PARROQUIA de STA. TERESA DE Ávila En Monterrey NL A.R.

Nada te espante, Tasajillo 316, Barrio Mirasol Sect. II
todo se pasa, Ciudad Solidaridad Tel. 1158-2826
Dios no se muda. Monterrey, N.L. 64100
La paciencia todo lo alcanza.
Quien a Dios tiene nada le falta.
Solo Dios basta.

TO THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY
FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA

Dear Friends of the Church of the Nativity,

My letter is arriving like this year’s Dakota Spring, extraordinarily late! As I glance at my desk I contemplate 5 empty cups of what was coffee, I must be one of Folgers best customers and I still seem behind on just about everything. We have a new bishop, you will soon have a new bishop and we all have a new Pope! What a ride has this last year been. I got lost in time and space somewhere between Christmas and Ash Wednesday and everyday seems like the day before or after Sunday!

We continue to grow as a parish. I have lost count of Sunday mass attendance since we pushed the pews together and added 100 more chairs. Our new bishop (Rogelio Cabrera) visited us in January…some 1400 came to the mass…as I drove him home at about 11:15 p.m., after a late supper and people were coming out of the 10:30 p.m. Sunday liturgy he said he had never seen a church with three floors, and that we were the only ones on the planet that had mass at 10:30 p.m.

Last year we decided (translated into plane English… “I decided”… ) we needed more youth encounters. This year we have 27 youth encounters and 18 encounters for couples! That was all nice on paper but reality has been a little bit on the edge of insanity. Together with three mission retreats we have 48 weekends with mass events! Monsignor Peña who is a retired priest that lives with us accompanies me every weekend to confess and celebrate Eucharist on Saturday night and then return around midnight and be ready for mass at 7:00 a.m.. He is a witness to priestly life and reminds me much of the late Fr. Maurice Mueller.

Our Evangelization center has taken off. This is a great miracle since I am not much of a fund raiser and confide in the divine providence for such projects. The building will have a basement and five floors above ground with some 26,802 square feet. The foundation is so that it can support another three floors in the future. At present without counting the over 2000 students in CCD, we have about 1400 people who gather in different apostolic groups on a weekly basis. All will be housed in the new edifice.

Obviously our community like many these days is based on lay ministry which is dangerous, since they often do God´s Will… which can be a lot of Work for us priests! At the same time it is joyous since the Spirit is able to show itself in so many ways!
Pope Francisco has been a special happening for us. Not only because he is from Latin America, but perhaps even more so since he has always reached out to the poor not as photo opt, but as a way of life. The poor feel as if one of their own had become Pope. He changes the way people look on themselves and feel. There are great evils in poverty, and many sad stories. Yet I believe we need to take a step back with the Pope to look at the world through a different lens. Who is really poor? Who is really rich? Who depends on whom for the most important things in life…. those who give or those who receive? It would seem that the joy in the Spirit that so overwhelmed the disciples of Jesus on Pentecost was so powerful that even the ruthlessness of evil could not stop it. Food for thought for our times.

Our security situation in this part of the country has improved. Our former president’s struggle to form a new police force throughout the country is producing fruit. Yet we still have a long ways to go. The new government has decided that security is more of a perception problem than anything else. Perception is still a big problem given that we have had 283 people executed by organized crime in the metro area so far this year and large convoys of military vehicles and some fitted with what appear to be small tanks are seen on city streets. Eight people have been killed in our parish, many of them women. The kidnappings have not ceased and acts of senseless violence continue. One example was a party for a quinceañera where they fired into the crowd with machine guns and threw a grenade, killing two, one who was a five year old. Like the Boston Marathon dozens of innocent people were injured. This took place a mile or so from our church. Our church became famous too this year for our bullet proof wall and traffic light warning system. Televisa (Mexican television network) did a report on it and then NBC on their web page..the Canadian broadcasting company and CNN among others. You can watch it in Spanish by putting “iglesia blindada” in your google search or “cbc Scott McDermott” for the interview on radio in English… I never saw what CNN Español did or Aljazeera… my five minutes of fame in life and I missed it!

I close again thanking you all for your prayers and your continual financial aid. May the force of the Spirit of Pentecost strengthen you all in your continuing mission to bear witness to the Gospel of God´s Kingdom!

God bless.

