PRIDE PARADE 2023

                  Pictures speak a thousand words.  Hope these pictures capture the spirit of the day .

STUART PITTMAN COMMENTS ON PRIDE PARADE EXPERIENCE

 June 8, 2023

Dear Neighbor,

I didn’t get the whole Pride thing at first. I always opposed discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation, who they love, what they do in their bedrooms, what they wear, whether they take hormones, whether they have surgery. And I always thought it was absurd for the government to restrict marriage to only heterosexual couples. 

Live and let live, right? As long as you’re not hurting anyone.

But I was naive. I haven’t experienced the discrimination myself. I didn’t understand the value of public displays like pride parades.

When Annapolis Pride organized its first parade in 2019, I didn’t attend. I believe I had a scheduling conflict, but I was also conflicted. A part of me wanted to be there to support people who I knew were under attack, but another part of me questioned the image I’d be conveying to older, more socially conservative voters whose votes I’d need in the next election.

By 2022, when the parade returned after COVID, my thinking had evolved. I’d started to understand the movement. I’d gotten to know some of the Annapolis Pride organizers. I’d seen what they were up against, and how carefully they planned their responses. And I’d discovered that pushing back against political wedges, the kind politicians drive between people when they smell distrust and fear, is the essence of leadership. 

So I marched. My office marched. Our police department, health department, firefighters, library staff, and lots of other county employees marched. We marched with faith organizations, businesses, and educational institutions. 

There were thousands and thousands and thousands of people lined up on the streets of Annapolis singing, dancing, and expressing love, solidarity, community, and a bit of defiance. 

I was not embarrassed to be there. I grabbed a huge pride flag and started running circles around our float as the crowds roared their approval. I used a photo of that spectacle as the banner on my campaign Facebook page for months after.  

The experience was so uplifting that I returned on Saturday, for Annapolis Pride Parade and Festival 2023. It was a repeat performance with even more participation, and I spoke to the crowd on the stage at the conclusion of the parade. I said some things about love overcoming fear and thanked everyone for making that happen, but I left some things out.

I believe that the fundamental challenge facing humanity is overcoming fear of one another and learning to embrace one another. It sounds cliche, because it gets said by every religion, every philosopher, and every political movement in one way or another. But we keep letting ourselves slide into the cracks, the cracks of fear and distrust. Leaders seeking to gain or hold power drive wedges into those cracks, opening them wider for us to fall further.

The brave people of Annapolis Pride, just like the brave people of America’s civil rights movement and other movements for justice, are responding to their neighbors’ fear with love. They are inviting us to march with them, to celebrate with them, to party with them. And it’s working.

That’s the part I didn’t get before. I didn’t understand the healing power of a Pride parade. I didn’t understand how good it felt, not just for people who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer to be seen and accepted for who they are, but also how healing it is for the rest of us to celebrate with them. 

The celebration is like a coming of age for humanity. It’s a celebration that we have finally arrived at a place where it’s simply our humanity that we celebrate. That regardless of how we choose to live and love, what we look like, or where we’re from, we are celebratory, loving human beings, and just like all the fairy tales say, love wins.

Join us next year. There’s nothing to fear. You’ll be grinning from ear to ear.

 

KIVA LOANS IN APRIL

 SIX LOANS TO SIX PEOPLE FROM SIX COUNTRIES. CHECK OUT THE DIVERSITY OF THE LOANS AND THE COUNTRIES. THANKS TO THE KIVA TEAM FOR THEIR EFFORTS 

Lizandro's story    Lizandro is 20 years old from Bolivia.  He is single and has no children. He lives with his parents in a rural community. Lizandro is a farmer, and he already has three years of experience in country life. During this time, he has succeeded in making alliances with some dealers from the markets, and he says that things aren't going badly for him.  Lizandro wants a loan for the purchase of cattle in order to be able to offer more meat to his business partners.

Hanitriniaina's story  Hanitriniaina is very grateful to all the lenders who supported her business of growing potatoes. She made enough profit to continue to renovate the family home and put away some savings. She is going to continue to put more effort into her greengrocer business, as well as growing potatoes. She is from Madagascar

Vasita's story  Although Vasita’s plot may be only a few hectares, like all farmers she must fertilize it well at planting time. To underpin a good yield, it is essential her crops are protected from disease and pests once they’re growing.  She requests a loan to buy good-quality stems of kava plant, some manure, pesticides and farming tools that will enhance and protect their crops.  She is from Fiji , and she hopes they will get a solid harvest that will at least maintain her family’s subsistence living.

Dorothy's story  Dorothy is a 28 year-old woman who is married with two children. They live in a community in Honiara, capital of Solomon Island.  She runs a small business selling vegetables and cabbages at the market to earn a living. She has been in this business for three years.  Dorothy has requested a loan to pay for additional vegetables and cabbages to assist her in running her business.  She will use her profits to meet her family's financial needs and grow her business.

Merlinda's story  Merlinda is a hardworking entrepreneur with one child. Merlinda runs a business fattening pigs in the Philippines and requested a PHP 30,000 loan through NWTF to buy feed and vitamins to raise her pigs.  Merlinda dreams that one day she will be able to save enough to provide a secure future for her family.

Humoroy's story  This woman's name is Humoroy. She is from the Jomi District. In Tajikistan  Humoroy is 63 years old. She lives with her four children. She decided to take out a loan and concurrently start a new business in the field of livestock breeding.  She wants to raise cattle. Humoroy has all of the conditions for her planned business; she has livestock feed and a cattle barn. However, because she invested a lot of her money in the construction of the barn and the purchase of the livestock feed, she does not have enough money to buy cattle. She is asking that you help her buy a calf so that she can start her business.

