Latest news with #Hebrews
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
I knew the pain of apartheid. How dare Trump embrace Afrikaners as refugees.
The combination of the Trump administration granting expedited refugee status to white South Africans and the Episcopal Church ending a 40-year partnership with the federal government rather than help resettle fake refugees leaves me with contradictory feelings. As an Episcopal priest and a dual citizen of the United States and South Africa, I am proud of the Episcopal Church for standing up and speaking out about the U.S. government's lies of a white 'genocide' in South Africa. In equal measure, I am devastated that the work our church has done for decades, giving hope and care to people forced to leave their homelands, is ending because of white supremacy and Christian nationalism. Our parish, All Saints' Atlanta, has a vibrant refugee ministry, and this year, in response to the end of government funding for refugee resettlement, the parish committed to continue to support the refugee families the government had abandoned and to actually increase the number of families it's supporting. The mission of showing 'hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels' (Hebrews 13:2) or treating 'the stranger who sojourns with you as a native among you … for you were strangers in the land of Egypt' (Leviticus 19:33-34), is central to our faith community. The denomination's decision to end a decadeslong partnership with the U.S. government that offered support to people fleeing oppression and war was not taken lightly. But I applaud the Episcopal Church answering the call and standing up to powers and principalities that oppress and call it freedom and lie as they call it truth. If the Episcopal Church had agreed to resettle South African Boers, then it would have elevated a lie that will affect refugee resettlement for years to come. If white South Africans are experiencing genocide, then it is truly an enviable genocide. White South Africans, who are about 7% of the country's population, own about 75% of South Africa's farmland and control a great majority of senior corporate positions. Our Palestinian brothers and sisters would likely be happy if they had control over 30% of their ancestral land. The U.S. government's sudden concern with the possibility of land confiscation without compensation leads me to ask: Where was this outrage in the 1970s, '80s and '90s when Black communities were forcibly evicted from their ancestral home and their land given to whites? There are Black communities who had their land taken by the apartheid government on the eve of our first democratic election in 1994 and are now expected to pay market rates for the land that was stolen from them. And yet the U.S. is granting refugee status to those who benefited from apartheid? Where is the logic? The Episcopal Church has taken a moral stand. The Boers who arrived on U.S. soil this week are not refugees. They are white people using their privilege to leap over legitimate refugees who have been waiting to escape political repression and life-threatening situations. In welcoming them and expediting access to the U.S., the Trump administration has proved its racist bona fides. It has stopped the asylum of Afghans and Iraqis who fought alongside American troops only to resettle a group that views the loss of absolute domination of South Africa's Black majority as oppression. Earlier this year, I said to some friends that the deafening silence of Americans after masked men abducted a young woman off the streets of Cambridge, Massachusetts, was proof to me that people in this country do not recognize a police state when they see it. The insufficient outrage to the resettlement of 49 Afrikaners, who landed with huge amounts of luggage, tells me that we as a country are not willing to face up to the reality that white supremacy is now the order of the day. The Episcopal Church has spoken. When will the rest of the country step up and say enough is enough? As I write this article, I realize how angry I am: angry that people who abused and oppressed my people for generations and are still benefiting from that abuse and oppression are claiming victim status angry that the country that offered me an education (at Berea College in Kentucky) when my native land had closed those doors to me is now selling the myth of oppressed whites in South Africa angry that there is not a more forceful reaction to the U.S. attempting to change and degrade the definition of what it means to flee your home in fear. As a Black woman, I'm glaringly aware of how my anger will be perceived. I considered tempering it. But this is a holy anger. And if I silence it, I harm not only myself but all those who are harmed by this grotesque falsification of what it means to be a refugee. I would be untrue to thousands of Black, Coloured, Asian and white South Africans forced into exile by the evil that was apartheid. It would be untrue to the millions of Palestinians who have been refugees for generations, especially poignant as May 15 is 77 years since the Nakba. Untrue to those all over the world forced to flee their homes and communities because of violence and oppression. So I speak today, as the Reverend Nontombi Naomi 'Angry Black Woman' Tutu. Praying that other people of faith will be angry too and that they channel that anger into actions for the common good. Far too often, we as the human family look back at injustices and evil and say, 'We did not know.' Future generations will not allow us to make that claim about our inaction in 2025. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Sculpture created by St. Jacobs artist installed at St. Peter's Basilica
