Villa La Paz Newsletter September 2020

Liminal: of or at the limen or threshold; at a boundary or traditional point between two conditions, stages in a process, ways of life, etc.

Webster’s New World College Dictionary Fourth Edition

Liminal space is an inner state and sometimes an outer situation where we can begin to think and act in new ways. It is where we are betwixt and between, having left one room or stage of life but not yet entered the next. We usually enter liminal space when our former way of being is challenged or changed, perhaps when we lose a job or a loved one, during illness, at the birth of a child, or a major relocation. It is a graced time, but often does not feel “graced” in any way. In such space we are not certain or in control. This global pandemic we now face is an example of an immense, collective liminal space. The very vulnerability and openness of liminal space allows room for something genuinely new to happen. We are empty and receptive, erased tablets waiting for new words. Liminal space is where we are most teachable, often because we are most humbled. Liminality keeps us in an ongoing state of shadowboxing instead of ego-confirmation, struggling with the hidden side of things, and calling so-called normalcy into creative question.

Father Richard Rohr, OFM

God Almighty would in no way permit evil in His works were He not so omnipotent and good that even out of evil he could bring good.

St. Augustine

We are overwhelmed, we feel lost, drifting, wondering when or how all this will end. We listen to the experiences of frontline healthcare workers, giving of themselves to care for their patients and save their lives. We hear the sobs of persons who could not be with family members at their demise or be able to say a final goodbye at their burials. Our faith is tested and we repeatedly ask, “Why, why, why?” but no answer is forthcoming, at least none that would justify the pain and suffering and evil that we witness. And yet, our faith assures us that God is good, that He is goodness itself, that He is love and that He desires our welfare. These truths are evident in the beauty of His creation and in the Incarnation in which He became one with us and experienced human debility, frailty and suffering. It is this tension between the existence of evil in the world and the goodness and love of God for His children that will always mystify us and we will never know the reason this side of heaven. So the question then becomes, how do we respond to the evil? God has permitted the evil. What good has come of it? Well, it is evident that goodness abounds in the dedication and love of the healthcare workers who risk their lives and the lives of their families to serve their patients, who work overtime and even two shifts if required despite their exhaustion; it abounds in some of the elderly patients who have declined the use of a respirator so that it could be used for a younger patient; it abounds in persons buying or making masks and personal protective equipment at their own expense for healthcare and essential workers; it abounds in individuals and restaurants who at their own expense send food to frontline workers and patients in quarantine in their homes; it abounds in persons donating to organizations that are feeding individuals and families who are not able to buy food because of loss of work due to the pandemic and it abounds in the volunteers who distribute the food to the families without recompense. These are some of the good things that have resulted from a perceived evil. The pandemic has fostered solidarity and compassion for the suffering and marginalized. Our outlook is no longer horizontal – what is good for me, what are my needs – but vertical – how can I serve my brothers and sisters who are in need, how will I suffer with them.

In being partially halted in our horizontal endeavors by this pandemic we are able to engage in vertical ones. All the actions of love, whether they be service or simple enjoyment, are vertical actions. This is so very evident in the medical workers who endanger themselves to heal and comfort. It is evident in those who try to cheer up their neighbors, in those who donate their plasma, in those who do the necessary work to keep society going. It can be evident in us too, whatever our station. It can be found in our work, if it is done in love. It can be found in a simple smile given to a family member or a phone call to a friend, in giving away our wealth to less fortunate neighbors or in simple acts of household service.

Nathan Beacom

The pandemic has spawned a liminal space and has challenged us into new ways of thinking and acting. How will this affect our actions and feelings once we have entered into the next stage of our lives?

As we see light at the end of a dark tunnel Lord our prayer is that we will not go back to the old normal where we focus on our needs, interests, or desires, but we will live in a new normal focused solely on your greatness. May our desire be to serve you first and then serve others. May our priority be “your kingdom come” and not our kingdom come. May our interests focus on the spiritual before the secular.

Fred M. Eckel

Our children are doing well overall, thanks to our dedicated staff. Unfortunately their medical needs are not being met as only emergency medical care is available since the hospitals are replete with patients suffering from the coronavirus. We are also sad that children with medical needs cannot be admitted to the home at the present time due to quarantine measures and lack of public transportation from the rural areas. Routine medical care is scheduled to begin in January of 2021. As always we are grateful for your support of our children. We love you and wish you God’s peace.