TITHING RECIPIENT FOR APRIL 2023

 

Moveable Feast has served as a beacon of light for over thirty years, bringing healthy food and compassion to those struggling with chronic illness. The organization was founded during the height of the AIDS epidemic in 1989, to provide food, hope, and love to those living with HIV/AIDS, many of whom were members of the LGBTQ+ community. Moveable Feast has continued to support underserved and vulnerable communities in Baltimore, while also expanding its reach across Maryland and serving people with illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.  Food is at the heart of what we do, and our work has become even more important as more people in our community face food insecurity 

NEW MASS TIME; MOVING TO 10:00 A.M. ON SUNDAY APRIL 23 RD

 OUR DOORS WILL BE OPENING ONE HOUR SOONER . 

OUR SINGING BOWL WILL BE RUNG ONE HOUR SOONER.

WE ARE MOVING OUR START TIME TO 10:00 A.M. 

LINK TO PARISH DIRECTORY

We have recently updated our Parish Directory.  Below is the link that will allow you to open and view the Directory. 

                 https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Vf1G5HrOTLRIAk5h3FGJBAfdiAoTXkhG

ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS

 

A Reflection for Wednesday in the Octave of Easter By Kevin Clarke Link to todays reading below  https://api-esp.piano.io/-c/197/30749/503409/2778670/550869/1fff37ead80eee111c5750f0cf3d74c1/-1/-1?attrs=0&order=0   Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread. (Lk 24:35)   The days after the worrying events outside the empty tomb must have been a time of confusion and deep anxiety. The hopes of many of the disciples dashed at the crucifixion, they only began to grasp how little they understood about this Messiah they followed and the meaning of that miraculous Passover celebration—their own expectations and ambitions thrown into a heap of frustration and fear.   What kind of messiah was this? What had become of the power he had demonstrated through the miracles he worked? Where was his authority over life and death, surrendered so passively on the cross?   Some thought they followed a Messiah who would come into his reign in their time, a counterforce of shock and awe that would end their humiliation and liberate them from their oppressor. How could they accept this Messiah who meekly accepted his fate?   These disciples on the road to Emmaus loudly pondered the astounding events in Jerusalem. What did it all mean?    Were they on the road to Emmaus to abandon this rabbi and his teaching, to get back to their old lives, casting aside everything they had seen and struggled to understand?   Starting down that road, they did not yet perceive the radical message in the miraculous works and mercy of Jesus. This reign would be ushered into power by revolutions within the heart of each person, not struck into being at the end of a sword.   We are all on a road to Emmaus, following a path that is at points lonely or diverted by apprehension and sorrow. Do we really see the people who travel with us? Do we recognize the miracle of their humanity and a mystical connection that binds us all?   In the simplest acts of hospitality, at a table of fellowship, so much obscured by apprehension and sorrow can be restored in empathy and affection. Jesus walks beside us, waiting for an invitation to break bread and, in mercy and love, to reveal himself.

 

SPRING THEME ARTICLE COMPLIMENTS OF IGNATIAN SPIRITUALITY

 

TIME TO PLANT A NEW HABIT

Back when so many of us in this country were farmers, when more of us lived in the country than in cities, we understood in our very bones that spring was the season for planting. Some of us still sense this when the weather warms and the days grow longer. We plant vegetable gardens or create container gardens in our small city spaces. Spring breezes inspire us to dig in the dirt and begin our own little kingdoms of beauty.

Might we apply more broadly this metaphor of planting? Can we allow spring to inspire us to plant habits that can produce good work and well-being later on?

What seeds would you like to plant?

·         More intentional physical activity

·         More cooking from scratch

·         More time with people who are important to you

·         More quiet time for prayers of gratitude

·         More energy on your gifts than on daily trivia

·         More of your talent going outward to help others

·         More giving up what is not important

 

******** Two words that are BLUE highlighted are links that lead to other articles from the archives that are similar themes

DEATH OF AN ARCHBISHOP

Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez was a prelate of the Catholic Church in El Salvador. He served as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of San Salvador, the Titular Bishop of Tambeae, as Bishop of Santiago de María, and finally as the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador. As archbishop, Romero spoke out against social injustice and violence amid the escalating conflict between the military government and left-wing insurgents that led to the Salvadoran Civil War. On March 24, 1980, Romero was shot by an assassin while celebrating Mass.

Below is a link to an article from America Magazine written in 2015 on the 35th  anniversary of his assassination

   https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2015/03/11/death-comes-archbishop-martyrdom-oscar-romero-217454?utm_source=piano&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2928&pnespid=uOE8GHlFO6oE1.XQuSjpFpHQshiqXYZ4JO2lnvZk.x9mcJhaRPOhtd2_l5EGEmc8Q2W2Fiph

WE LIVED HAPPILY DURING THE WAR

                                                                  

 And when they bombed other people houses, we protested but not enough, we opposed them, but not enough.  I was in my bed, around my bed America was falling : invisible house by invisible house by invisible house--  I took a chair outside and watched the sun. In the sixth month of a disastrous reign in the house of money in the street of money in the city of money in the country of money, our great country, we (forgive us) lived happily during the war.

Poem by Ilya Kaminsky.  Published by Padraig OTuama in Poetry Unbound. 

Ilya is a deaf man , a refugee from Odessa who sought asylum in the US after the Russian invasion of the Ukraine .  Padraig describes this as a "Devastating poem about complicity" 

                                       < Excerpted from the Catholic Worker April 2023>