a better future for all of us and for new generations.”

Europe’s largest ethnic minority, the Roma people – descendants of tribes from northern India who migrated to Europe in the Middle Ages – experience a great deal of discrimination and racism. In one recent survey 95 percent of Roma youth said they have observed discriminatory words, behaviors, or gestures, and more than two-thirds reported having personally been the target of such discrimination, according to Marietta Herefort, managing director of Phiren Amenca, a Roma advocacy organization with offices in Budapest and Brussels.

Roma people often face discrimination accessing housing, employment, education and other services, Herefort added, and Roma refugees from Ukraine have been treated differently than their white counterparts across Europe.

 

“It’s a justice issue”

Thousands of Roma people are among the roughly 7 million who have fled Ukraine since the war began in February 2022, but many report that the reception in neighboring countries has been far from warm. In Hungary, ELCA works with Phiren Amenca and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary (ELCH) to ensure that Roma refugees are treated with the same dignity as others arriving from Ukraine.

It’s a justice issue,” says the Rev. Rachel Eskesen, ELCA area desk director for Europe. “Anti-gypsyism, discrimination against Roma communities and individuals, remains a prevalent form of racism across Europe.”

Attila Meszaros, coordinator of the ELCH refugee response, says before the war, the church might help about 300 refugees per year. That number has more than tripled as refugees poured across the border from Ukraine, he says, and about 90 percent of those served by the church are Roma people who have had difficulty accessing services elsewhere. With support from the ELCA, they have hired additional staff to manage the increased caseload, including a social worker who is herself Ukrainian and can assist when there is a language barrier. The church helps families with rent, groceries and assistance in finding employment, and each social worker is usually in touch with about 50 families per day.

One mother of three burst into tears when she received a grocery voucher, Meszaros said. The family had lived underground for a month in Ukraine subsisting on packaged food. She rushed out to buy fresh fruits and vegetables for her children.

 

Serving Roma People

Ministry to Roma people is not new for the ELCH. Mandak House, a Lutheran congregation and social ministry in Budapest led by Pastor Márta Bolba, has a longstanding program donating food, clothing and other necessities to the most vulnerable as well as a long history of advocating for equal treatment of Roma people. In fact, Bolba said, they recently relocated the donation center to another site as the ministry had outgrown the space at the church.

While Phiren Amenca did not have previous experience in refugee assistance, Herefort said they quickly found a way to respond to the growing need as neighbors from Ukraine began arriving in Hungary last spring. Working in partnership with other organizations serving the Roma population, they delivered food, toiletries, cleaning supplies and clothing to refugee centers and transit shelters along the border, organized donation drives in 30 municipalities, and assisted families with navigating the process to register for asylum in Hungary. They even housed a family for a time in their Budapest office, until the family could find a more permanent situation.

“Anti-gypsyism is very high,” she said, referring to the slur often used against the Roma people. “They are rejected because they are Roma, and for Ukrainian Roma it’s even worse because they often have big families with lots of kids,” so it’s even more difficult to find suitable accommodations.  “Even if they are earning money they often are not able to set up a normal life because they are rejected in many ways.”

“Racism—a mix of power, privilege, and prejudice—is sin, violation of God’s intention for humanity,” wrote the authors of the ELCA’s social statement on race, ethnicity and culture. “The resulting racial, ethnic, or cultural barriers deny the truth that all people are God’s creatures and, therefore, persons of dignity.”

In simpler words, the American civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer famously stated, “no one is truly free until everyone is free.” As we continue the work of dismantling embedded racism in our own culture, facing and confessing our own sins, so too we walk alongside our European colleagues and our Roma brothers and sisters who struggle for equal treatment and equal rights.

 

 

Emily Sollie is a freelance writer, editor and communications consultant. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and 4-year old son, and is a member of Lutheran Church of the Reformation. 

Samantha Johnson, Jacksonville, NC

Warm-up Question

Have you ever made a surprising connection with a stranger? 

Unlikely Friendship

When Detroit Police Officer Marcus Harris II got a call to check in on an individual sleeping at an abandoned gas station, he found far more than he ever expected. 

At first, Corporal Harris went through the motions, offering the man, Adrian Hugh, a bus ticket back to California. Offering one-way bus tickets is a common strategy that cities use to cut down on the number of homeless people living on the streets. 

But after taking time to talk and get to know one another, Corporal Harris and Hugh realized that there was more they could do together than apart. Hugh explained that before Corporal Harris came into his life, he was at his lowest point, ready to give up. But Corporal Harris went above and beyond, helping Hugh get the services he needed right there in Detroit, including replacing his stolen ID cards, finding emergency shelter, applying for housing, writing a resume, and even finding a job.

They found an unlikely friendship in one another, restoring hope for both men. 

Discussion Questions

• Have you ever learned something new from a police officer or a person experiencing homelessness? 
• It is easy to list the ways that Hugh benefited from his friendship with Corporal Harris. What do you think Corporal Harris might have gained from his friendship with Hugh?

Third Sunday in Lent

Exodus 17:1-7

Romans 5:1-11

John 4:5-42

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year A at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

I think it’s safe to assume that both Jesus and the Samaritan felt unsure about how their interaction would go when they first encountered one another. 

Many of us who have heard this story before, come to it with some assumptions about the Samaritan woman. John Piper, a popular preacher and prolific author, describes her as “a worldly, sensually-minded, unspiritual harlot from Samaria.” However, a careful look at the text in its cultural context reveals that these are not among the assumptions Jesus makes. 

It is more likely, therefore, that her five husbands came and went due to factors outside of her control. Perhaps she was a widow, or maybe her husbands divorced her for being infertile. It is even possible that her husbands divorced her to marry someone else. Maybe her many marriages were the result of a combination of these possibilities. The truth is that we aren’t given an explanation for why she was married so many times, but it’s more likely that she was a victim than a harlot. 

With this fresh perspective on the woman, we can see that what Jesus recognizes in her is not a sinful past in need of redeeming. Instead, Jesus recognizes in her is a kindred openness to God’s word, determination to discover the truth, and boldness to proclaim the gospel to all who will listen.

The woman never would have found the freedom of the gospel if Jesus had maintained the status quo. But the gospel never would have reached so many Samaritan saints if the woman had not been open to Jesus’ invitation. Their unlikely friendship changed the lives of all those involved and continues to inspire us even today. 

Discussion Questions

• How do you think Jesus expected the conversation to go? Do you think it went as he expected or do you think he was surprised by the unlikely friendships he found among the woman and the people of the city?
• The woman learned about the freedom and everlasting life that Jesus promises his followers. What do you think Jesus gained from his friendship with the woman? 
• Assumptions keep us apart but conversations driven by curiosity draw us together. Whether it is a specific person or a type of person, who are you feeling called to engage in curious conversation? 

