October 13, 2024 Essay: All Things Are Possible with God: Building Tiny Homes on Lakota Land
In Sunday’s Gospel, a person asks Jesus how he can inherit eternal life. Jesus says to leave all his worldly possessions behind and follow him. The man was troubled as he had many possessions. It sounds like a daunting ask of any human being. Today, we are tasked to seek the deeper meaning of “[to] leave your possessions behind” and follow Jesus.
To go out into the world to love and to serve is the great command, Jesus showed us. We can proclaim our dedication to love and service through our faith, families, friends, neighbors, creation, and the forgotten people in our midst. We become the hands, feet, eyes, and ears of Jesus as we enter into service for others.
Recently six of us from St. Ignatius Loyola left our possessions behind and set out for the Lakota Cheyenne River Reservation to build the fourth Tiny Home with the National Y Service Project in Dupree, South Dakota. We were the hands, feet, eyes, and ears of Jesus as we worked on this project.
“Only three years ago, our St. Ignatius contingency, had arrived to find four bare cement foundations waiting for panels to be installed by volunteers from all over the country with limited construction experience. When we left on September 17th, 2024, it was very satisfying to see all four house exteriors completed and ready for the electrical, plumbing, and painting phases to begin. I like to think that we not only helped to build houses but also Cheyenne River Reservation residents’ hope for a better future,” said Xiomara Larios.
“My time on the Cheyenne River Reservation was extremely fulfilling, as helping people in need has always been in my heart,” said Dylan Freeman. Elizabeth O’Sullivan reflected, “My time on the Cheyenne River Reservation was a truly phenomenal experience, highlighted by the pleasure I had in working with fellow volunteers and meeting members of the town of Dupree–all were incredibly warm and welcoming. It was deeply inspiring to share time with such amazing people, united by the common goal of building housing for young mothers in need.”
History is messy. Our world is beautiful, messy, and complicated. The Papal Bull by Pope Alexander VI in 1493 gave European nations an absolute right to New World lands. American Indians had only a right of occupancy, which could be abolished. On March 30, 2023, Pope Francis disavowed the Doctrine of Discovery that justified the Spanish and Portuguese from seizing land they had “discovered” and colonizing Indigenous land they called the Americas.
Although the Doctrine of Discovery has been disavowed, the trauma and injustices to our Native American people remain. They truly are our Forgotten People.
“My experience in Dupree was an important reaffirmation of the power of relinquishing self-importance and letting the spirit of the process of sharing carry me along. Being an unskilled laborer was perfect as others performed their skills and the whole brought success to the project and appreciation of the grace of mutual respect among strangers,” said Judith Rosenberger, PhD.
Enrico Mazzon reflected on his experience, “I left, NYC for Dupree, without expectations, I found myself with 23 brothers and sisters in Christ, and as a family with a solid foundation in God, we worked together in harmony, love, humility as one and only body. One thing is clearer and more certain than ever in my heart, we were 24 children of God, become one body in Christ, this gives me the clear and sure conviction, that all of us if we act as one body in Christ, we can change the wonderful world we live in.”
All things are possible with God, Mitakuye Oyasin-we are all related!
– Jean Santopatre, Pastoral Associate