Catholic Social Teaching | Visitation Monastery of Minneapolis

My Call to do Racial Justice work as a Visitation Companion

Melissa Borgmann-Kiemde, Visitation Companion

“Salesian Spirituality is the heart-to-heart living of the gospel.” — Sr. Mary Margaret McKenzie, VHM

Sr. Katherine signing the memorial for Jamar Clark

I was at the monastery for prayer the day that Jamar Clark was shot and killed by the police. I remember the doorbell ringing and news of this tragedy -just four blocks away – on the lips of those knocking and seeking the Sisters. Details of his death made its way into the chapel, informing our prayer — the quiet and spoken intentions between our chanted psalms.

A half hour later, I accompanied Sr. Katherine to Plymouth Avenue and stood at the foot of the memorial tree where balloons, pictures, and magic-marker messages to Jamar were arranged. I held hands with Nekelia Sharp and Sr. Katherine, as a man – who crossed the street to join us- lead all gathered in a prayer of unity, grief and hope. I stared at Jamar’s photo at the foot of the tree, and thought of his mom, his siblings, the officer who shot him. When Sr. Katherine spoke Jamar Clark’s name three times, I followed suit with a choir of community voices around me, echoing in a refrain, lifting his life and humanity in our hearts. I remember the song “Glory” by John Legend and Common was being played on loud speakers, echoing down the Plymouth Avenue corridor, like a song of praise and lamentation for all to hear.

That experience ignited something, once again, deep within my heart, informing my call as a Visitation Companion.

The death of black and brown men has been a catalyzing force in my call to align with the Visitation Sisters; the desire for all people of all hues to have the fullness and integrity of their lives marked, has animated my vocation to the Vis Companions.

At the center of this call is a commitment to “Live Jesus!” To recognize divine life leaping in all beings, to receive and nurture our figurative cousins bearing love –just as a pregnant Mary and Elizabeth received and celebrated one another carrying their sons, Jesus and John.

Before Jamar Clark was shot and killed by police, I had four students die from gun violence. Chris Dozier. Quincy Brown. Toua Xiong. Marcus White. Each of their lost lives awakened a deep sorrow for our brown sons and daughters, and expanded the call for me to be in deeper relationship, to grow more conscious in recognizing that our mutual liberation is bound up in one another’s lives.

Teacher. Student. Citizen. Nun. Neighbor. Police officer. Criminal. Family. All one in God’s eyes.

When my own son was born and died, on September 13, 2012, the space to grieve and be open to the premature death of a black boy enlarged in me in the most personal and profound manner. Xavi didn’t die a violent death at the hands of anyone wielding a weapon, but he did leave his father, sisters and me with a legacy of grief that opened up our mourning hearts to others who, too, knew life cut short in their families.

Death, and a desire for greater life, opened us.

When Philando Castile was shot and killed by the police, he wasn’t just another dreadlocked man with a wide nose that was murdered. He was “Mr. Phil” to our St. Paul Lex-Ham neighborhood children. The friendly face and nurturing spirit who fed the students at JJ Hill– three blocks from our home.

What is it that the Sisters have that speaks to me? What do the Companions espouse that beckons? Why am I called to align with this northside community as a resident in St Paul, MN?

For me, it’s as simple as relationship. I’m called to be in kindred, heart-to-heart relationships that affirm and nurture new life. Like the Vis Sisters, I am drawn to a life of prayer, contemplating the mystery of Love in its fullness. I’m called to see birth, death, new life, as it is revealed in the gospels and occurring in all of creation. In all communities. In my former classrooms at North High in Minneapolis, to my congregations at Ascension in north Minneapolis and Nativity in St. Paul. To my community of fellow gardeners and food preparers in the Lex-Ham neighborhood. To circles of seekers in my spiritual direction world. To my families in Nebraska and Burkina Faso.

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In this season of my commitment as a Companion, I recognize an organic expansion of my network affiliations, my call to be in relationship to advocate for greater life in the face of so much cruel death. I have been participating in racial justice conversations with members of the The Rye House – Catholic Worker Community in south Minneapolis; with my old and new friends at Celeste’s Dream and the Justice Commission of the Sisters of St Joseph. With new Jewish friends at Jewish Community Action, steeped in spiritually-anchored social teaching. With other parents at Nativity School. With my pastor and fellow parishioner’s at Church of the Ascension. With an online and geographically aligned community in the Real Housewives of St. Paul – Political Chat group on Facebook.