Activity Suggestions

Homelessness carries a great deal of stigma. Many people, even Christians, assume people who are experiencing homelessness are lazy or deserve to be on the streets. Challenge yourself to play this game to learn more about the difficult and risky choices people in poverty are facing every day.  

Closing Prayer

Jesus our friend, you came among us out of love in order to know us more, show us your way, and bless us with your love and grace. Empowered by your spirit, send us out with open minds and softened hearts so that we may bless others with that same love and grace you have shown us. Amen.

 

Dear Friends in Christ,

On behalf of myself and the Disability Ministries advisory team, I wanted to say “thank you!” to everyone who applied for one of our grants of up to $10,000. We were blown away by the response and interest of so many congregations, camps, and other ministries. If you remember, we said we would take the first thirty applications that came to us into consideration before ultimately choosing five to receive the funding. Well, you all got to work! We received almost double the amount we will be able to consider this time around.

While we are saddened to not be able to consider them all right now, we do encourage those whose applications came in after the cut off to apply again the next time we are receiving applications. I will be in touch soon with those applicants on what your next steps could be for the time being.

To those we will be reviewing: Please be on the lookout for an email to come from me soon indicating that you are moving along in the process. Over the next eight weeks the advisory team will be reading through your applications and making the hard decision to narrow things down to the five who will be the recipients of the funding. That means that shortly after May 1^st we will be making and announcing those decisions. For now, please keep a watch on your email and communications for any questions or needs for clarifications that the review/advisory team may need. I will follow up with the other twenty-five and look at possible next steps as well.

Again, thank you so much for your support of what we do at ELCA Disability Ministries. Especially, we thank God for you and the way the Spirit is moving you to make accessibility and equity for people with disabilities a priority in the lives of your ministries.

 

Peace,

Rev. Lisa E. Heffernan

A book review by Rev. Peter Heide on “The Pretty One: On Life, Pop Culture, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love with Me” by Keah Brown

At first, the title of this book seems presumptive, but I have come to realize that this is the courtship of one person learning to love herself amid a world that does not want to love her.

Keah Brown, a journalist, has filled this book with her essays. In each standalone essay, Ms. Brown addresses a particular issue of life as a black woman living with Cerebral Palsy in a mostly able-bodied white America. She discusses the depression that comes from internalizing the “idealized body” of the able-bodied world we live in. She explores the self-loathing that can kill when one allows the able-bodied world to dictate one’s image upon oneself when our bodies can never “measure up”. She considers the challenges of dating, of feeling loved and accepted.

In “You Can’t cure me. I Promise it’s Fine.”, the reader is challenged by how prayer can be an abusive tool that makes claims on the faithfulness of the disabled and that person’s willingness to trust in the power of God to heal. As Ms. Brown illustrates the difference between the able-bodied and the dis-abled, she also spotlights how this kind of faith/prayer isolates, demeans, and dehumanizes the person living with a disability.

Some issues are addressed multiple times which was a little exasperating until I was reminded of the similarity to reading Biblical stories: the more space given to any story raises the importance of the subject. Consider the amount of space that Nebuchadnezzar receives in an encyclopedia and then look at the space he gets in Scripture. Or maybe the story of Peter and Cornelius might be helpful. Outside the Bible no space is given it, but Scripture reports the story of the vision of the sheet coming down from heaven with unclean foods upon it three times. Such is the importance of these repeated themes.

The essay format of this book lends itself to congregation discussion.

A reflection on John 9 through the lens of disability, by Rev. Brian Krause

 The healing of the blind man in John chapter 9 is one of my favorite healing stories in the whole Bible.  I love this story because in this story Jesus confronts and rejects the common belief that disabilities are somehow caused by sin.  Jesus and his disciples are going along when they find a man who has been blind from birth.  The disciples ask Jesus, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind.”  Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.”  (John 9:1-3)   

I myself have encountered the idea that my Cerebral Palsy is punishment from God for some sin in my life.  I have had some people pray for my healing.  Most of the time it was forced upon me.  I was told that first I needed to confess the sin(s) for which I was being punished.  People have prayed for me to be healed and nothing has changed in me physically.  I was once told that God wouldn’t heal me because I had a selfish need to be pitied.  Unfortunately, some in the church today continue to teach the idea that disabilities are punishment for sin through the way they talk about healing passages. 

When we preach, lead worship, and sing hymns we need to be careful how we speak about healing and disabilities.  We especially should be aware of the pervasive narrative of the church regarding blindness.  Too often blindness has been associated with a lack of faith.  We see this in the infamous hymn, Amazing Grace; “I once was blind, but now I see.”  Equating blindness to a lack of faith is harmful to people who are blind or have low vision. 

This year during Lent we will be reading the story of the blind man in John chapter 9.  As we think about this text and craft our sermons, we need to be careful how we speak about blindness to not cause greater harm to persons who are blind.  We need to rethink the common ways that this text has been interpreted and find new ways to speak about this passage that are uplifting to all. 

I commend to you the book A Healing Homiletic: Preaching and Disability by Kathy Black.  Kathy Black is an ordained Methodist minister who has served as the chaplain at Gallaudet University and pastored two churches for deaf persons.  Black has also taught classes in deaf ministry and ministry with persons with disabilities as Wesley Theological Seminary, Pacific School of Religion, and the School of Theology Claremont.  

In chapter one of the book Black gives a broad overview of how disabilities are often interpreted.  Chapter two addresses hermeneutical hazards of preaching on healing narratives.  In the subsequent chapters Black dives into the healing passages that appear in the Revised Common Lectionary where she offers common interpretations and then a new “healing homiletic” that looks at each story in a different way that is inclusive.  Black looks at the various stories of Jesus healing people who are blind in chapter three.   

Black raises some important issues in her reading of John chapter 9.  Black speaks about the fact that people who are blind are often not believed and are not seen as credible witnesses.  This appears multiple places in the narrative, first when the neighbors of the blind man refuse to believe in his healing.  It appears again when the religious leaders don’t believe and call on the man’s parents.  Black speaks about how the blind are often ignored and the tendency of people to speak only with a blind person’s companion instead of directly to the person themselves.  Black says that when this happens, “the person with the disability becomes invisible-nonexistent.”1   Speaking only to the companion instead of the person with the disability is a common problem for people with various disabilities and may not be picked up by people who do not have experience with disabilities. 

