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Living out our Vows
Living out Our Vows This past weekend my brother Sydney and I made our final profession of vows! It was a moment of great joy but was accompanied by some nervousness and a sense of responsibility. Leading up to this moment were many nights reflecting on what the Evangelical Councils (vows) mean to me; chastity, poverty, and obedience. Much can be said about these vows and over the next few weeks I will write a brief reflection about each one.As Oblates we also take a 4th vow, as some other religious orders do, and that vows is called Perseverance. Originally the vow was put in place so...
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National Hispanic Heritage Month
National Hispanic Heritage MonthSeptember 15 through October 15 marks in the U.S. what has become known as National Hispanic Heritage Month. Every year, Hispanics have the chance to celebrate and reminisce about our heritage and what makes us unique, without being arrogant, in this country.But what is the month about? What do we celebrate? This month should be a time to look inward and to express gratitude for all we have and for all we can offer this country. It is a time to celebrate the best of what Latinos have to offer this great nation.On September 25 CNN aired “Latino in America 2: In...
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Our Pilgrimage
Our Pilgrimage On July 10th I and several of my religious brothers left to make a pilgrimage to Aix-en-Provence in the south of France. It was an experience that I will never forget. We were greeted by brothers from 11 different countries. The purpose: to re-discover our roots where we began as missionaries, to get to know our founder St. Eugene deMazenod better, and to come to a deeper understanding of our Oblate Spirituality. It was a blessed time as we prepared (21 men in all) to make our perpetual professions.   Once we left Aix we traveled to Lourdes: The place where a small...
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Hispanic student achievement still behind… but there are signs of hope
 A few days ago I was talking to a friend of mine that I’ve known for years in youth ministry. When she was in her teens, working was a priority over college. Over time she realized that she was not getting anywhere, so she decided return to school. She told me: “Now I realize the importance of an education and I know where I want to go. I am more inspired. I have goals and I know I will achieve them.”It was inspiring and refreshing to feel the energy and inspiration she was talking about, especially considering that Hispanics are known to be lagging far behind other groups in education...
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Dreaming of Hope
 What is a dream to you? What do you dream of? For many young people who live in this country, their dream is one of Education, Equality, Justice and Fairness. It is also a dream of being like all their peers, when it comes to education, regardless of their immigration status. The DREAM ACT has been in the news for a long time. The youth rallies advocating for the passing of the Dream Act throughout the country is paying dividends. The most recent victory of these courageous young immigrants took place recently as the governor of the state of Illinois signed it into law. This legislation...
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Code-switching. How’s your Spanglish?
 Code-switching. How’s your Spanglish?For many multilingual speakers, especially teenagers and young adults, combining two or more languages in a single sentence seems to be very common. They enjoy it. It’s part of who they are and it gives them an identity. This is called code-switching. But is code-switching good or bad? What do you think?Many people will say that speaking Spanglish is an easy way out during a conversation because you don’t have to think hard enough. Other people say that it serves a very practical purpose as there are some words in English, or Spanish, that don’t have...
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