<p><span style=color: #ffffff;><em>-</em></span></p><p><em>Breath of the Spirit is our electronic spiritual and liturgical resource for our members and potential members. Nothing can replace your chapter or other faith community but we hope you will find further support here for integrating your spirituality with your sexuality and all the strands of your life.&nbsp;</em><em><a href=https://www.dignityusa.org/civicrm/mailing/subscribe>Get Breath of the Spirit scripture reflections in your inbox every week</a>.</em></p><p></p><p><span style=color: #ffffff;>-</span></p><p><span style=color: #ffffff;><br><span>-</span></span></p><div class=oldwebkit><p>In the gospel for this week Jesus challenges all of us to be opened! But be opened to what? We are not only called to open our hearts to impressive noticeable missions but perhaps even more so we are called to open our heart to myriad momentary opportunities to embody compassion to our neighbors. There are so many ways to be open to love! Perhaps our only mistake is to be so busy noticing them or being too busy to notice them - that we do not&nbsp;commit to any!</p></div><div class=oldwebkit>&nbsp;</div><div class=oldwebkit><p><strong>September 5 2021:&nbsp;Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</strong><br>Isaiah 35:4-7&nbsp;<br>Psalm 146:6-7 8-9 9-10&nbsp;<br>James 2:1-5&nbsp;<br>Mark 7:31-37&nbsp;</p><p><br>A reflection by&nbsp;delfin&nbsp;bautista&nbsp;</p><p>Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.&nbsp; Archbishop Desmond Tutu&nbsp;</p><p>Be opened! what a simple complex challenging prophetic invitation from Jesus not only to the deaf and mute man but to all of us.&nbsp; Be opened!&nbsp;To&nbsp;change to possibility&nbsp;to community&nbsp;to healing to moving forward to doing something for justice&nbsp;&nbsp;to life!&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>I can often be wordy in my reflections and the readings for this week inspire musings to fill volumes. They&nbsp;explore&nbsp;the power of touch to heal&nbsp;the power of&nbsp;communities&nbsp;to connect&nbsp;and&nbsp;the witness of&nbsp;minimizing&nbsp;oneself&nbsp;in order to maximize the&nbsp;work that God does through us. There are&nbsp;so many ways to reflect on the sacred images of healing in these narratives.&nbsp;But this week I feel moved&nbsp;to keep it simple and sacredly sassy.&nbsp;The writings in Isaiah Psalms&nbsp;James&nbsp;and Mark all have a central message:&nbsp; we all&nbsp;must&nbsp;do something&nbsp;for justice.&nbsp;Inaction&nbsp;in the face of injustice&nbsp;is wrong. Period.&nbsp; &nbsp;</p><p>The readings spark reminders of the posters and announcements by TSA in airports&nbsp;see something say something.&nbsp;Who knew that this sLogan had and has prophetic undertones and overtones.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;We&nbsp;need to be reminded on an ongoing basis that social justice work solidarity activism being an agent of&nbsp;change do not have to involve big elaborate complex actions.&nbsp; Simple acts of kindness for justice can pack a&nbsp;wallop&nbsp;and ripple in the most transformative of ways.&nbsp; Some folks are called to be the faces voices and bodies that lead revolutions. Others are called to use art writing and other&nbsp;creative&nbsp;expressions to capture cultivate and create messages of hope and healing. Still others are called to do the simple yet powerful action of saying thank you to the grocery store clerk or returning our carts to the cart collection area supporting&nbsp;businesses owned by minoritized groups offering&nbsp;prayers in solidarity with Cuba Haiti and the Middle East. We may simply be called to share a petition in support of trans rights on social media;&nbsp;sit in quiet solidarity with a friend who is hurting and doesnt want to be alone;&nbsp;and/or&nbsp;plant a tree&nbsp;or start a community&nbsp;garden. The vocation of solidarity&nbsp;is a ministry that takes on many different forms with no rights or wrongsjust living into being opened for the&nbsp;Divine to do little bits of good&nbsp;so&nbsp;that&nbsp;the world can be&nbsp;overwhelmed&nbsp;with justice and inclusion.</p><p><span style=color: #ffffff;>-</span></p><p><span style=color: #ffffff;>-</span></p></div><div class=oldwebkit><div class=mobile-full><img class=mobile-full src=https://www.dignityusa.org/sites/default/files/civicrm/persist/contribute/images/uploads/static/delfin_2_df4ad8920cbbb677602c42620891a8cb.png alt= width=120 hspace=0 vspace=0></div><div class=mobile-full><span style=color: #ffffff;>-</span></div><div class=mobile-full><p><strong>mx.&nbsp;del</strong><strong>fin&nbsp;w.&nbsp;bautista</strong> MSW MDiv.&nbsp;</p><p>they/them/elles&nbsp;or just delfan.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</p><p><span style=background-color: transparent;>delphin is a native of Miami FL of Cuban and Salvadoran heritage. delfin&nbsp;currently lives in Athens OH with their beloved of 18 years discerning the next ministerial adventure. A social worker and activist theologian&nbsp;delfin&nbsp;is passionate about intersectional justice and resilience especially around the experiences of queer people of color. delfin&nbsp;is a member of&nbsp;DignityUSAs&nbsp;POC Caucus and Anti-Racism Resource team. delfin&nbsp;also serves on the Vision Council for Call&nbsp;To&nbsp;Action and is a member of CTAs&nbsp;ReGeneration&nbsp;Program.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p></div></div>