meet my new roommate

sometimes with weeks like these, you head out for dinner and find yourself taking a new kitty home.

meet my new roommate.

matt (my bro) will appreciate this one.

my neighbor nate (fellow mccer, but admittedly not a cat admirer) saw her in action last night and christened her "spazma."

i will not accept that!

but i will have to accept that i am now one of those people who posts pics of their pet as if they were a newborn human infant.

i think her name is shiloh. a name that popped into my head as nate was leaving.

so i just checked the meaning and it is:

shiloh -

"resting place;"

a word with similar meaning to the hebrew shalom -meaning "(holistic) peace."

yep. that's sounds like the message that must be being sent.

while we´re waiting

just killing time til i have more news.


here are some pics from a via crucis (stations of the cross) activity that we participated in with the emu students yesterday.


for the non-catholics among you, the stations of the cross corrospond to various "steps" that christ took in the passion leading up to resurrection day, including judgement of pontious pilot, when jesus stumbles, when he is helped to carry the cross, etc.

various orgs and schools participate in the via crucis activity headed up by centro atencion al migrante, a catholic migrant-support and advocacy org with branches in guatemala, honduras and the mexian/us border. in their version of the via crucis, each org is to relate the "station"/with the situation of the migrant.



the seminary, and consequently the students, were assigned "jesus is crucified," and so were to relate that to the migrant´s experience.

we came up with a photo drama - each student would show a photo, read the caption on the back, and hand it over to be stapled to the cross.

• "Jesus is crucified when social injustice forces families to separate in migration."
• "Jesus is crucified when social injustice forces families to separate in deporation."

• "Jesus is crucified when we build physical boarders."
• "Jesus is crucified when we construct boarders of discrimination."

• "Jesus is cruficified when other countries create economies that rely on the migrant´s labor, without providing a legal means to contribute it."
• "Jesus is crucified when other countries want to enjoy our (read by Guatemalan) music and food, but don't us ourselves within their country."

• "Jesus is crucified when the migrant risks his/her life in searching for a better life."
• "Jesus is crucified when the migrant dies trying."

Other students held posters with facts:

• On Guatemalan deportations in 2007 (27,000 - twice that of 2006) and the loss of family income that provides to poor families in Guatemala who had been receiving remitances from their migrant loved ones at an average of $300 per month.

• On the impact of unjust trade policies - like US-instigated CAFTA that actually further contribute to migration, as local farmers leave their farms when they cannot compete with cheap, US-subsidized import crops, like the Guatemalan staple, corn.

• On the number of migrants, 460, who died last year in the intent.

Here are some highlights of the activities:



Watching some of the other Stations...

Setting Up the SEMILLA/EMU station...

note: for the spanish savvy, yes it should read juzga - judges.

And, action...

yep, i`m here

hi. i`m here.

i just wanted to break the silence to thank all of you who have been praying and sending me little messages of encouragement at the nudging of my cuz.

don`t have much news yet, but i should know somthing more this week.

i will just say for now, that there has been at least one potential miracle/piece of the answer in some of this.

yes, i am being purposefully vague! sorry if that is frustrating. i should have both more answers and more freedom to share them soon.

thanks for being such a support.

-sm