Black also speaks about what sometimes happens when people with disabilities speak up for themselves as the man who had been blind does in the text.  Black says, “And like the man in this text, when they are bold and speak up for themselves they are seen as being too pushy or aggressive rather than as the passive receivers they are expected to be.  They too experience rejection by faith communities.”2   Once again Black picks up on an issue that may not be recognized by those without experience with a disability.   

How does Black suggest that we proceed in preaching about this passage?  Black gives several options in her section on a “healing homiletic”.  Black suggests we could look more at Jesus seeking out the man who had been born blind at the end of the narrative.  Black says, “Certainly Jesus seeking us in our times of loneliness and rejection could be explored further.”3   Black also rightly notes the major change that happens in the former blind man’s life.  Black suggests that a preacher could explore how major life events lead to changes like loss of community and identity and the long road to developing a new community and identity.  Finally Black notes that this man did not have faith when he was healed and suggests that a preacher could challenge the idea that confession is needed before healing can occur. 

There is so much good material in the third chapter, and I do not have enough space to relay it all here.  I highly recommend that every pastor pick up a copy of this book and read it before preaching on healing passages.  The way we talk about healing is important and getting it wrong can cause a lot of grief as I have experienced in my own life.  We as a church need to do better when preaching on healing.  With Kathy Black’s book I believe we can. 

 1 Black, Kathy. A Healing Homiletic: Preaching and Disability. 71.   

 2 ibid. 73 

3 Ibid, 77. 

Light of Grace Lutheran Church’s story

If you visit the Saturday-morning farmers market in Federal Way, Wash., you might see Kay (Kyong Yon) Mattingly smiling and dancing with her friends from Dasom Bi-Cultural Cooperation, a ministry of Light of Grace Lutheran Church. The ministry hosts a booth with a variety of Korean goods for sale, but the members also seek to bring joy to those around them – and create it for themselves.

About midway between Seattle and Tacoma, Federal Way has a large population of Korean immigrants, and services to
this community are limited. Given the aging population, demand for housing and rising cost of living, Light of Grace members recognized that members of their fellow immigrant population were struggling with hunger, needed help covering basic expenses and lacked opportunities for being in community.

With a grant from ELCA World Hunger, Light of Grace started a new program through Dasom Bi-Cultural Cooperation to provide space and support for fellow Korean-American immigrants three days a week. Tuesday through Thursday, program participants have an opportunity to cook Korean food, eat a healthy meal, create goods to sell or keep, and take advantage of interpretation services, social engagement and emotional support.

In every corner of the church building, you’ll find people with various skills – altering clothing, drying herbs for tea, harvesting veggies, making Korean chili paste – executing and sharing their skills with others. They are chatting, laughing and buzzing with joy – building a community of care by generating a livelihood for the whole community.

At the end of the month, they distribute additional earnings from Dasom goods to their neighbors, who use them to help with grocery bills, basic expenses and health care. “This is God’s work,” explains the Rev. Jenny Kim, co-pastor of Light of Grace with her husband, the Rev. Sang Soo Kim.

“I always had heard that the Lutherans excel at helping churches in need, but after having experienced it firsthand, I’m just really so happy and proud to be a member of this church.”

– Kay (Kyong Yon) Mattingly

ELCA World Hunger supports programs for people to get the food they need to eat, and trainings and resources to
build their livelihoods. This is one pillar of our shared work as church to end hunger and poverty around the world, including the United States. Gifts to ELCA World Hunger fund programs focusing on education; health; water and sanitation; agriculture and nutrition; income and savings; peace, justice and human rights; and advocacy and community organizing.

Kay is grateful for the support she receives from ELCA World Hunger. She appreciates not only our financial commitment but how we accompany their community, “turning an attentive ear when the small churches report hardship, and inquiring what we need, whether financially or in terms of people; having meetings with us; not ever discriminating against us because we’re Asians; and just being so attentive to our needs. … I’m so thankful for that.”

While the solutions vary – from training about village savings and loan groups, to supporting mobile health clinics, to providing backpacks of food for children who don’t have enough at home – the goal remains the same: provide for people’s immediate needs while working together for more just systems. Bread for today and hope for tomorrow. This vision – both short- and long-term – is especially important this year, as the effects of the war in Ukraine, food shortages and climate crises continue to ripple around the world, preventing so many of our neighbors from making ends meet.

Session 2 — Psalm 121

“My help comes from the Lord.” —Psalm 121:2

Just over two years ago, after decades of working, Susan became disabled. “I was newly poor and relatively terrified,” she wrote. “With literally everything stripped from the budget except a roof over our heads and very modest transportation, the monthly budget showed a balance of negative $5. The meaning of food insecurity became abundantly clear.”

Late in life, Susan had adopted three boys. Her circumstances made her worry nonstop about their futures and how she would keep the promises she had made to them.

The psalm for this week in Lent opens with a similar worry and prayer. “I lift up my eyes to the hills,” writes the psalmist. “From where will my help come?” (verse 1).

One of the more frustrating responses people offer to stories of food insecurity in the United States is that one can easily figure out where to go during hard times. No matter how often the stories are shared, no matter how persistent rates of food insecurity are, one still hears:

“Can’t you just get welfare?” (No — it doesn’t exist in the ways you think it does and hasn’t since the mid-1990s.)

“You can get food stamps, can’t you?” (Sure, but these average only $175 a month and for certain age groups are available for only three months.)

Unfortunately, the reality for many food-insecure families and individuals in the U.S. is that public programs are often difficult to access, and many people lack social support systems that can help them when something goes wrong. Even if programs and support systems are available and accessible, being food insecure or living in poverty carry stigmas, much like the ones we discussed in the last session of this study. This can make it hard to know where to turn and to find the confidence necessary to make that turn once we arrive at it.

For Susan, coming from a middle-class background meant having to face the stigma of food insecurity head-on. She remembers watching a food distribution at the West View Hub (“the Hub”), a community center serving neighbors in Pittsburgh. “I still had the haughty air of someone who recently belonged to the middle class, so rather than inquire, I watched.” After some time, a person from the Hub started to talk with her. The Hub was distributing milk and eggs, and there was a long line of clients. Susan had planned to observe only, but a volunteer invited her to find a place in the line, and she went home with food and money to spare for the week. For her, the change was immediate. “All of a sudden I went from negative $5 to plus $45 for the month,” she wrote. “I could breathe.”

The food pantry is just one part of the Hub, which is supported by an ELCA World Hunger grant through Berkeley Hills Lutheran Church, an early partner in the work. In addition to food, the Hub provides a local library, internet access and other support the community needs. More importantly, the Hub fosters new relationships among neighbors. “The food pantry [was] just the beginning,” explained Susan. “We found a home there. We found family there.”