My call as a companion takes me far and wide, bringing me back to center on the mystery of divine love pouring out in these many varied Visitation relationships.

Perhaps this call speaks to you?

As Saints Jane and Francis exclaimed in their written messages, I exclaim: “Live Jesus!”

Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Catholic Social Teaching, Celeste's Dream, Jamar Clark, Jewish Community Action, Justice Commission, Philando Castile, Racial Justice, Sisters of St. Joseph, Visitation Companions, Vocation, Xavi Kiemde 3 Comments

Lent Begins| The Uncomfortable Journey of Reconciliation

by Melissa Borgmann-Kiemde, Visitation Companion

“Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.” Psalm 51:3

“Do uncomfortable things in service of justice.” I scratched some semblance of this mantra into my iPhone Notes app when I heard Just Mercy author Bryan Stevenson speak last spring at the University of Minnesota. This invitation, from the critically acclaimed author, activist and death-row lawyer, is on my heart as I enter Lent, 2016.

Lent is an uncomfortable journey. At its best, it’s an invitation to examine our brokenness — the root causes of our behavior and thought processes that separate us from one another — and make our way toward reconciliation and the hopeful promises of new life. At it’s least, it’s a backdrop for our spiritual life unfolding on a kind of catholic social stage. In either case, we are given these forty days to walk more consciously, more uncomfortably, more intentionally toward the ultimate reconciliation of Love, Mercy, and Justice and our very human selves.

Visitation Sisters’ Lenten Focus: “We are called to reflect on the Cross of Christ looking honestly in our lives and communities, and honestly assess where we see people bearing that cross today.” (Sourcebook)

This particular Lent commences the same week as Sister Mary Margaret, my husband, Francois, and I co- presented on solidarity as part of the Salesian Second Monday series. It arrives with its unmistakable invitation to humble ourselves in the ash-crossing ritual reminding us of our broken humanity and need to see our circumstances anew. This Wednesday comes informed by the previous months of Wednesdays –with Flint’s lead water contamination reports; our polarizing political climate revealing the ever widening gaps between humans; the protests marchers proclaiming, “Black Lives Matter!”; and the death of Jamar Clark -just down the street from the monastery- bringing our ailing humanity to the fore with the cry for greater awareness, mercy, reconciliation and justice.

March a few blocks from Monastery (Credit: Fibonacci Blue/Flickr)

It is within this messy dynamic of our social, political, economic and spiritual environments that I recognize my own soul seeking renewal. It is on this Ash Wednesday that I turn to receive the cross markings on my forehead –symbolizing origin and ending –and welcome God’s mercy. Within this next forty days, I seek to do this uncomfortable work reflecting and acting. I set out this day, buoyed by the community of the Vis Sisters, our northside neighbors, the Companions and Lay Residents, my husband and child, and make my way toward Easter. I muster the courage to face my inner anger, shame, and resentments that perpetuate my separation from others. I prayerfully ask God for the patience and proximity to move toward greater solidarity of spirit with those who hurt, too. I faithfully seek to act in small, practical ways in compassionate alignment with Christ on his journey, and pray for our common destiny as one of ultimate new life.

Will you join me?

*****

A Few Lenten Resources for the Journey:

Mercy Misericordia: Lent 2016 by Joan Chittister (illustration by Br. Mickey McGrath, OSFS (click to order)

Daily Meditations from Loyola Press (click to sign up)

Lent 2016 – Challenging Racism: Prayers & Reflections

Posted in Contemplative Posts, Our Neighbors and Friends, Salesian Spirituality, Uncategorized Tagged Ash Wednesday, Black Lives Matter, Bryan Stevenson, Catholic Social Teaching, Just Mercy, Lent, Lent 2016, Renewal, Repentance, Salesian Monday Night, solidarity, Sr. Mary Margaret McKenzie, Year of Mercy 1 Comment

Salesian Second Monday: The Two Francises on Catholic Social Teaching and the Fundamental Option for the Poor

Join us for our upcoming Salesian Second Monday, on November 9, 2015, from 6-8:30pm, as Sr. Karen Mohan and Monica Ngeno offer their insights into Pope Francis’ call to be a voice for the voiceless. See how Salesian spirituality helps us to respond to this social justice tenet, “The Fundamental Option for the Poor.”

