Jan 30, 2019
by Al Ebach, C.PP.S., Precious Blood Scholarship Committee Chairperson
Members, companions and province staff again have the opportunity to nominate students for the Kansas City Province Scholarship. The scholarship application packet is available below.
Ten $1000 scholarships will be awarded to students attending, or planning to attend, a Catholic high school or college. Students must be recommended by members, companions, or province staff. Student nominees should be those who may not have the means to attend a Catholic institution unless financial assistance is available. The young people should be involved in their local church, community or school. Students may be awarded a scholarship twice, not necessarily in consecutive years.
Thank you to those who have recommended students to receive scholarships and thanks to the province for continuing to fund this cause. Recipients will be notified of their scholarship award by April 21, 2019. The students’ schools will receive the scholarship money in October 2019.
All required information should be submitted to:
Precious Blood Scholarship Fund
c/o Fr. Al Ebach, C.PP.S.
PO Box 599
Kearney, MO 64060
2019 Scholarship Nomination
2019 Scholarship Application
2019 Scholarship Pastor Recommendation
2019 Nonfamily Recommendation
Jan 28, 2019
by Fr. Joe Uecker, C.PP.S., Human Development Fund Chairperson
The application for the province Human Development Fund is available for 2019. The application packet is available at the link below. Completed applications are due by April 1, 2019.
The criteria for the Human Development Fund include demonstrated need and a connection to the Missionaries of the Precious Blood. Requests up to $10,000 can be requested. Projects in the United States not directed by C.PP.S. or A.S.C. members will be funded for a maximum of three years. After that, the project leaders are to seek funding from other sources. Other projects will be judged on an individual basis. Human Development Fund awards will be announced in July 2019.
The application is available here.
Jan 25, 2019
By Gabino Zavala, Justice and Peace Director
On January 9th our Provincial Fr. Joseph Nassal and the Leadership Team published a letter expressing their concern about President Donald Trump’s address from the Oval Office stoking fear concerning immigrants entering our country from our southern border in order to get support for building the wall. These men, women and children are coming not to threaten our safety or way of life, but rather, to escape “violence, poverty, and abuses of their human rights.” As a people who hear the Cry of the Blood, let us continue to inform ourselves about the real issues of immigration. I have attached some immigration policy websites and a list of myths and facts on immigration so that we can continue to study and learn about this issue.
Immigration Myths and Facts
Myth #1: Our country is being overrun by undocumented immigrants.
Fact: The number of undocumented immigrants in our country peaked in 2007 and has been decreasing steadily since then.
Myth #2: Creating a pathway to citizenship will take jobs from US citizens.
Fact: Increasing rights and protections for our most vulnerable workers will help lift standards and wages for our entire workforce. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that comprehensive immigration reform would substantially strengthen our economy, increase employment levels and result in a raise for all working people in our country.
Myth 3: Undocumented immigrants don’t pay taxes and they drain our social services.
Fact: All undocumented immigrants pay sales taxes that stimulate our state and local budgets, and many pay federal taxes as well. However, undocumented immigrants are not eligible for most public welfare benefits, so they contribute more to our public budgets than they receive, creating a positive net fiscal impact.
Myth 4: Deporting all 11 or 12 million undocumented immigrants will strengthen our economy.
Fact: Removing millions of long-term members of our communities from the United States would cost an estimated $600 billion and would substantially harm our productivity, particularly in industries such as agriculture, construction, and hospitality.
Myth 5: We have no idea who is coming into our country as a refuge.
Fact: The screening done for our refugee resettlement is extremely rigorous. On average, candidates wait for nearly two-years for approval of their applications to enter through our humanitarian programs. It would be a clear violation of US and International law to deny people safe harbor based on the religion they practice or their country of origin.
Myth 6: Immigrants make our communities less safe.
Fact: Studies consistently show that immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than our general population. Attempts to label entire groups of immigrants as “criminals” or “terrorists” are patently false and run counter to our core values as a nation.
Myth 7: Mexico will pay for the wall on our southern border.
Fact: The Mexican government has made it clear that they will never fund the wall. The project would cost our taxpayers an estimated $25 billion that could otherwise be used to fund schools, roads, bridges and other projects critical to creating good jobs and moving our country forward.