Through ELCA World Hunger, our church is committed to supporting transformative, integrated and holistic ministries that address 10 the root causes of hunger. To put it more simply, these ministries break down barriers within communities and work with other partners to address the multiple needs people face. If we are serious about our church ending hunger, each of these steps will be important, yet we also need to remember that the most important ministry is being present.

God’s invitation for us to build a just world where all are fed comes out of our own experience as people saved by grace. As told in Holy Scripture, the entire history of the people of God is the story of God being present with the people, especially when they felt alone. Look at Psalm 121:1-4:

I lift up my eyes to the hills — from where will my help come?
My help comes from [you,] Lord, who made heaven and earth.
[You] will not let your foot be moved; [those] who keep you will not slumber.
[They] who keep Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. (vs. 1-4).

Reading this psalm, indeed reading all the Bible, we might sum up the character of God in a single phrase: relentless presence. God is relentlessly present with the people. From the Garden of Eden to Egypt to the wilderness, God is present.

From Israel to Judah to exile to return, God is present. The spirituality of the Lenten season — indeed, a key purpose of Lenten fasting — is to remind us of our dependence on God. We remember in these 40 days our need for God’s grace, God’s provision and God’s help in the moments when we can’t help ourselves. Yet we also remember that the good news of grace is the good news that God will be relentlessly present with us “always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

That is part of what makes the work of the West View Hub so important and so transformative for neighbors such as Susan. Being present, listening to our neighbors’ needs and offering words of welcome and hope are what it means to be saved by a relentlessly present God.

This season, we are called to remember our times of need when God showed up and to remember our calling to do the same. As church, we respond to hunger for many reasons. Sometimes our compassion pulls us to meet the needs of our neighbors. Other times we may feel a sense of responsibility to care for the people God places in our midst. At all times, though, we do this work because we are set free by grace to be relentlessly present in our own communities, so that every time a neighbor, friend or stranger wonders, “From where will my help come?” the people of God will reply, “Here.”

Here — you are welcome.
Here — you will be fed.
Here — we will meet our needs together.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

How has the church been present for you in times of distress?

How might your personal ministry or the ministry of your congregation change if you focused on being relentlessly present with and among your neighbors?

Where is God calling you to be relentlessly present this season?

Sesión 2 — Salmo 121

“Mi ayuda proviene del Señor”. —Salmo 121:2

Hace poco más de dos años, después de décadas de haber estado trabajando, Susan quedó discapacitada. Ella escribió: “Acababa de convertirme en una persona pobre, y estaba relativamente aterrorizada”. Después de que literalmente todo fue extraído del presupuesto, excepto un techo sobre nuestras cabezas y un transporte muy modesto, el presupuesto mensual mostró un saldo negativo de $ 5. El significado de la inseguridad alimentaria se volvió muy claro”.

Algo tarde en su vida, Susan había adoptado tres niños. Sus circunstancias la hacían preocuparse incesantemente por el futuro de ellos y de cómo iba a cumplir las promesas que les había hecho.

El salmo de esta semana de Cuaresma comienza con una preocupación y una oración similares. “A las montañas levanto mis ojos”; escribe el salmista. “¿De dónde ha de venir mi ayuda?” (versículo 1).

Una de las respuestas más frustrantes que la gente ofrece a las historias de inseguridad alimentaria en los Estados Unidos es que uno puede averiguar fácilmente a dónde ir en tiempos difíciles. No importa cuán a menudo se compartan las historias, no importa cuán persistentes sean los índices de inseguridad alimentaria, uno todavía oye:

“¿No puedes simplemente recibir asistencia social?” (No —no existe en la forma en que crees que existe y no ha existido desde mediados de la década de 1990).

“Puedes obtener cupones de alimentos, ¿no?” (Claro, pero el promedio de estos es solamente $ 175 al mes, y para ciertos grupos de edad solo están disponibles por tres meses).

Desafortunadamente, la realidad para muchas familias e individuos que sufren de inseguridad alimentaria en los Estados Unidos es que a menudo es difícil tener acceso a los programas públicos, y muchas personas carecen de sistemas de apoyo social que puedan ayudarlas cuando algo sale mal. Incluso cuando hay programas y sistemas de apoyo disponibles y accesibles, el tener inseguridad alimentaria o vivir en la pobreza lleva consigo estigmas, muy parecidos a los que discutimos en la sesión anterior de este estudio. Esto crea la posibilidad de que sea difícil saber a dónde acudir y encontrar la confianza necesaria para hacer ese giro una vez que lleguemos a este.

Susan venía de un ambiente de clase media, y esto significaba que tenía que encarar de frente el estigma de la inseguridad alimentaria. Ella recuerda que vio una distribución de alimentos en el West View Hub (“el Hub”), un centro comunitario que sirve a los vecinos en Pittsburgh. “Todavía tenía el aire altivo de alguien que hace poco había pertenecido a la clase media, así que, en lugar de preguntar, observé”. Después de un tiempo, una persona del Hub comenzó a hablar con ella. El Hub estaba distribuyendo leche y huevos, y había una larga fila de clientes. Susan había planeado observar solamente, pero un voluntario la invitó a ponerse en la fila, y se fue a casa con comida y dinero de sobra para la semana. Para ella, el cambio fue inmediato. “De repente pasé de menos $ 5 a más de $ 45 para el mes”, escribió ella. “Podía respirar”.

La despensa de alimentos es solo una parte del Hub, el cual cuenta con el apoyo de una beca de ELCA World Hunger a través de la Iglesia Luterana Berkeley Hills, una de las primeras socias en la obra. Además de alimentos, el Hub ofrece una biblioteca local, acceso a Internet y otro tipo de apoyo que la comunidad necesita. Más importante aún, el Hub fomenta nuevas relaciones entre los vecinos. “La despensa de alimentos [fue] solo el comienzo”, explicó Susan. “Allí encontramos un hogar. Allí encontramos familia”.

A través de ELCA World Hunger, nuestra iglesia se compromete a apoyar ministerios transformadores, integrados y holísticos que abordan 10 causas fundamentales del hambre. Para decirlo de manera más simple, estos ministerios rompen las barreras dentro de las comunidades y trabajan con otros socios para abordar las múltiples necesidades que enfrentan las personas. Si tomamos en serio el que nuestra iglesia acabe con el hambre, cada uno de estos pasos será importante, pero también debemos recordar que el ministerio más importante es estar presente.