What: Catholic Social Teaching and the Two Francises: Pope Francis and Francis DeSales. Focus: The Fundamental Option for the Poor

When: November 9, 2015;

6pm – Dinner; 7pm – Presentation; 8pm – Night Prayer.

Where: 1619 Girard Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN 55411

S. Karen and Monica

The speakers for this third session of our Fall line up are Sr. Karen Mohan, and religious life discerner, Monica Ngeno. Their presentation will include the Salesian resource, Justice Shall Flourish, a booklet published on the Salesian teaching of Catholic Social Justice themes.

Supper will be at 6pm and our ending time will be 8:30 pm. This includes Night Prayer after the Presentations.

Plan to attend whatever parts of the evenings you can.

We look forward to welcoming you to this time of Salesian study and community fellowship.

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RESOURCES:

S. Karen on our YouTube channel:
“What does ‘Preferential Option for the Poor’ mean for us?”
Click to Download Salesian Monday Flyer

The Busy Christian’s Guide to Catholic Social Teaching

Posted in Calendar/ Events, Salesian Spirituality, Snapshots from the Sisters, Uncategorized Tagged Catholic Social Teaching, Fundamental Option for the Poor, Monica Ngeno, Pope Francis, Preferential Option for the Poor, S. Karen Mohan, Salesian Monday Night, St. Francis de Sales Leave a Comment

Salesian Second Mondays Begin!

Dear Friends,

The Visitation Sisters are happy to announce that we will once again host the Second Monday of the Month Salesian Evenings.

Catholic Social Teaching and the Two Francises: Pope Francis and Francis DeSales.

Fall 2015 semester dates and times:

September 14; 6-8:30pm

October 12; 6-8:30pm

November 9; 6-8:30pm

December 14; 6-8:30pm

6pm – Dinner; 7pm – Presentation; 8pm – Night Prayer.

Sr. Mary Virginia Schmidt

The speakers for this first week are Sr. Mary Virginia Schmidt, who was the chairperson for the committee responsible for the booklet, Justice Shall Flourish, which will be used as a resource for the Monday night presentations. Brenda Lisenby, who is finishing her year-long Monastic Immersion Experience with us, will be co-presenter for the evening. Brenda will be bringing Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si into the discussion, particularly some views on caring for our planet. This first session of the Series will also include meeting new friends, touching base with people we haven’t seen for the summer and planning our participation for the coming months.

Brenda Lisenby

The sisters will provide the entire meal for our first meeting and we will sign up to bring items for the next months. Supper will be at 6pm and our ending time will be 8:30 pm. This includes Night Prayer after the Presentations.

Plan to attend whatever parts of the evenings you can.

We look forward to welcoming you to this time of Salesian study and community fellowship.

Sincerely,

Sr. Suzanne for the Sisters

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RESOURCES:
Click to Download Salesian Monday Flyer

Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si

The Busy Christian’s Guide to Catholic Social Teaching

Posted in Calendar/ Events, Salesian Spirituality, Uncategorized, Visitation Engagment Programs Tagged Catholic Social Teaching, Justice Shall Flourish, Laudatio Si, Pope Francis, S. Mary Virginia Schmidt, Salesian Second Monday, Salesian Spirituality, St. Francis de Sales Leave a Comment

Naming our Sacred “Tents”

by Melissa Borgmann-Kiemde, Visitation Companion

“Where is your sacred tent?”

Under the awning of a road side fruit stand –erected on the outskirts of Charlotte, North Carolina, I purchased the most delicious peaches. Hungry and thirsty, my husband and I had pulled off the highway — en route to the Blue Ridge mountains — to grab a quick snack. Within five minutes of our stop along 74, we had a paper bag filled with white and yellow peaches. Can you imagine our delight? Sinking our teeth into their pinkish and deep yellow interiors provided the exact refreshment we were both seeking.

As I paused to savor the fruit, wipe my mouth from the juices, I took note of memorabilia laying out on a table. There, in the shade, I noticed the top item was an award. Framed in black, the weathered ivory paper had an inscription and imagery seemingly from a period gone by. The calligraphy began, “To James Larry Crowe,” and was signed, “The Free Masons of the Grand Masonic Lodge in the year of 2010.”