A life size interactive sculpture depicting the transformation of a homeless person into an angel created by St. Jacobs, Ont., sculptor Tim Schmalz was installed just before Easter in the square in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. The sculpture, called Be Welcoming, was the second piece by Schmalz to be commissioned by Pope Francis. "It looks like a pretty rough-looking person with a hoodie, a backpack with all of his possessions. But then as you walk around the piece, the piece literally transforms into an Angel. The backpack on one side hides the Angel wings on the other side," Schmalz told CBC K-W from Rome. "The hoodie on the one side changes into this flowing hair. And I've created this beautiful, very impressionistic face of an Angel that is welcoming you to sit down right beside." The bronze sculpture is located near a medical centre off St. Peter's Square where Schmalz says "doctors from around the world come to volunteer their services to help the homeless." Be Welcoming was inspired by the biblical passage in Hebrews 13:2 which says: "Be welcoming to strangers, many have entertained angels unawares." It's not the first time Schmalz took inspiration from that quote. The first sculpture he did for Pope Francis called Angels Unawares depicts 140 migrants and refugees from different cultural and racial backgrounds and time periods is also displayed at St. Peter's Basilica. The bronze sculpture was unveiled in 2019 on World Day for Migrants and Refugees. It was the first time in 400 years that an artist had a modern day sculpture placed next to historical pieces of work around St. Peter's Square. Schmalz became known for the Homeless Jesus sculptures, which shows the Christian figure Jesus huddled under a blanket on a bench, with only the gashes on his feet signalling who he is. Schmalz told CBC K-W in 2015 that statue was quickly becoming a global movement with many institutions around the world requesting it. That was after Catholic churches in Toronto and New York initially refused to allow his sculpture to be placed outside their sanctuaries in 2014. After that controversy, many institutions around the world requested versions of his work be placed outside public institutions, charities and houses of worship. The installation of Be Welcoming was supposed to take place after Easter but it was installed early. Schmalz said he learned the sculpture was in place after he received an email from Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, who helped create the medical centre for the homeless. "It was scheduled for after Easter. And about a couple days before Good Friday, I got these photographs showing the sculpture was already installed," said Schmalz. "To me it's very symbolic. This is in a sense the last artistic piece that I've collaborated with the Vatican, with Pope Francis. And to have it installed right before Easter ... it's just just amazing." Schmalz found out the Be Welcoming sculpture had been moved while in Italy for another sculpture in honour of the canonization of a young person named Carlo Acutis. It was scheduled to be placed at Acutis' tomb in Assisi, Italy. The canonization was postponed because of the pontiff's death on April 21. The Be Welcoming sculpture which Schmalz created in 2019 has also been installed in El Camino Santiago in Spain and the St. Padre Pio Shrine in southern Italy. LISTEN | :
CBC
04-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Sculpture created by St. Jacobs artist installed at St. Peter's Basilica
'Be Welcoming' allows people to see the marginalized as sacred, artist says Image | Schmalz 1 Caption: Artist Timothy Schmalz sitting on his interactive sculpture called 'Be Welcoming'. It is located at St. Peter's Square close to a medical centre that cares for the homeless in Rome, Italy. (Submitted by Timothy Schmalz) Open Image in New Tab A life size interactive sculpture depicting the transformation of a homeless person into an angel created by St. Jacobs, Ont., sculptor Tim Schmalz was installed just before Easter in the square in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. The sculpture, called Be Welcoming, was the second piece by Schmalz to be commissioned by Pope Francis. Image | Side by side angels Caption: Both views of the homeless person and the angel from Timothy Schmalz's sculpture 'Be Welcoming'. (Photo from Open Image in New Tab "It looks like a pretty rough-looking person with a hoodie, a backpack with all of his possessions. But then as you walk around the piece, the piece literally transforms into an Angel. The backpack on one side hides the Angel wings on the other side," Schmalz told CBC K-W from Rome. "The hoodie on the one side changes into this flowing hair. And I've created this beautiful, very impressionistic face of an Angel that is welcoming you to sit