La invitación que Dios nos hace a construir un mundo justo en el que todos sean alimentados proviene de nuestra propia experiencia como personas salvadas por gracia. Como se narra en las Sagradas Escrituras, toda la historia del pueblo de Dios es la historia de Dios que estaba presente con el pueblo, especialmente cuando se sentían solos. Mire el Salmo 121:1-4:

A las montañas levanto mis ojos; ¿de dónde ha de venir mi ayuda?
Mi ayuda proviene del Señor, creador del cielo y de la tierra.
No permitirá que tu pie resbale; jamás duerme el que te cuida.
Jamás duerme ni se adormece el que cuida de Israel (versículos 1-4).

Leyendo este salmo —de hecho, leyendo toda la Biblia —podríamos resumir el carácter de Dios en una sola frase: presencia continua. Dios está continuamente presente con la gente. Desde el Jardín del Edén hasta Egipto y el desierto, Dios está presente.

Desde Israel hasta Judá, desde el exilio hasta el retorno, Dios está presente. La espiritualidad de la temporada de Cuaresma —de hecho, un propósito clave del ayuno cuaresmal —es recordarnos nuestra dependencia de Dios. En estos 40 días recordamos nuestra necesidad de la gracia de Dios, la provisión de Dios y la ayuda de Dios en los momentos en que no podemos ayudarnos a nosotros mismos. Sin embargo, también recordamos que las buenas nuevas de la gracia son las buenas nuevas de que Dios estará continuamente presente con nosotros “siempre, hasta el fin del mundo” (Mateo 28:20).

Eso es parte de lo que hace que el trabajo del West View Hub sea tan importante y transformador para vecinos como Susan. Estar presentes, escuchar las necesidades de nuestro prójimo y ofrecer palabras de bienvenida y esperanza es lo que significa ser salvado por un Dios continuamente presente.

Esta temporada somos llamados a recordar nuestros momentos de necesidad en los que Dios apareció y a recordar nuestro llamado a hacer lo mismo. Como iglesia respondemos al hambre por muchas razones. A veces nuestra compasión nos impulsa a satisfacer las necesidades de nuestros vecinos. Otras veces podemos tener un sentido de responsabilidad de cuidar a las personas que Dios pone en medio de nosotros. Sin embargo, en todo momento hacemos este trabajo porque somos liberados por gracia para estar continuamente presentes en nuestras propias comunidades, de modo que cada vez que un vecino, amigo o desconocido se pregunte: “¿de dónde vendrá mi ayuda?”, el pueblo de Dios responderá: “de aquí”.

Aquí — usted es bienvenido.
Aquí — usted será alimentado.
Aquí — satisfaremos nuestras necesidades juntos.

PREGUNTAS DE REFLEXIÓN

¿Cómo ha estado presente la iglesia para usted en tiempos de angustia?

¿Cómo podría cambiar su ministerio personal o el ministerio de su congregación si se concentrara en estar continuamente presente con sus vecinos y entre ellos?

¿Dónde lo(a) está llamando Dios a estar continuamente presente esta temporada?

You can be and are part of the exciting 67th UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW67) taking place March 6-17, 2023, in New York city. The annual gathering is instrumental in promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women.

The Lutheran Office for World Community (LOWC) and Lutheran World Federation (LWF) have assembled and prepared for a delegation and partners to take part in CSW67 both in-person and virtually, including our ELCA Hunger Advocacy Fellows. This role has involved many hours of faith-drive details, from theological grounding to visa assistance. Over 25 people are in the Lutheran delegation, including from Brazil, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Jordan, Liberia, Mexico, Mozambique, Poland, Suriname, Switzerland, Tanzania, Uganda, the United States and Zimbabwe.

Key CSW67 activities will bring the Lutheran delegation in contact with partnering governments, ecumenical and civil society colleagues to highlight the vital role that faith actors play in promoting women’s empowerment, and combating violence and discrimination to achieve greater gender equality at local, national and international levels. The priority theme of CSW67 is innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.

The Lutheran delegation will start early, gathering for worship on Sunday, March 5 following orientation (you can listen in) the day before. Additional leadership opportunities coordinated with LOWC and LWF include:

• “Inclusive, transformational technologies facilitating gender equality in financial services” (sponsored by World Vision and LWF) on Monday, March 6 at 12:30 p.m. EDT.
  • Want to connect? Link available from NGS CSW Forum
• “A Phone of My Own: Sexual and Economic Empowerment in Times of Crisis” (LWF among cosponsors) on Thursday, March 9 at 8:15 a.m. EDT.
  • Want to connect? Link available from NGO CSW Forum
• “Girls on Fire” (sponsored by Ecumenical Women members) on Thursday, March 9 at 2 p.m. EDT.
  • Want to connect? Register to join from https://UCC.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_tSouzAM_RCKQWpW2N3q9tw .

And a key event with perspective on CSW67’s priority theme will be:

• “Harnessing digital technologies to end sexual and gender-based violence” (sponsored by LWF) on Friday, March 10 at 10:30 a.m. EDT.
  • Want to connect? Register to join from https://lutheranworld-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_5b6Qfu4MSL-SZgk13DmeIA .

Did you know that the United Nations airs live coverage from UN Web TV online? Access the stream and schedule from https://media.un.org/en/webtv .

Another way to connect is to support this delegation and aims of the CSW67 in prayer. Shared by the Rev. Rivka Schunk, theological research assistant with LWF, for worship with our Lutheran partners:

God of glory, Your word is like a fire that never dies, that warms but does not consume, a flame that sets everything in a new light. Your word in me is a burning fire, burning in my heart, Trapped in my bones, And I cannot and will not hold it back. Let it burst out of me and light up your world. Amen.

Steven Alloway, Granada Hills, CA

Warm-up Question

Have you ever been in a seemingly hopeless situation, then been given a second chance?

Survivors

When a building collapses, there’s an estimated 48-hour window during which trapped victims might be rescued. More generous estimates expand that to five or six days, maximum. Beyond that, the odds of survival decrease significantly. But after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey on February 6^th, rescue teams were still pulling survivors from the rubble nearly 10 days later!

One 13 year old boy, Mustafa, was trapped for 228 hours. “I have no clue how he survived,” said rescue worker Uğur Sevgin. “Because as the excavator was in operation, there was more debris falling all around… Then from the rubble, we got him out, digging him out by hand.”

Rescue worker Özer Aydinli added, “When [they] said, ‘We found a person alive,’ we thought, ‘No, they must be hallucinating.’ We couldn’t believe it. But it is a miracle. The only thing we can say is that this is a great miracle.”