I got quite still. Even dizzy for a moment. What was I looking at? Who did this belong to? Was this only 5 years old? James Crowe? As in “Jim Crow“? My mind raced. Why was this in the tent of a fruit stand? Who were the free masons to these farmers? And what are they doing in 2010? I was curious and stymied.

I asked the strawberry blond woman who sold us the fruit about the award. In a lovely southern drawl, she responded, “Oh, those all belong to uncle Larry. Y’all would have to ask him about it. Each one has a story.” She smiled and then sighed, looking away.

Within minutes, we were back in the car — me and my pink-skinned, sweaty self with peach juiced-stained pants, next to my brown husband, wielding the keys in one hand and a paper napkin in the next. My fingers shook as I typed “James Larry Crowe” into the search engine on my smart phone. I said aloud to my husband, “We just bought peaches from Jim Crow.”

***

In today’s first reading from Exodus, we hear about Moses erecting a tent outside the camp where he and God would meet face-to-face. As S. Katherine welcomed everyone to the monastery for mass this morning, she invited us to consider, and name, where our respective tents are in the world. “While Moses has this privileged encounter with God, talking with Him as he would another human being, we are simultaneously invited to experience this kind of intimacy in our own way, in our own sacred spaces.”

I got hung up, friends. All I could think was, “The last tent where I stood in any kind of a shaded, intimate space, I met a relative of James Crowe.” Knowledge of the legacy of racial injustice in the United States twisted inside me; the narratives of racial difference told- so that white Christians could stomach owning other human beings with darker skin– inspired this tightness in my chest. Safe spaces? Tents of sacred encounter? Freedom?

As mass continued, these thoughts and questions loosened in my heart. By virtue of the daily scriptures, and in this sacred space that is the monastery, I began to consider the larger themes inherent in God’s word and message for us. A message around mercy and justice; freedom and love, reconciliation and renewal began to unfold in the communal unpacking of God’s word among us.

I spoke aloud of the tent where I bought the peaches. I savored a message of tenderness and mercy that unites me to my pink and brown brothers and sisters around the world. I prayed quietly for the way our racial reconciliation –and healing for the legacy of slavery –connects me with Moses and Jesus and Jim Crow and the community gathered in north Minneapolis. I gave thanks.

Join me in considering: Where is your sacred tent? What story do you bring before God? What does Love tell you in face-to-face, heart-to-heart encounters with the Divine?

Posted in Contemplative Posts, Urban Monastery Tagged Catholic Social Teaching, Exodus, Jesus, Jim Crow Laws, Mass at the Monastery, Mercy, Moses, Racial Justice, Reconciliation Leave a Comment

Aligned with the Crucified Christ? A Calling for All

by Melissa Borgmann-Kiemde, Visitation Companion

“We are called to live in solidarity with the crucified Christ.” — Corein Brown, Collegeville Institute

It’s Saturday morning, July 14, 2012; I am at St. Jane House in north Minneapolis for a Vocation-Storytelling-retreat with ten other discerning women and men gathered together to reflect more deeply on our callings. After a five month Winter-into-Spring routine as Monday evening “Following the Spirit” participants, our hearts are open, ready. Our retreat co-facilitator, Corein Brown, from the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research is addressing our group and speaks these words into the room:

“We are all called for self-giving service and community; to befriend the stranger, the poor, the enemy and to live in solidarity with the crucified Christ.”

Ms. Brown’s words give me pause, especially the last part. “What?” I ask myself. “We are all called to live in solidarity with the crucified Christ? All of us?” I think, “around that cross?” I repeat these words aloud. Is Corein really stating this so matter-of-factly? The image sort of causes me to stumble for a second in my mind, and I try to see this:

Dead prophet strung up,
a bloody man whose lungs have collapsed and limbs are still fixed by nails to a wooden cross.
It’s hot.
There are flies.

And I question: I’m called to be there? We all are? That’s a lot of people. It’s just a lot (period) to hold on every level.

I imagine the smells in the air (perspiration, smoke, somewhere sea air?); the taste in my mouth, (oranges and onions and coffee; sweet, sour — a bile that rises?); the feel of my skin as I brush up against another and move closer to Jesus (am I clammy with sweat, or is that Christ’s cooling dead body that makes me shiver?)