Immigration Policy Websites
The U.S. policies on immigration are fast changing and it is difficult to provide an up-to-date overview ion the latest policies. Here are some websites that are helpful to do so:
Center for American Progress (you can sign up for updates):
http://americanprogress.org/immigration/reports/2017/04/20/430736/facts-immigration-today-2017-edition/
Pew Research Center offers a visual report on the history of U.S. policies:
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/09/30/how-u-s-immigration-laws-and-rules-have-changed-through-history/
USCIS has a history of and document of the U.S. laws you can download:
https://www.uscis.gov/history-and-genealogy/our-history/agency-history/early-american-immigration-policies
The U.S.Department of State maintains a page on U.S. Visas with the latest information regarding regulations and policies to enter the U.S. territory:
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas.html
Wikipedia has an article on President Trump’s immigration policy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_policy_of_Donald_Trump
Jan 22, 2019
Congratulations to Hoa Vincent Vu for graduating from the Dominican Institute of Theology in Saigon with a degree in theological studies. What a joy it was for Hoa to see the professors who taught him over the six years that he was at the school witness his receiving his certificate of achievement as he walked up on the stage. How proud his mother, aunt, and religious community were of him was evident by the great applause they gave him as he shook the hand of the presenter of the certificate. Hoa worked hard at his studies and absorbed a lot of knowledge. He was eager to put it to use.
Hoa has done well to apply his ministerial knowledge in his first assignment as local director at our Tan Thanh Mission as well as Co-Director of Vocations for Vietnam Mission. He works well with Hao Paul Pham in their new ministry of seeking for vocations for ministry in our Congregation. Both Hao and Hoa are hoping to receive the ministry of Diaconate in the first week of May if all goes well with their obtaining visas for the trip to the United States.
Jan 9, 2019
Kansas City Province Leadership Team Statement
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear…”
1 John 4, 18
The Scripture readings on Wednesday, January 9th reflect on love and fear. In the first reading from the First Letter of John, we are named and claimed as God’s beloved and “if God so loved us, we also must love one another.” In the gospel from Mark, the disciples are caught in a storm at sea. Jesus walks toward them on the water but the disciples are terrified thinking it is a ghost. Jesus says, “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid (Mark 6, 45-52).”
Many live in fear today. What are we afraid of? What are the fears that keep us from receiving the perfect love God desires for us? Love and fear. Some say the opposite of love is hate. But we believe fear is the opposite of love because fear fuels the forces of hate that cause us to build walls rather than open doors.
Once again, the President of the United States has fueled the fears of many by making a speech from the Oval Office—a setting normally reserved for presidents to deliver solemn news to the country rather than a stage for a policy debate on immigration—in which he once again stigmatized men, women, and children who are coming to this country to escape violence, poverty, and abuses of their human rights in their countries of origin. The Missionaries of the Precious Blood, Companions, Volunteers and Amici, as people of faith, as people committed to a charism and a spirituality that believes in the dignity and dreams of all human beings, call on all people to reject the language of fear from our politicians that fuels hate rather than reflects the values of our nation of immigrants.
Our Corporate Stance for Comprehensive Reform of the Immigration System reflects, “As Missionaries and Companions of the Precious Blood, we are compelled by our charisms of reconciliation, hospitality, and ministry of the Word…. we affirm the rights of all immigrants to be treated with dignity and respect. We call on all government leaders to work together to establish compassionate and comprehensive immigration reform legislation.”
This debate about a wall has gone on for too long and has now partially shutdown the government causing even more people to be harmed by the fearful policies of exclusion. As stated in our Corporate Stance on Immigration Reform, we encourage all people to be actively engaged in the political process that will:
- Provide a timely path to legal status for undocumented persons in this country;
- Preserve family unity as a cornerstone for our national immigration policy;
- Provide for just and legal paths for immigrant laborers to come and work in the U.S.;
- Restore due process protections to our immigration enforcement policies; and
- Address the root causes of migration within sending countries and explore long-term solutions.
In the provincial statement we issued June 8, 2018, we stated, “The soul of our nation is at stake. When we treat refugees with contempt rather than compassion, our souls are at risk. May we reclaim the very best in ourselves and in our nation as we seek to recognize the image of God and the person of Christ in every human being and treat them with reverence, respect, and the dignity they deserve as a child of God.”
As individuals, as a community of faith, and as people sent by the blood of Christ, we will speak out against the fear that fuels hate. We call on all to “take courage” and see how the love of God compels us to be people of love who drive out all fear as we welcome those who seek refuge with compassion and hope.
With peace in the blood of Christ,
Joseph F. Nassal, C.PP.S., Provincial Director
Richard Bayuk,C.PP.S.
Thomas Welk,C.PP.S.
Ronald Will,C.PP.S.
Mark Miller,C.PP.S.