Discussion Questions

• Why do you think rescue workers have been able to find these survivors so far past the 48-hour window?
• Do you think the survivors’ lives will be different going forward? How do you think Mustafa and the others will choose to live, having so narrowly escaped death?
• If you were trapped somewhere and feared there was no hope of rescue, what would you regret not doing? What’s the first thing you would do once you were rescued?

Second Sunday in Lent

Genesis 12:1-4a

Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

John 3:1-17

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year A at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

This has to be one of the most familiar passages in the Bible. John 3:16 is one of the first verses most of us learn and we can recite it by heart. But what does it really mean? More importantly, what does it mean in the context of the rest of the passage? Well, there’s a reason why it’s become one of the core teachings of Christianity: because the stakes are life and death. 

When Nicodemus comes to Jesus, hoping to learn from him, Jesus tells him something puzzling: “You must be born again.” An old man can’t go back into his mother’s womb, can he? But Jesus clarifies that this new birth isn’t a physical one, but one of water and the Spirit. Nicodemus remains confused, but to us, the message is clear: Following Jesus means much more than just seeking guidance from a wise teacher. It means having an entirely new life.

Jesus continues the new life imagery in a different way when he references Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness. In Numbers 21, God sends venomous snakes into the Israelite camp, as punishment for their latest round of blasphemy. Many are bitten and dying.

But then God tells Moses to make a bronze snake and put it on a pole. Any of the Israelites who look at the bronze snake won’t die, but will instead be healed. In using this analogy, Jesus demonstrates the stakes  to Nicodemus. Without being born again of water and the Spirit, we will surely die.

The good news is that we don’t have to. Just as Moses lifted up a snake on a pole to save the Israelites, Jesus was also lifted up—on the cross. And if we look to the cross and believe in him, then we too can be saved from death. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

Discussion Questions

1. Nicodemus was a Pharisee. In light of how some Pharisees viewed Jesus, what do you think it meant for Nicodemus that he went to seek guidance from Jesus? Do you think visiting him was a tough decision?
2. Part of being given new life means leaving your old life behind. What are some aspects of your old life that you need to leave in the past, in order to follow Jesus?
3. Like Mustafa and the other survivors pulled from the rubble in Turkey, how will you choose to live going forward, knowing that you too have escaped death?

Activity Suggestions

Read the story of Moses and the bronze serpent in Numbers 21:4-9. Make a list of the ways the story mirrors our salvation from sin.

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus, help us to turn from our old lives and fully embrace our new lives in you. Grant that we may always look to the cross, so that when death comes to us, we can be assured of eternal life. Amen.

 

Session 1 — Psalm 32

“You are a hiding place for me.” —Psalm 32:7

 

Psalm 32 is a fitting way to begin the season of Lent. The season has most commonly been understood through the centuries as a time of fasting and preparation for Easter, a time when new Christians were often baptized. As early as the second century, theologian Irenaeus of Lyons wrote of a time of penance and prayer leading up to Holy Week when Christians and those seeking baptism should fast for a period of 40 days or 40 hours (the translation is unclear) while reflecting on their sin and their need for God’s grace.

The psalm for this week draws us into the emotional and spiritual experience of repentance and forgiveness. “Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,” the psalmist writes, “whose sin is covered” (verse 1). The verses describe the internal turmoil with vivid and visceral language, such as “groaning” (verse 3). The “heavy” hand of God bears down on the psalmist, sapping their strength to keep going (verse 4). When they experience forgiveness, it is like being “surround[ed]” by gladness and finding a comforting, secure “hiding place” (verse 7).

That experience of shame and isolation lies at the heart of what sin really is and how it impacts us. The psalmist, for example, suffers in “silence,” while their body “wastes away” from the effects of what we might today call depression (verse 3). So often, we understand sin as simply disobedience. We view God as a law-giving judge who demands our compliance with specific rules. Repentance and forgiveness, then, are concerned with our confession of what we did wrong and our promise to do better next time.

The psalm, though, offers a deeper understanding of the dynamic between sin and forgiveness and between us and God. Here, sin is a visceral and painful experience of being locked out of relationships, of feeling that we cannot become our full selves. Forgiveness goes beyond merely the acceptance of an apology for wrongdoing and points toward God’s desire for true reconciliation and wholeness. The psalm recognizes how, on this side of the full reign of God, life can wound us and leave us yearning for words of welcome, comfort and love.

What the psalmist describes is the experience of stigma. The word comes from a Greek term meaning “mark” or “puncture,” which seems apt when one considers how deeply being stigmatized can cut. To be stigmatized is to be made to feel ashamed or broken because of something we have done or, more often, for who we are. This is one reason why food pantries and other hunger ministries are often underutilized by the people who need them. To be hungry, all too often, is to be stigmatized for circumstances beyond one’s control, so neighbors commonly try to deal with hunger or food insecurity on their own. The social and emotional costs of stigma are simply too high.

This stigma is reinforced often in the ways we talk about hunger. Language such as “the hungry” or “the poor” makes it seem as if a person’s whole identity is nothing more than the challenges they face. People dispensing angry rhetoric about “freeloading” or calls for “self-sufficiency” ignore the hard work people do to avoid or escape hunger or poverty — and our lack of control over the systems or events that may drive us into them.

The psalmist takes comfort in knowing that, with God, there is no stigma. In God the only “mark” we carry is being God’s children. This faith motivates the robust hunger ministries that accompany neighbors every day. Food pantries and other feeding programs may provide food, but perhaps the most important part of all our ministries may be building a community that reinforces God’s love of all rather than society’s stigmatizing of some.

The ministry of Christ the King Deaf Church in West Chester, Penn., is a testament to this faith. Christ the King provides a place of welcome, worship and fellowship for neighbors who are deaf or who have hearing limitations. Through DeafCAN!, Christ the King’s community human services program, the church reaches across six counties and into the lives of over 250 individuals and their families every year. Recognizing that inaccessibility in many communities can create significant communication barriers for people who need help to meet their basic needs, DeafCAN! provides support for deaf neighbors who are hungry, homeless, imprisoned or ill. It is the only program in Pennsylvania to provide dedicated service for immigrants and refugees who are deaf or have hearing limitations; the state of Pennsylvania used the DeafCAN! Sensory Service Provider (SSP) program as a model for its own.

Learn more about the DeafCAN! Sensory Service Provider (SSP) program by watching the video below.