down right beside." The bronze sculpture is located near a medical centre off St. Peter's Square where Schmalz says "doctors from around the world come to volunteer their services to help the homeless." Inspiration for sculpture Be Welcoming was inspired by the biblical passage in Hebrews 13:2 which says: "Be welcoming to strangers, many have entertained angels unawares." It's not the first time Schmalz took inspiration from that quote. The first sculpture he did for Pope Francis called Angels Unawares depicts 140 migrants and refugees from different cultural and racial backgrounds and time periods is also displayed at St. Peter's Basilica. The bronze sculpture was unveiled in 2019 on World Day for Migrants and Refugees. It was the first time in 400 years that an artist had a modern day sculpture placed next to historical pieces of work around St. Peter's Square. Schmalz became known for the Homeless Jesus sculptures, which shows the Christian figure Jesus huddled under a blanket on a bench, with only the gashes on his feet signalling who he is. Schmalz told CBC K-W in 2015 that statue was quickly becoming a global movement with many institutions around the world requesting it. That was after Catholic churches in Toronto and New York initially refused to allow his sculpture to be placed outside their sanctuaries in 2014. After that controversy, many institutions around the world requested versions of his work be placed outside public institutions, charities and houses of worship. Image | POPE-MIGRANTS/ Caption: Pope Francis attends the unveiling of a sculpture depicting a group of migrants of various cultures and from different historic times, following a mass for World Day of Migrants and Refugees, at St. Peter's Square at the Vatican September 29, 2019. REUTERS/Vincenzo Pinto/Pool - RC1268DC7B40 (Vincenzo Pinto/Reuters) Open Image in New Tab Statue installation moved ahead The installation of Be Welcoming was supposed to take place after Easter but it was installed early. Schmalz said he learned the sculpture was in place after he received an email from Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, who helped create the medical centre for the homeless. "It was scheduled for after Easter. And about a couple days before Good Friday, I got these photographs showing the sculpture was already installed," said Schmalz. "To me it's very symbolic. This is in a sense the last artistic piece that I've collaborated with the Vatican, with Pope Francis. And to have it installed right before Easter ... it's just just amazing." Schmalz found out the Be Welcoming sculpture had been moved while in Italy for another sculpture in honour of the canonization of a young person named Carlo Acutis. It was scheduled to be placed at Acutis' tomb in Assisi, Italy. The canonization was postponed because of the pontiff's death on April 21. The Be Welcoming sculpture which Schmalz created in 2019 has also been installed in El Camino Santiago in Spain and the St. Padre Pio Shrine in southern Italy.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
A 21-Year-Old College Athlete Went to the Doctor For Migraines. She Was Diagnosed With Breast Cancer: 'It Can Happen To Anyone'
In August 2020, Hope Reynolds was starting her senior year as a swimmer at Hope College in Holland, Mich., but bad migraines and nausea were putting a damper on what should have been a celebratory semester. 'I was not able to eat anything,' says Reynolds, now 25. So she visited the doctor to talk about her migraines, and while she was there, she casually mentioned to that she had found a lump in her right breast. 'The doctor was not really concerned,' Reynolds recalls, but she ordered a mammogram anyway. When Reynolds called to make an appointment, she was told the facility didn't do mammograms on people her age, so she went for an ultrasound instead — and the scan detected something. 'I distinctly remember the provider came in and said, 'We see something. The odds of it being cancerous are so low because of your age, but let's just do a biopsy just in case,'' Reynolds remembers. 'Again, I was reassured that it probably wasn't anything serious.' Two days after the biopsy, on September 14, 2020, she was interviewing for physical therapy grad school, when she saw repeated missed calls on her phone. "The nurse was leaving voicemails saying, 'Please call me back.' I kind of knew that it wasn't good," Hope says. The diagnosis: Stage 3B invasive ductal carcinoma. She was 21 years old. "It's just a whirlwind, trying to figure out, 'Okay, am I going to get treatment in Michigan? Am I going to go home to Pennsylvania for treatment? Am I going to have to put undergrad on hold? Am I going to have to put PT school on hold? Things moved really fast, but it felt really slow. I felt like every hour was just crawling by," she says. Within 48 hours of her diagnosis, she was back at her parents' home in Pennsylvania to undergo treatment locally. That fall, she had eight rounds of chemotherapy, followed by a bilateral mastectomy in February 2021 and 25 rounds of radiation throughout March and April 2021. Her swim teammates had bracelets made printed with #BelieveinHope and the Bible verse Hebrews 6:19, which includes the words "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul," and