St James Episcopal Cathedral | Fresno CA St James Episcopal Cathedral, Fresno, California. 954 likes · 32 talking about this · 1,312 were here. Come GROW with us!! We are an inclusive, welcoming, diverse, and family-centered Christian...

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St. James Episcopal Cathedral

Yes! Saint James Cathedral in Fresno stream their Spanish service via facebook. www.stjamesfresno.org

Turns out reading Frederick Buechner while making corn chowder is a good combination.
"You can sincerely believe there is no God and live as though there is. You can sincerely believe there is a God and live as though there isn't." ❤️
Inspired to add some dried mustard.

God chose to be our mother in all things

Bishop Michael Hunn Responds to Department of Homeland Security: Defending Our Border Ministry YouTube video by Michael Hunn

The Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande received a letter from Trump’s DHS today accusing them of human trafficking because they run a shelter for migrants—a shelter paid for, in part, *by* DHS. It is an attack on the freedom of religion, and on the trustworthiness of the govt. youtu.be/7Wl4f0bA4MI

My cat Biscuit can't read a clock. And he cares not one bit about a time change. 🤷🏽‍♂️

They are who we think they are

Why does this week feel like 1000 years? 🫠

Media accounts largely agree about the day's events: At roughly a quarter past noon, an usher standing in the church entrance saw a group of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents outside and locked the doors. Wilson was listening to the sermon when his phone rang with an unknown number. When he silenced it, his ankle bracelet-known in Spanish as a grillete, or shackle-began buzzing. His phone rang a second time, and Wilson rose, flustered, slipping out the back of the sanctuary. The usher met him and said there were agents in the parking lot, asking for Wilson by name. Moments later, Kenia's phone flashed with a message from her husband: Come outside.

Running into the daylight, Kenia found him handcuffed in the back of a law enforcement vehicle. "What's happening to my husband?" she asked the agents. Her mind raced to make sense of the scene. Wilson had made all his required check-ins at an Atlanta ICE office. He had the government's permission to work and had an appointment on a court docket. He was deported once nearly 20 years ago-a significant strike on an immigrant's record-but otherwise had no criminal record. The agents told Kenia they were looking for people with ankle bracelets, then they drove Wilson away. Back inside, her pastor, Luis Ortiz, tried to reassure his congregation. He encouraged everyone to be calm, he told local media. "But I could see the fear and tears on their faces."

After the service, Kenia lingered a while in a daze. When she finally went home later that afternoon, she closed herself in her room and prayed through sobs: "God, take control of my husband's life." "It's disrespectful, what they did," Kenia told CT in Spanish. She doesn't know why ICE would arrest her husband at church. "With the bracelet they could find him anywhere."

Just a truly gutting piece from @christianitytoday.com about when ICE agents came to a church to arrest an immigrant last week.

The whole thing is worth reading, but this section asks the big question: why was it necessary to arrest him there? www.christianitytoday.com/2025/01/shou...

Exclusive: Musk aides lock government workers out of computer systems at US agency, sources say Aides to Elon Musk charged with running the U.S. government human resources agency have locked career civil servants out of computer systems that contain the personal data of millions of federal employees, according to two agency officials.

Musk overseeing coup: www.reuters.com/world/us/mus...

I don't WANT to preach this morning -- JD Vance is not a serious person, he lacks the intellectual chops to do this kind of work, so rewarding his thirst with response is undignified -- but the Spirit demands at least a brief bit of sermonizing

Jesus said, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

This is right after he says, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

To be a living temple of God's Spirit of Perfection is to be a vessel of mercy.

To be devoid of mercy is to be devoid of the Holy Spirit.

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Episcopal Church Immigration Updates. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting. Due to the number of executive orders, immigration raids, and other policy changes, Episcopal Migration Ministries is scheduling an additional immigration call for Tuesday, January 28 from 1 - 2 pm ES...

in 1.5 hrs: Due to the number of executive orders, immigration raids, and other policy changes, EMM is scheduling an additional immigration call. EMM will share updates and resources and will be joined by the OGM & the Chief Legal Officer. zoom.us/meeting/regi...
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Navajo Nation leaders raise alarm over reports of Indigenous people being questioned and detained during immigration sweeps | CNN At least 15 Indigenous people in Arizona and New Mexico have reported being stopped at their homes and workplaces, questioned or detained by federal law enforcement and asked to produce proof of citiz...

At least 15 Indigenous people in Arizona and New Mexico have reported being stopped at their homes and workplaces, questioned or detained by federal law enforcement and asked to produce proof of citizenship during immigration raids since Wednesday, according to Navajo Nation officials.

In response to this, Rep Mike Collins of GA tweeted that she should be deported.

So let's talk about disgust again, because we are seeing disgust driven fascism in real time.
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A carving of a man being burned at the stake with the caption "lord open the king of England's eyes"

I will note that pulpit from which the Bishop gave her sermon is not only the one from which Martin Luther King Jr gave his last sermon on the Sunday before he was killed, it also contains a panel of a man being martyred, paired with an exhortation for God to open the eyes of a tyrannical leader.

Il a fait les cieux et la terre,
la mer, avec tout ce qui s’y trouve.
Il est l’éternel gardien de la vérité.
Il rend justice aux opprimés, Il donne du pain aux affamés.
Le Seigneur libère ceux qui sont enchaînés. »

Dès qu’ils rendent leur dernier souffle,
dès qu’ils retournent à la terre,
leurs projets périssent avec eux.
Heureux celui qui a pour secours le Dieu de Jacob,
et qui met son espoir dans le Seigneur son Dieu.

« Je veux l’acclamer toute ma vie,
célébrer mon Dieu par mes chants tant que j’existerai.
Ne comptez pas sur les gens influents :
ce ne sont que des êtres humains, ils sont impuissants à sauver.

Feliz quien busca ayuda en el Señor *
y tiene al Dios de Jacob por esperanza.
Creador de cielo, tierra, mar y cuanto existe, *
Dios se mantiene fiel por siempre;
Da justicia al pueblo oprimido *
y pan a la gente hambrienta.” Salmo 146:2-6

“No confíen en los poderosos, *
en mortales incapaces de salvar.
Expiran y regresan al polvo, *
y sus planes acaban en la nada.

Psalm 146:2-6

Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help! *
whose hope is in the LORD their God;

Who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them; *
who keeps his promise for ever;

Who gives justice to those who are oppressed, *
and food to those who hunger.”

“Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth, *
for there is no help in them.

When they breathe their last, they return to earth, *
and in that day their thoughts perish.

Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde to Trump: "I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender people in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives ... and the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals"