Women learn importance of councils, immigration

Intermountain Catholic

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Michael McDevitt talks about the spirituality of Saint Paul and the importance of prayer based on the Mystical Humanity of Christ.

SALT LAKE CITY — "Women of the Catholic Church are dedicated to spreading the gospel of Christ, not only in words but in actions," said San Francisco Province Director Mary Adams at the Province of San Francisco Meeting March 6-8.

The meeting "Women of Faith, Women of Action," was held at the Sheraton City Centre in Salt Lake City. Women from Utah and California attended this meeting.

Adams said we are members of our councils of Catholic women because we have positive attitudes about life and our role in the Church. Many embrace their membership as a life calling. They are ready to meet you as a friend and mentor. But women can only share their knowledge with others when they are secure in their faith and have an understanding of what makes their lives full and happy.

"We have to believe in ourselves before we can get anyone to join our councils," said Adams. "I love council and have been a member since the 1970s. I can’t even begin to tell you how rich my life has been because of my association with women of the parish, state, and national levels of council. Faith, attitude, and education are the keys to a happy, healthy council. The National Council of Catholic Women (NCCW) has those tools. Your attitude in how you approach an assigned job will reflect how others relate to you.

"There are many wonderful programs available to feed your spirit and enrich your lives through the NCCW," said Adams.

"We are blessed to be a member of this 89- year-old organization known as the NCCW," said Bobbie Hunt, NCCW president, and member of St. Rose of Lima Parish, Layton. "Through NCCW programs, we as women of council have given countless hours to helping victims of domestic violence, given respite to those who are weary, given a voice to the unborn, and to those women who were themselves victims, given counseling and comfort. We sponsor pro-life Masses and Red Masses for our judges and legislators.

"We bring drug and alcohol awareness to the forefront," said Hunt. "How many children have been able to get on the bus to visit their mothers in prison because of our councils? How many lives have been saved through Roots of Peace, Water for Life, or the Madonna Plan? We have helped the immigrants from Europe and Ireland, helped the migrants from Mexico, and helped refugees from the Sudan and Somalia."

Hunt said countless homeless have been able to shower, wash their hair, and put on a clean pair of socks, warm gloves, a hat, and felt a little better about themselves thanks to the councils of Catholic women and all the supplies they have donated. Children can read a book of their own through the Reading for Fun and Future Program, and breathe better because of the Children and a Safe Environment Program. Councils bring awareness of legislative issues such as the Pregnant Woman Support Act, and awareness of Sex and Cell Phones - Protecting Your Children.

"What does council mean to you?" asked Hunt. "In going around the country, I hear of the love of council and what it has meant in the lives of women. I hear stories of friendship, service, and being able to help those in need. If council is important to you, are you mentoring new women to take your place?"

"As the leaders of the San Francisco Province, let me remind you that there is a reason you were elected to the positions you hold. You were put there to do God’s work," said Hunt. "It is your mission to begin the steps to secure the future of your council."

The Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City reflected on the topic of immigration.

"Basically the Catholic Church and the voice of our United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is calling our country to comprehensively address and update the broken immigration system. Our conference believes that meaningful immigration reform must balance the right to migrate with the right to regulate migration. There must be a balance between the right of the individual, which we do first because of our scriptures, and the country’s right to regulate. Thus, the bishops oppose the enforcement only immigration policies because they lack proper accommodation of the right to migrate."

Bishop Wester said instead, the USCCB supports Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) and policies that bear valid enforcement laws, with fair and generous legalization measures. The bishops have outlined various elements for CIR.

"First is earned legalization," said Bishop Wester. "It would require unauthorized workers to work for several years, take English courses, and pay a fine in order to participate in the program. This would help to stabilize the workforce, promote family unity, and bring a large population out of the shadows and back into their communities. This would allow a path to citizenship.

"Second is enforcement. The bishops support the legitimate and important role of the United States government in enforcing immigration law at the border and in the interior," said Bishop Wester. "The bishops also believe that by replacing illegal migration with legal migration, law enforcement will be better able to focus upon those who are truly a threat to public safety – drug and human traffickers, smugglers, and would-be terrorists. Any enforcement measures must be targeted, proportional, and humane."

