Saint Helen youth Ministry (6th-12th Grade) // Family Ministry Spring Session 4 // The Barrio Bishop and the Sing Goal The goal of this session is to challenge middle schoolers with the lives of saints and holy men and women who were reformers within society and to encourage them to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to work for justice and truth in their world. Main Ideas • Jesus was not a “nice teacher,” but called out injustice, spoke the truth, and continually offered mercy for hearts that repented. To be a follower of Jesus is to do the same. • Many saints and holy men and women including Venerable Alphonse Gallegos and Servant of God Sr. Thea Bowman became influential social reformers and, like Jesus, called people toward justice, truth, and proclaimed Christ’s mercy for repentant hearts. • Before we seek to oppose injustice in our world, we must first conform our hearts to Christ and seek mercy for the places we fall short. Scripture Catechism Genesis 1:27 1931-1933 1 Corinthians 12:21-26 Mathew 5:44, 19:21 Engage Opening Prayer Invite your teen to open in prayer! The prayer doesn’t have to be long or arduous, just intentional. It is okay if it’s just an Our Father or a Glory Be – most teens just feel uncomfortable praying out loud because it’s not something they’re used to. The more often they hear you pray aloud and pray aloud themselves, the more comfortable they become in it. Reflect Jesus and Justice Question: Who is the nicest person you know? That makes them so nice? When we think of nice people, we often think of those who are kind, easy-going, easy to get along with. Sometimes, the people we would categorize as nice we would also say don’t generally get into arguments or “rock the boat,” they usually just go with the flow and desire to make the people around them happy. Sometimes we can also put Jesus into this “nice” category. We often think of Him or see Him depicted, with soft lighting, fluffy clouds around Him, laughing with children, or holding sheep in a field. When we think of Him, we know that He is our greatest example of love, and often we equate that to be loving means that we must be “nice.” While it is an aspect of love to be kind and charitable to others, the definition of love is not just to be nice and make everyone happy. Jesus lived out the true definition of love: to will the good of the other and do things that bring about their good. Jesus was not chiefly concerned with making people happy. He was most concerned about making people holy. Jesus called out those who were being hypocritical. He lovingly redirected those who were sinning. He spoke out against injustice. He challenged everyone who followed Him to do things like love their enemies and give everything they have to the poor (Matthew 5:44, 19:21). To be a follower of Jesus is not about being “nice” and getting people to like you. Being a follower of Jesus means imitating Him, which can lead to uncomfortable situations where we call out injustice, speak the truth, or offer mercy and forgiveness to people who have wronged us or others. Questions: what is one way you have seen someone longingly call out another’s wrong actions? What was that like? How did that make you feel? THE BARRIO BISHOP AND THE SINGER When it comes to speaking truth and justice, and genuinely being loving by seeking the good of other people, there are many holy men and women who would fit into that category — but the two, in particular, we are going to discuss are Venerable Alphonsus Gallegos and Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman. Through their specific life circumstances and unique gifts and talents. This man and women became social reformers, and, like Jesus, they called people toward justice, truth, and proclaimed Christ’s mercy for sinners. Venerable Alphonsus Gallegos was born in 1931 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was one of 11 children and had a twin brother. He grew up in a very pious and devout family, and from a young age, he struggled with severe vision and eye issues that led to a variety of surgeries, but his sight was never fully restored. He achieved high education levels attending universities such as Rockhurst University in New York and Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles. At the age of 19, he joined a religious order — the Order of Augustine Recollects (O.A.R.). Eight years later, at the age of 27, he was ordained a priest. He served in New York for eight years, helping at local hospitals and with other neighboring orders. Alphonsus was then transferred out to the West coast and served in Los Angeles and Sacramento. He was placed as an advisor for Hispanic affairs for the diocese and in 1981 he was instituted as the auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Sacramento. As a priest and later as bishop, Alphonsus was known for his ministry to gang members, those who drove lowrider cars, and at risk youth in the poor areas of Sacramento and Los Angeles. He would spend the weekend blessing the lowrider cars, encouraging the Hispanic youth to pursue higher education, and taking care of the elderly. He opened his home to anyone in need and he personally paid Catholic school tuition for the poor. Alphonsus died in 1991 when he was hit by a car and killed instantly on his way back from praying a rosary for the end to abortion. He was considered an unofficial chaplain to the lowriders and migrant workers. He was often called the “Bishop of the Barrio ‘’ — at his funeral, about 300 lowrider cars formed part of his funeral procession. He was given the title Venerable in 2016. Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman was born in 1937 in Mississippi to a Protestant family. From a very early age, Thea was exposed to her African American culture and spirituality’s richness, most notably her people’s history, songs, stories, prayers, customs, and traditions. She learned the lesson of “if you get, give — if you learn, teach,” and a great love for God was instilled in her from a young age. At the age of 9, she decided that she wanted to be Catholic and at the age of 15 she went to LaCrosse, Wisconsin to join the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration where she was the first and only Black nun in her order. She attended the university run by her order and received a BA in English and then went on to the Catholic University of America in Washington DC, where she received her MA and Ph.D. in English. She taught at the elementary and high school level and later at a college. She was also instrumental in creating the Catholic hymnal “Lead Me, Guide Me: The African American Catholic Hymnal,” which was the first hymnal directed to the Black community. She spent 16 years in education and then became a consultant for intercultural awareness for the Diocese of Jackson, Mississippi. During this time, she also became more directly involved in ministry to African Americans. Sister Thea traveled, spoke, and sang, delivering inspiring and joy-filled messages calling on Catholics to celebrate their differences, retain their cultures, and celebrate being one in Christ. Before her death, she spoke before the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops about what it was like being Black and Catholic. She challenged and rebuked the bishops calling them not to neglect their members of color. She sang, she spoke, and she enlightened the bishops on African American history and spirituality. She urged them to continue to evangelize the African American community, promote inclusivity, and understand the necessity and value of Catholic schools in the African American community. She died in 1990 from breast cancer. It was her prayer “to live until I die” which she did, inspiring many along the way and working to transform and reform the segregation and racism within society and the Catholic Church. She was given the title Servant of God when her cause for canonization was opened in 2018. Question: What stands out the most to you form the lives of these two holy people? Why? If we want to see justice in our world, if we’re going to see actual change and the fullness of the love of Jesus Christ realized in our families and our communities, we have to begin with ourselves. When we look at the lives of Sister Thea Bowman and Alphonsus Gallegos, we see people of faith. We see people who were rooted from a young age in both their culture and their faith. Their love and desire to see justice in their communities came from a place of understanding the dignity of every human person as being made in the image and likeness of God — no matter their skin color or their economic status. (Genesis 1:27) It is no secret that our world is hurting from injustice. There are problems of racism, hatred, and unjust systems that divide people based on their skin color or economic status. We see this on the news, we see it on social media, many of you experience it firsthand, and some of us may have begun to see seeds of racism or racists thoughts in our own homes or families. In this time, it is essential that we both fight against injustice and do the hard work of looking at our hearts and our thought patterns.