Hi Mike – see below for a report on Jesuit VOlunteers and their work with homeless people. this may be a good connection for the BCD group.
– jim
Rev. James L. Fredericks, Ph.D
Dear Graduate Theology Students,
Please find below, the link of Angelus magazine article, written by LMU Graduate Theological Studies alumna, Ellie Hidalgo, concerning the ministerial works of various Jesuit institutions and the homeless community.
Of note is the article’s discussion of a special upcoming liturgy on Saturday, October 29, at 3:30 p.m., at Blessed Sacrament Church in Hollywood, with both Auxiliary Bishop Edward Clark of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and Fr. Greg Boyle, S.J., of Homeboy Industries.
Kind regards,
Sabrina Ho
Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, USA Headquarters
1100 S. Valley Center Ave.
San Dimas, CA 91773
(909) 447-7799 x611
sabrina_ho@tzuchi.us
www.tzuchi.us
Hsi Lai Temple
Present: Debra Boudreau, Theresa Clark, Sabrina Ho, Rev. Royoko Osa, Bishop Noriaki Ito, Bhante Chao Chu, Rev. Kusala, Ven. Man Kuang, Ven. You Heng, Dickson Yagi, Thomas, Michael Kerze
Rev. Ito discussed the International Jodo Shinshu conference held this year in Los Angeles that he organized with Rev. Osa and others. The conference was called: “Dobo: Seeking Unity in the Midst of Diversity” and had 310 participants from Japan, Hawaii, South America, and the United States. Dobo means “Travelers on the Path,” and the theme was “Remembering the Past, Living in the Present, and Looking to the Future.” In the discussion about it the suggestion of organizing a Buddhist/Catholic youth dialogue was explored.
Sabrina Ho reported on a meeting with supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas who invited our dialogue to help with the transitional homeless housing attached to Martin Luther King Hospital by providing spiritual services such as forms of meditation. The discussion considered sending one dialogue member each month to provide such service. Bhante Chao Chu said that we need to find out about the environment, who is there, so that we can see how to be effective. We agreed to explore this further and Sabrina will see if we can bring the dialogue to MLK for a meeting to see facilities and think through how we can help. Provisional dates for such a visit are Nov. 18 or Dec. 2. We can think of classes we could teach. Rev. Kusala volunteered to do one called: “8 Steps to End Suffering,” and mentioned how he has had been going to Leisure World for 2 years where a Buddhist Club has formed. We plan to work with Adrienne’s Mental Health Services on this where Rev. Hata at Higasi Honganji Temple is already part of a group working with on this.
Sabrina and Deborah also alerted us to a Memorial Service for the unclaimed bodies of homeless and others that will take place at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Covina on Oct. 26. And let us remember David Field’s invitation to join in with the blanket distribution for the homeless on Nov. 22. Please let David know if you are interested: dfields@svdpla.org.
We also discussed Buddhist-Catholic weddings thinking of Johnny Hsu’s recent marriage to Maria where Fr. Jim Fredericks presided with Fr. Alexei and Bishop Jongmae Park.
Rev. Kusala volunteered to help develop our Facebook page.
Our next dialogue will be Nov. 18 provisionally scheduled at Fr. Alexei’s St. Andrew Church in El Segundo if the visit to MLK doesn’t happen. If we meet at St. Andrew Church, Ven. Man Kuang volunteered to bring a lunch of Chinese food!
Please read the minutes to see about providing spiritual services at MLK Hospital’s attached homeless transitional housing and about the next dialogue meeting. Don’t forget to use Doodle to mark when you can attend dialogues.
This is going out today because I want to make sure the information goes out in a timely fashion.
Peace!
Michael Kerze