With a Domestic Hunger Grant from ELCA World Hunger, DeafCAN! was able to purchase personal protective equipment so that the SSP program could continue safely. The leaders of the program are also looking ahead to establishing the first transitional housing facility for deaf people recently released from prison and, potentially, for others in need of stable housing. Through its work with deaf immigrants and refugees, DeafCAN! has also created new opportunities for support, especially through teaching English and American Sign Language classes and citizenship classes. The eastern Pennsylvania chapter of DeafCAN! performed two plays showcasing the life stories of the actors themselves in 2021.

This work is critical to confronting the stigmatization caused by prejudice and discrimination against people based on their abilities. As DeafCAN! puts it, “Being deaf can cut one off from much that the rest of us take for granted: social services, church, neighbors . . . and most cruelly, cut off from their own families.” Stigmatization and exclusion are core drivers behind the higher rates of hunger and poverty that people living with disabilities face in the United States. The inaccessibility of resources, even within many churches, makes it more difficult for all neighbors to get the support they need to thrive.

In contrast to these systems, institutions and communities set up to exclude them, Christ the King Deaf Church provides opportunities for people who are deaf to participate and lead. In fact, the Rev. Beth Lockard, co-founder of Christ the King Deaf Church along with her husband, is currently pastor of the church, and more than half the staff is deaf. Through DeafCAN!, the church and its ministry bear witness to the important role faith communities can play in ending stigma and fostering authentic hope for neighbors made vulnerable by the sins of discrimination, marginalization and stigmatization.

For generations — and too often today — people living with disabilities encounter people of faith who try to link their disability to sin, claiming, like Jesus’ disciples in John 9, that disability results from disobedience to God. Or, well-intentioned people of faith offer to pray that God will “heal” their disability, without asking first whether a neighbor who is disabled desires or even needs such “healing.” Far more important is healing the systems and communities that exclude neighbors based on their abilities. The ministry of Christ the King Deaf Church and the words of Psalm 32 teach us that God’s healing penetrates more deeply, healing the wounds caused not by the sins we commit but by the sin that is pressed upon us, the stigmatization that, perhaps like a heavy hand, “dries up” our strength (vs. 4) and pushes us to remain silent (vs. 3). The Psalm is a reminder of the sin that pervades our communities, separating us from God and one another, and leaving so many of us feeling alone.

The call to return to God during Lent – to prepare, to fast and to repent – is twofold. On the one hand, it is a way to remind ourselves that being made to feel ashamed, burdened, excluded or “cut off” is not part of God’s plan for us. On the other hand, it also opens us to recognize the many ways that we, the church, have failed to be the loving, welcoming, affirming presence God calls us to be in the world. The ministry of Christ the King Deaf Church and DeafCAN! is not a specialized, localized ministry; it is the ministry to which God calls the whole people of God – ending not just physical hunger, but the emotional, mental and spiritual hunger from which we yearn for release.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

How does Psalm 37 shape or reshape your understanding of sin?

Think of a time when you experienced someone stigmatizing or stereotyping you. How did this make you feel?

How does or how can your faith inform your encounters with people (even strangers) who are experiencing hunger and homelessness?

Consider your own context. How does your congregation, school or workplace provide a welcoming environment to people of diverse abilities? What could you be doing better, and what action steps could you take toward that end between now and Easter?

Sesión 1 — Salmo 32

“Tú eres mi refugio” —Salmo 32:7

El Salmo 32 es una manera apropiada de iniciar la temporada de Cuaresma. A lo largo de los siglos, esta temporada ha sido entendida más comúnmente como un tiempo de ayuno y preparación para la Pascua de Resurrección, una época en que a menudo se bautizaba a los nuevos cristianos. Ya en el siglo II, el teólogo Ireneo de Lyon había escrito sobre un tiempo de penitencia y oración que conduce a la Semana Santa y en el cual los cristianos y aquellos que desean ser bautizados deben ayunar por un período de 40 días o 40 horas (la traducción no es clara) a la vez que reflexionan sobre su pecado y su necesidad de la gracia de Dios.

El salmo de esta semana nos lleva a la experiencia emocional y espiritual del arrepentimiento y el perdón. “Dichoso a quien se le perdonan sus transgresiones”, escribe el salmista, “a quien se le borran sus pecados” (versículo 1). Los versículos describen la perturbación interna con un lenguaje vívido y visceral, como “gemir” (versículo 3). La mano de Dios “pesaba” sobre el salmista, debilitando su fuerza para seguir adelante (versículo 4). Cuando experimentan el perdón, es como estar “rodeados” de alegría y encontrar un “refugio” reconfortante y seguro (versículo 7).

Esa experiencia de vergüenza y aislamiento yace en el meollo de lo que realmente es el pecado y cómo nos afecta. El salmista, por ejemplo, sufre en “silencio”, mientras que su cuerpo “se consume” por los efectos de lo que hoy podríamos llamar depresión (versículo 3). Con demasiada frecuencia consideramos que el pecado es simplemente desobediencia. Vemos a Dios como un juez que da la ley y exige nuestro cumplimiento de reglas específicas. El arrepentimiento y el perdón, entonces, tienen que ver con nuestra confesión de lo que hicimos mal y nuestra promesa de hacer mejor las cosas la próxima vez.

Sin embargo, el salmo ofrece una comprensión más profunda de la dinámica entre el pecado y el perdón y entre Dios y nosotros. El pecado aquí es una experiencia visceral y dolorosa de ser excluido de relaciones, de sentir que no podemos llegar a ser completos.  El perdón va más allá de la mera aceptación de una disculpa por haber hecho el mal y apunta hacia el deseo de Dios de una verdadera reconciliación y plenitud. El salmo reconoce que, en este lado del reino pleno de Dios, la vida puede herirnos y dejarnos anhelando palabras de acogida, consuelo y amor.

Lo que el salmista describe es la experiencia del estigma. Esta palabra proviene de un término griego que significa “marca” o “punción”, que parece apropiado cuando consideramos lo profundo que ser estigmatizados puede cortarnos. Ser estigmatizado es sentirse avergonzado o estropeado por algo que hemos hecho o, más frecuentemente, por lo que somos.  Esta es una de las razones por las que las despensas de alimentos y otros ministerios de alivio del hambre a menudo son subutilizados por las personas que los necesitan. Con demasiada frecuencia, el tener hambre es ser estigmatizado por circunstancias fuera del control de la persona, por lo que comúnmente el prójimo trata de lidiar por su cuenta con el hambre o la inseguridad alimentaria. Los costos sociales y emocionales del estigma son simplemente demasiado altos.