Hope got to compete with them one last time that year. "I was so excited that I got to swim in my last ever college swim meet a few weeks after my surgery, but before I started radiation, because they said once I started radiation, I wasn't allowed to get in the water because it can really damage your skin," she says. A few weeks after completing radiation, she returned to school to finish the last month of her senior year in person. That summer, in July 2021, she had the final surgery in which they removed her expanders and put in breast implants, and the following month, she moved to Durham, N.C. to attend graduate school in physical therapy at Duke University — and she transferred her cancer care to Duke Health. But even with her cancer treatment behind her, she's still fighting health battles of another kind. "I really struggled with health anxiety, and I kind of developed a distrust of my body," she says. "I didn't have any reason that could explain why I got breast cancer. I was young, I was kind of a health nut and an athlete. No history of breast cancer in my family or anything — so there was no real reason for it. I didn't understand how that could have happened, and so I didn't trust that something like that wouldn't happen to me again." That means, she says, "I have been in and out of therapy, talking with therapists for almost two years now about learning to not freak out over every single little ache and pain. I feel like that was the hardest part for me: Moving on and learning to trust my body and go back to living my life, not in this state of fear of the worst-case scenario happening." Reynolds also credits her parents for managing the often-overwhelming details of health care that accompany a cancer diagnosis, to allow her to focus on healing. "They were the ones that were asking the questions. They were the ones that were making sure that I had the medications I needed. They talked with my oncologist — I was there and listening and got to express what I wanted and what I needed — but they took the reins so I was able to just focus on taking care of myself. And they also focused on taking care of me," she says. Now that treatments are finished, she's taking the reins back. "After that, a lot of the decisions fell more towards me on my own. All of a sudden I had this new thing that I had to think about: 'What does life actually look like now?' I was so focused on just getting through it. I never thought about, 'Okay, now what about after cancer?' That was really difficult. I'm still figuring it out day-by-day." She definitely knew that life post-cancer would involve her dream career. She completed graduate school and is now a physical therapist doing a residency in acute care at Duke Health. "Just because I'm a cancer survivor doesn't mean that I can't do what everyone else can do," she says. "Yes, I had cancer, but you can go back to living your life in so many amazing ways afterwards." In fact, she says her cancer journey has made her better at her work. "What I went through has really helped me in terms of how treat my patients. My experience not only allows me to have more empathy, but it also gave me this perspective of knowing that empathy can only go so far," she explains. "No one can know exactly what I felt going through my own cancer journey, s so I try to remind myself that I will never know exactly what my patients are feeling and what they're going through. All I can do is try my best to hear them and try to empathize, but [also] validate that there are things that they're going through that I can't completely understand." For now, she still sees an oncologist at Duke for survivorship and maintenance therapies. She takes one pill daily and gets a shot every three months and an infusion every six months. She got a year after her mastectomy, on National Cancer Survivors Day. "It was a reminder to just always believe that things will turn out okay and believe that God is in control and looking out for us," she says. "I wanted to get a tattoo just to remind myself of the strength I have, which allowed me to get through my cancer journey." Her mother got a coordinating tattoo when she visited a couple months later. She now shares her story to help others. "I am very passionate about advocating for breast cancer awareness among young women. It can happen to anyone at any age, no matter how healthy you are, no matter your family history," she says. And she also recognizes that her mindset has changed in the years since her diagnosis. "I don't know what my life would've looked like without it. It's kind of just been my normal, but it has been a rollercoaster, lots of ups and downs," she says. "I always say I've learned to appreciate the small things in life and recognize that there are so many unpredictable parts of life, and life is short and nothing is guaranteed. "I feel like cancer created this mindset change to where, though I still get anxious and worry about things, I try my best to really focus on enjoying every day and trying to keep a positive mindset no matter what happens." Read the original article on People
Los Angeles Times
11-02-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Huntington Beach congregation evicted from sanctuary where it has held services for nearly 60 years