Bishop Wester said the third element of CIR is a future worker program. A worker program to permit foreign-born workers to enter the country safely and legally would help reduce illegal immigration and the loss of life in the American desert. Any program should include workplace protections, living wage levels, safeguards against the displacement of U.S. workers, and family unity.

"It is hard for the American people to comprehend, but there are many people in the world who do not want to live in the United States," said Bishop Wester. "They would like to come here and work, and add to our society, but then go home and bring their money to their families. So if we had a future worker program, it would make it easier for people to come and go."

"Fourth, the bishops believe in family-based immigration reform," said Bishop Wester. "It currently takes years for family members to be reunited through the family-based legal immigration system. This leads to breakdowns in families, and in some cases illegal migration. Changes in the family-based immigration system should be made to increase the number of family visas available and reduce family reunification waiting times."

"The bishops believe that congress needs to spend time to address the root causes as to why people are immigrating, why countries are doing so poorly, and how the United States can help and assist them in reducing the need to immigrate in the first place," said Bishop Wester. "And finally, the bishops believe we need to restore due process rights. A lot of the immigration judges have been robbed of their authority. The bishops would ask that authority be given to them again so they can, for example, adjudicate on the spot and say a parent is a care-giver and a child needs that parent to stay in the U.S. while his case is being adjudicated rather than being deported instantly.

"This is the immigration reform for which the bishops are asking, and almost had with the Kennedy-Kyle Bill in June of 2007," said Bishop Wester. "We, in Utah have SB81, which I think will push people into the shadows.

Bishop Wester said dialoguing about immigration can be very difficult because people often have their own agendas and want more to argue or debate rather than hear how you actually feel about the issue. It is important to say, "I understand where you are coming from and now I think we can talk about this issue." Or, simply say "We cannot talk about this right now because it will just turn into an argument."

"Trying to find common ground on the issue of immigration is difficult," said Bishop Wester. "But first of all, the Church does support the law. I would not allow anyone in the diocese to officially say we are advocating that we break the law or espouse civil unrest. We agree the U.S. has the right to enforce the law. We live in a land that is well-served by the law, but at the same time, the law is relative. The bishops would say as time has gone on the immigration laws are no longer capable of handling the reality we face today, and in many cases are not just.

"We must look at the intent of the immigrant, which in many cases is to survive and to find a better life," said Bishop Wester. "The effect is very good for our economy and for our society. That should mitigate any penalty.

"Another point is the economy, which states immigrants take jobs away from people in the United States, and are receiving benefits that they do not pay into," said Bishop Wester. "That may be true in an isolated situation, but in the main, immigrants actually create more jobs. For example, you build a hotel and you need people to staff the hotel. That opens other jobs such as the concierge, who knows a lot about hotel management. You need a human resource person to manage the staff, and you need service industry positions, which the immigrants take."

Bishop Wester said there are many issues surrounding immigration, and the questions are complex so we have to be careful not to give simple answers.

Michael McDevitt, is co-founder of The Mystical Humanity of Christ, Inc. The organization has conducted more than 60 retreats in Northern and Southern California, and Utah.

"Our mission is to create a heightened awareness of the living and dwelling presence of Jesus in the lives of the faithful," said McDevitt. "Our retreats are a way of spreading eucharistic spirituality. We were founded by my uncle, Jesuit Father Frank Parrish, who died in 2003.

"If we were at the church in Corinth and Paul were speaking in our terms today, Paul would say don’t you get it," said McDevitt. "But his scribes would tell him to say, ‘Do you not know that your body is a temple and the spirit of God dwells in you?’ That is a powerful reflection and so important for our spirituality."

McDevitt said the trinity dwells within us and we become his other humanity, his resurrected life. Christ died and left the world, that is true, but he continues to live his resurrected life through our humanities.

"To me this is the very heart and apex of our Catholic faith, and this is why the Eucharist is the corner stone of our faith," said McDevitt. "We are Christ’s mystical humanity. As we pray this, we personalize it. I am Christ’s mystical humanity.

"I just wrote the article "Prayer in Times of Trouble," and I quoted Pope Benedict XVI, who said, ‘What matters most is that you develop your personal relationship with God. That relationship is expressed in prayer.’ Without prayer our human endeavors would achieve very little.’"