Fr. Scott Michael McDermott Eichhorst

Fri. May 3rd First Friday Fast in Solidarity with Those Living in Poverty
Tues. May 7th Social Justice Com. meets 6:30 pm Nazareth Room DVD on Fr. Jack & Sr. Peggy’s work in Chimbote
Thurs. May 9th Sr. Peggy’s Celebration 6:30pm Seasons at Rose Creek call 701-364-1062 for reservations.

Thurs. May 16th Jail Luncheon Cass County Jail Chaplains invite those interested in jail ministry to lunch. Contact Gerry Leach at 701-364-0067 for details and to reserve a seat. No cost.

Sun.May 19th Fair Trade Coffee available for purchase after all liturgies.
Postcard Campaign for Just and Compassionate Immigration Reform continues
Tues. May 21st Immigration Reform Advocacy Day sponsored by the U.S. Catholic Bishops/ Justice for Immigrants
Wed. May 22nd Homelessness Training 201: Housing Fargo Public Library 9:30-4:00 Contact Laurie Baker for information and to register 701-200-0855 or directorfmchp@gmail.com

Mon. Apr. 1st Kind Hearted Woman PPTV/Ch. 13 8pm
Tues. Apr. 2nd Kind Hearted Woman (part 2) PPTV/Ch.13 8pm
Fri. Apr. 5th First Friday Fast in Solidarity with Those Living in Poverty
Ecumenical Advocacy Days : At God’s Table – Food and Justice for a Healthy World through April 8th
Tues. Apr.9th Frontline: Syria Behind the Lines PPTV/Ch 13 9pm
Thurs. Apr. 11th 50th Anniversary of Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth) Pope John XXIII
Mon. Apr.15th Birthright 40th Anniversary Dinner St. Joseph’s Gathering Place                                                                    Call 218-291-5799 for reservations
Myrt Armstrong Recovery Center Open House 2-6pm 1419 1st Ave. S. Fargo
Tues. Apr. 16-17 Building Bridges Conference responding to the needs of New Americans                                       contact Lutheran Social Services to register   dasche@lssnd.org
Sun.Apr. 21st Fair Trade Coffee available for purchase after all liturgies.
Postcard Campaign for Just and Compassionate Immigration Reform continues
Mon. Apr.22nd Earth Day
Fri.Apr. 26 YWCA’s Take a Stand Against Racism Day
Mon. Apr. 29th Independent Lens: The Undocumented PPTV/Ch 13 9pm
Wed. May 1st Project Community Connect/2nd Chance Career Fair Fargo Dome 9am – 5pm
Great Plains Food Bank 30th Anniversary Open House 4-6pm 1720 3rd Ave. N. Fargo
Tues. May 7th Social Justice Commission meets 6:30pm Bethlehem Room

…will benefit the Dorothy Day Food Pantry and the Cass County Jail Ministry. March is Minnesota Food Share Month, so our cash donations to the Food Pantry can purchase significantly more food that we can on our own and will also bring additional state resources.
The numbers of people needing help from the Food Pantry have never been higher.
Some of our collection money will be used to purchase Catholic reading material for the jail. Deacon Stu Longtin, who was formerly assigned to serve there, will help us select books that focus on helping inmates deepen their faith, find hope and build a better future for themselves and their families. Sheriff Laney’s goal is to help prisoners become better people by the time they leave the jail, and we would like to be part of that work.

Now is the time to contact your congressional delegation in Washington in support of just and compassionate immigration reform.
 The U.S. Catholic bishops have summarized the social justice  principles that directly affect this issue and request  that we urge  the 113thCongress to support immigration reform that
• Provides a path to citizenship for undocumented persons in the country
• Preserves family unity as a corner-stone of our national immigration system
• Provides legal paths for low-skilled immigrant workers to come and work in the United States
• Restores due process protections to our immigration enforcement policies
• Addresses the root causes (push factors) of migration, such as persecution and economic disparity.
Postcards to Congress listing these principles  and calling for their support  are available at Nativity  at  the northeast entrance to the church and in the Fireside Room.  They now require  $.33 postage.

Please go to  http://justiceforimmigrants.org for more information and to sign postcards online.  Help to  follow our biblical directive to “Welcome the stranger” and to give hope for a better life  for our brothers and sisters in Christ.