The Pacific Conference of the United Methodist Church on Monday evicted a Huntington Beach congregation from the property where members had been serving the community for almost six decades. Surf City Church started out as a tent revival on the sand in 1904. It has been hosting worship, daycare and other programs from its current location at 2721 Delaware Street since 1967. Church officials saw a decline in attendance during the pandemic, but it has bounced back since then, according to Marge Mitchell, a Surf City Church board member. They currently see an average of about 60 members attending Sunday services and more than 100 on special occasions like Christmas or Easter, she said. However, attendance numbers were deemed 'unviable' by officials at the congregation's parent organization, the California-Pacific Conference of the United Methodist Church. In February 2022, the denomination's leadership instructed the Huntington Beach congregation to close. 'We had no choice,' Mitchell said while helping about two dozen hastily assembled church members pack belongings into a moving truck Monday. The United Methodist Church plans to sell the property on Delaware Street and use the proceeds to 'foster mission and ministry in the region and throughout the area of the California-Pacific Annual Conference,' the organization's director of communications, Alyssa Fisher said in a statement Monday. That includes support for a neighborhood center and two other churches in the Huntington Beach area, as well as the creation of a Surf City Ministry Fund for outreach and service in the local community. Conference officials said their decision was made after years of effort to revitalize the local church and that members of the Orange County congregation voted to accept the plan. Mitchell said members were only given two options at a meeting in May 2022: shut down immediately or continue operating temporarily as a 'mission church' at a different location. Instead, Surf City Church kept hosting services and programs in its chapel and meeting rooms. The conference sued the house of worship in November 2022, citing a trust clause giving the United Methodist Church claim to take possession of the local church's property. A judge sided with the conference in June 2023. The California Supreme Court declined to hear Surf City Church's appeal of that decision in January. That leaves few avenues remaining for the Orange County parish. But members of its leadership were still working with attorneys to find a way to stay in the sanctuary they've built a community around for the past 58 years, Mitchell said. 'Our faith is in God, who keeps his promises,' she said, citing a message paraphrasing a verse from the Hebrews chapter of the Bible displayed on the marquee in front of Surf City Church. 'God is all with us. He knows what he wants to do. This is his property ... He will find a way to make us whole.' An eviction notice posted Saturday instructed Surf City Church to vacate the premises by Wednesday. Members spread the word and were in the process of moving out while a temporary space for them to hold services is sought. Virginia Terry, who has been a member of the congregation since 1966, was among the volunteers packing this week. She used to teach Sunday school and has seen generations grow up around Surf City Church. She and Mitchell said it has been the site of quinceñeras, weddings, baptisms, food drives, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, safety training seminars and countless other support groups and community events over the decades. 'I feel like the church is disrespected by the conference because they don't understand what this particular church means to the immediate community around it,' Terry said. 'The neighbors want the church to stay ... It does what a church is supposed to do.' The Huntington Beach property is also the home of the Well, a separate congregation boasting about 50 members that rents space from Surf City Church, the tenant flock's associate pastor, Tamara Durica, said. That congregation was not specifically listed in the eviction notice, and it was not immediately clear whether the conference would honor its existing lease. Regardless of what happens at the property, members of Surf City Church and the Well have faith that they will continue to be a hub for the community in some form, and they plan on sticking together. Durica and Mitchell noted that both churches adhere to a strict interpretation of the Bible, unlike the more progressive leaning stance the modern United Methodist Church has adopted. 'We had a new person come on Sunday as we're trying to prepare the congregation for eviction,' Mitchell said. 'The conference was holding us back.' The Huntington Beach parish's legal battle with the United Methodist Church unfolded as the latter grappled with internal division regarding its declaration of 'safe harbor' for clergy who identify as LGBTQ+. Mitchell said that policy has been a turn-off to many potential members in Huntington Beach, a city led by a council made up entirely of conservative-leaning members. It's also large part of the reason Surf City Church began to distance itself from its parent organization and dropped the denomination from its name about 10 years ago.