FTS Vocation Storytelling Retreat Participants, From L to R (back row): Sr. Katherine Mullin, Nathalie Pouakam, Becca Vandenberg, Fabio Anifrani, Sonja Ausen-Anifrani, Melissa Borgmann-Kiemde, Corein Brown, Mary Heimerman, (Front): Meagan McLaughlin, Amanda Steepleton. Photo by Elizabeth Eilers Sullivan

Solidarity is the integration… shown by a society or group with people and their neighbors.^[1] It refers to the ties in a society that bind people to one another.

I am called to be here, aligned with this crucified being. I am uncomfortable. I am angry. I am filled with sorrow and rage and wonder. “What is this all about? What does this mean?”

I think about who this man is to me, and wonder why I care so profoundly for him, his experience of suffering, of this death. I think about what the word “solidarity” means in this context, in every community, in all of the world.

I ask myself, “Who is Christ crucified in this moment, time, day and age? Where do I see him along my Selby Avenue corridor in St. Paul? How does his broken and pierced body manifest in the Visitation Sisters’ neighborhood? How am I standing alongside him — or her, in this present day? How am I in solidarity with this human and divine Jesus?”

I invite you to join me in these ruminations and to meditate sincerely on this vocational call. What prophetic beings are you standing in solidarity with today? Who, in your world, reveals the mystery of suffering to your heart? How are you stretched, made uncomfortable and simultaneously transformed by these Christ-aligned relationships?

How are you called in this moment to witness and be at the cross?

Posted in Contemplative Posts, Discernment Tools, Following the Spirit Discernment Series, Visitation Engagment Programs Tagged Catholic Social Teaching, Collegeville Institute, Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research, Corein Brown, Ecclesial Vocations, Following the Spirit, Following the Spirit Discernment Series, Social Justice, solidarity, Vocation, Vocations 1 Comment

Lenten Prayers: Catholic Social Teaching and News Headlines

by Melissa Borgmann-Kiemde, Visitation Companion

“Who are the poor and vulnerable among us?”

Everywhere I turn these waning days of Lent, I’m being confronted with some kind of justice issue. My heart pounds, blood boils, and I pray to God, “How would you like me to respond?” Here are a few of the situations informing my Lenten journey and my walk with Christ, contemplating justice and Catholic social teaching:

….Proposed gun legislation in Minnesota intersects with national news and headlines about the shooting of Trayvon Martin. I think of my four former students who were all murdered in north Minneapolis, the “From Death to Life” mothers that meet at St. Jane House, who are all grieving the loss of a child to gun violence; and I recognize that it is their stories, these relationships, that inform my own heart on this matter.

…Yesterday, I got a call about the proposed marriage amendment in this state, and I prayed.

…Tales over last night’s dinner and today’s lunch surface issues on immigrant labor and larger questions around just wage and employment practices. And I pray.

…I nurture seeds that will become plants in my garden this summer and shop for groceries down the street at our local co-op, and I think about what fresh produce other families have access to, and what informs our collective health, well-being and market economies where food is concerned. I pray.

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One of the seven themes of Catholic Social Teaching is the “Option for the Poor and Vulnerable.” It reads:

A basic moral test is how our most vulnerable members are faring. In a society marred by deepening divisions between rich and poor, our traditions recalls the story of the Last Judgement (Mt. 25: 31-46) and instructs us to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first.

The question for me is always, “Who are the poor and vulnerable among us?” I turn to Matthew’s gospel, and glean the following responses: The hungry, thirsty, naked, the sick, imprisoned, the stranger. I imagine children and the elderly in Christ’s litany, and think of all on the margins of society. I think of the circumstances of Trayvon Martin’s visit to the gated Florida community where he was shot as a suspicious person by George Zimmerman; certainly Matthew’s gospel and Christ’s message is for these two men and ultimately calls for our compassion, prayers and action as Catholics. “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”

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What justice issues are you grappling with this Lent? What parts of Catholic Social Teaching inform your prayers and discerned action?

Please join me in prayer as we head into Holy Week, and recognize our suffering in Christ’s, putting into his hands these issues and circumstances that beg for His love, mercy, and the miracle and mystery of his resurrection.

Posted in Contemplative Posts, Urban Monastery Tagged Catholic Social Teaching, From Death to Life, Immigrant Labor, Just Wages, Justice Issues, Lent, Marriage Amendment, Prayer, Preferential Option for the Poor, Shoot First Legislation, Trayvon Martin, Two Mothers, USSCB 3 Comments