Este estigma se refuerza a menudo en nuestras formas de hablar sobre el hambre. Palabras como “los hambrientos” o “los pobres” hacen que parezca que toda la identidad de una persona no es más que las dificultades que enfrenta. Las personas que dispensan una retórica enfadada sobre el “oportunismo” o llamados a la “autosuficiencia” ignoran el arduo trabajo que las hacen personas para evitar o escapar del hambre o la pobreza —y nuestra falta de control sobre los sistemas o eventos que pueden arrastrarnos a estas.

El salmista se consuela al saber que, con Dios, no hay estigma. En Dios, la única “marca” que llevamos es ser hijos de Dios. Esta fe motiva los robustos ministerios del hambre que acompañan al prójimo todos los días. Las despensas de alimentos y otros programas de alimentación pueden proporcionar alimentos, pero quizás la parte más importante de todos nuestros ministerios puede ser construir una comunidad que refuerce el amor de Dios por todos, en lugar de la estigmatización de algunos por parte de la sociedad.

El ministerio de Christ the King Deaf Church [Iglesia Cristo Rey para sordos] en West Chester, Pensilvania, es un testimonio de esta fe. Christ the King proporciona un lugar de acogida, adoración y compañerismo a los vecinos sordos o que tienen limitaciones auditivas. Por medio de DeafCAN!, el programa comunitario de servicios humanos de Christ the King, la iglesia llega a seis condados y a las vidas de más de 250 personas y sus familias cada año. Reconociendo que la inaccesibilidad en muchas comunidades puede crear barreras de comunicación significativas para las personas que necesitan ayuda en satisfacer sus necesidades básicas, DeafCAN! brinda apoyo a vecinos sordos que tienen hambre, no tienen hogar, están encarcelados o enfermos. Es el único programa en Pensilvania que brinda servicios dedicados a inmigrantes y refugiados sordos o con limitaciones auditivas; el estado de Pensilvania usó el Programa de Provisión de Servicios Sensoriales (SSP, por sus siglas en inglés) DeafCAN! como modelo para su propio programa.

Con una Beca Doméstica contra el Hambre de ELCA World Hunger [Hambre Mundial de la ELCA], DeafCAN! pudo comprar equipo de protección personal para que el programa SSP pudiera continuar de manera segura. Los líderes del programa también están mirando hacia el futuro con el fin de establecer la primera instalación de vivienda de transición para personas sordas recién liberadas de prisión y, potencialmente, para otras que necesitan una vivienda estable. Mediante su trabajo con inmigrantes y refugiados sordos, DeafCAN! también ha creado nuevas oportunidades de apoyo, especialmente a través de la enseñanza de inglés y del lenguaje de señas americano, y clases de ciudadanía. En 2021, el capítulo del este de Pensilvania de DeafCAN! realizó dos obras teatrales que muestran las historias de la vida de los propios actores.

Este trabajo es fundamental para enfrentar la estigmatización causada por los prejuicios y la discriminación contra las personas en función de sus capacidades. Como dice DeafCAN!, “ser sordo puede separarlo a uno de mucho de lo que el resto de nosotros damos por sentado: servicios sociales, iglesia, vecinos. . . y lo más cruel, separarlo a uno de su propia familia”. La estigmatización y la exclusión son los principales impulsores de las tasas más altas de hambre y pobreza que enfrentan las personas que viven con discapacidades en los Estados Unidos. La inaccesibilidad de los recursos, incluso dentro de muchas iglesias, hace que sea más difícil para todos los vecinos obtener el apoyo que necesitan para prosperar.

En contraste con estos sistemas, instituciones y comunidades establecidas para excluirlas, Christ the King Deaf Church ofrece oportunidades para que las personas sordas participen y lideren. De hecho, la Rvda. Beth Lockard, cofundadora de Christ the King Deaf Church junto con su esposo, es actualmente pastora de la iglesia, y más de la mitad del personal son sordos. Por medio de DeafCAN!, la iglesia y su ministerio da testimonio del importante papel que las comunidades de fe pueden jugar en acabar con el estigma y fomentar una auténtica esperanza en el prójimo que ha sido hecho vulnerable por los pecados de discriminación, marginación y estigmatización.

Durante generaciones —y con demasiada frecuencia hoy—, las personas que viven con discapacidades se encuentran con personas religiosas que intentan ligar su discapacidad con el pecado, afirmando, igual que los discípulos de Jesús en Juan 9, que la discapacidad es el resultado de la desobediencia a Dios. O personas de fe bien intencionadas ofrecen orar para que Dios “sane” su discapacidad, sin preguntar primero si un prójimo que está discapacitado desea o incluso necesita tal “curación”. Mucho más importante es sanar los sistemas y las comunidades que excluyen al prójimo en función de sus capacidades. El ministerio de Christ the King Deaf Church [Iglesia Cristo Rey para sordos] y las palabras del Salmo 32 nos enseñan que la curación de Dios penetra más profundamente, curando las heridas causadas, no por los pecados que cometemos, sino por el pecado que se nos impone, la estigmatización que, tal vez como una mano pesada, “seca” nuestras fuerzas (versículo 4) y nos empuja a permanecer en silencio (versículo 3). El Salmo es un recordatorio del pecado que impregna nuestras comunidades, separándonos de Dios y unos de otros, y dejando a muchos de nosotros sintiéndonos solos.

El llamado a volver a Dios durante la Cuaresma —a prepararse, ayunar y arrepentirse— es doble. Por un lado, es una manera de recordarnos a nosotros mismos que sentirnos avergonzados, agobiados, excluidos o “separados” no es parte del plan de Dios para nosotros. Por otro lado, también nos abre a reconocer las muchas maneras en que nosotros, la iglesia, hemos fallado en ser la presencia amorosa, acogedora y afirmativa que Dios nos llama a ser en el mundo. El ministerio de Christ the King Deaf Church y DeafCAN! no es un ministerio especializado y localizado; es el ministerio al cual Dios llama a todo el pueblo de Dios —acabar, no solo con el hambre física, sino también con el hambre emocional, mental y espiritual de la cual anhelamos la liberación.

PREGUNTAS DE REFLEXIÓN

¿Cómo moldea o remodela el Salmo 37 su comprensión del pecado?

Piense en un momento en el que experimentó que alguien lo(a) estigmatizaba o estereotipaba. ¿Cómo lo(a) hizo sentir esto?

¿Cómo orienta o puede orientar su fe sus encuentros con personas (incluso desconocidos) que están experimentando hambre y falta de vivienda?

Considere su propio contexto. ¿Cómo proporciona su congregación, escuela o lugar de trabajo un ambiente acogedor para personas de diversas capacidades? ¿Qué podría estar haciendo mejor, y qué pasos de acción podría dar hacia ese fin entre este momento y la Pascua de Resurrección?