May 18, 2021

Join our guest, Franciscan Associate Deb Galvez, for this interview. As a chaplain, she accompanies those in need of care, finding that mutual encounter reveals the blessing of being loved by God. Deb explores the mystery of divisions being transformed to loving one another and honoring the goodness of each person.

Deb observes “Meeting people in the hospital when they're in a hospital bed levels the playing field. There is no rich, no poor, there is no division. Everybody is there for health issues and I walk in as a sister of them; I don't feel higher or lower, I don't feel richer or poorer. It is like we're both here on this journey, walking on the road to Emmaus, and there are no barriers. There's nothing to get in the way.”

“I've seen so many people who have been hurt because they're the ‘Other’. Whether it's ageism, sexism, a different color, a different religion, a different viewpoint. I would just love to see us sit down and really listen to the Other, and know that God loves us for who we are and that we are good. … I've talked to so many people who do not feel that they are good.  … I hope and pray that is one thing that I can bring to the world in the greater Franciscan vision, that people are good, they are loved, and they are worthy.”

“Wouldn't the world be different if we could live in love of neighbor, as Jesus taught in the Good Samaritan, wherever and whomever that neighbor, here, near, or far might be, if we would know and live out of that knowing, being known that God loves us and we're good? And that we could pray, whether with or without words; it would transform some interactions, and perhaps our inner hearts, to be more available to what’s needing work and healing, and what is still needing attention.”

References:

What is a Newman Center? http://newmanconnection.com/locations. More about Saint John Henry Newman, in whose honor the Newman Centers are named: http://newmanconnection.com/about/blessed. 

Franciscan Associates: Deb is referring to the Associate relationships with the Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls: https://www.fslf.org/BecominganAssociate/. Other religious communities may have lay associates, affiliates, companions or cojourners as well.

The Road to Emmaus: Luke 24:13-35; see: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/24.

Francis meets the leper: see https://www.franciscanmedia.org/franciscan-spirit-blog/st-francis-meets-the-leper. See also the earliest biography of Saint Francis by Thomas of Celano (1C 17) https://www.franciscantradition.org/francis-of-assisi-early-documents/the-saint/the-life-of-saint-francis-by-thomas-of-celano/636-fa-ed-1-page-195.

The Good Samaritan: Luke 10:25-37; see: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/10.

Deb recommends:

• This book: Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi, by Richard Rohr: https://www.amazon.com/Eager-Love-Alternative-Francis-Assisi/dp/1632531402.
• And these free e-mail subscriptions for spiritual nourishment:

+Daily Scripture Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading#subscribe

+Daily Minute Meditations: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/minute-meditations

+Richard Rohr Daily Meditations: https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/

+Henri Nouwen Society Daily E-meditations: https://henrinouwen.org/read-nouwen/free-daily-meditation/