A Reflection by Rev Roberto Ochoa, Conference Minister for the Iowa Nebraska South Dakota Conferences.
I will extol you, O Holy One, for you have drawn me up and did not let my foes rejoice over me. O Holy One my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. O Holy One, you brought up my soul from a deep void, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit. Sing praises to the Holy One, O you the faithful ones, and give thanks to God’s holy name. (Psalm 30:1-4)
Holy Resilience!!
Happy Cinco de Mayo (5th of May) my friends. I really never thought I’d write a spiritual reflection on Cinco de Mayo, much less to you my friends of the Iowa Nebraska South Dakota Conferences of the United Church of Christ. Yet here I am doing so as a humble and proud descendant of New Mexican Hispanic and Mexican ancestry. Sing praises to the Holy One.
It is interesting that Cinco de Mayo celebrations are more popular in this country than the native land of my Dad. More tortilla chips, guacamole, beer, and mariachi music are consumed in this country on this day than on Super Bowl Sunday or St Patrick’s Day (another famous ethnic identified celebration). Quite ironic considering the current tensions regarding immigration.
Often, Cinco de Mayo is mistaken as Mexican Independence Day which occurs on September 15-16th. Cinco de Mayo is the commemoration of the Battle of Puebla, when the smaller and lesser equipped Mexican army defeated the invading European power of Napoleon’s French forces in 1862. And even though the French would come back a year later to occupy Mexico for three years, that battle offered resilient hope to the Mexican psyche to continue the struggle towards ultimate victory and the expulsion of French control in 1866.
In what is known as the southwestern part of the U.S. (California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Colorado) which was once Mexican territory, the news of the battle arrived quickly during the U.S. own Civil War struggles and gave the Hispanic population a resilient hope on how to live in a conquered world with renew sense of cultural pride. The first Cinco de Mayo celebration in this country occurred in California that same year. This resilience has served us well ever since, in the very complicated Mexican American/Latine experiences in this country that has often discriminated and attempted to minimize our cultural contributions and histories.
The psalmist reminds us that even in bleak times of trouble, God is with us. God doesn’t leave our side. In our Christian faith, we hold on to that mysterious and holy resilience granted to us by the Holy Spirit as Jesus promised us. The Holy Spirit that allows us the strength and courage to face each day anew and with purpose to live in the Kin-dom of God of love and justice for all. O Holy One, for you have drawn me up and did not let my foes rejoice over me.
When days are uncertain, fearful, and tough, when we feel we are in that deep void of despair, praying for God to deliver us, we invite that resilience in Christ to give us the strength and joy to ACT on continuing that Kin-dom of God no matter the obstacles. It is for times such as these that we are called to demonstrate our discipleship of the good news gospel of Jesus Christ in holy resilience of the Kin-dom to love and forgive each other, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, to welcome the foreigner, shelter the refugee, visit the sick, and offer compassion to the incarcerated as Jesus taught us to do.
We begin with ourselves; however, it takes a community willing to work together to make the Kin-dom of God a reality in all our beautiful diversities. We who call ourselves UCC’ers strive to insure all are invited to the Table of that Kin-dom, believing that we are equal in God’s eyes. The Table of Christ is a celebration of God’s love for us. Honestly, for me that is what being church is all about, inviting all to God’s Table.
Happy Cinco de Mayo y’all and remember when you lift your margarita up for a toast, do so remembering this is a celebration of a people’s holy resilience.
Bendiciones y Paz,
Rev Roberto