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When I was a little girl, my abuela told me that although we were not (yet) citizens of this great country, we were still American -- for America was the soil, and this was where God planted us. So we grew up, certainly as different plants than all the others, but loving the same soil.
I remember her words as I wait with excitement for the upcoming national mission congress, "God's Mission, Many Faces." It will be a celebration of our diversity as a Church in mission. So here we are ... many different plants, loving the same soil. If mission is about crossing boundaries, becoming vulnerable, accompanying the vulnerable, seeking conversion, and proclaiming the truth, then immigration is a missionary opportunity.
In south Florida, the ocean is our border, crossed by thousands of immigrants each year in overloaded boats, rafts or via smugglers in fast boats. They come with barely their lives, from Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba, and other places. I am constantly aware that they, too, have a mission and are bearers of the Good News, portadores de la Buena Nueva. How much Good News has drowned already in the Florida Straits? The Christian mission is to welcome life in all of its forms, and when we embrace the other, we are inevitably imbued with hope.
We cannot disengage the immigration issue from our faith journey. Jesus himself was born to a migrant family, with issues of "paperwork". People have been moving since the beginning of time, so it is no accident that Christ Himself is born to such a story. He told us clearly to give to God what is God's and to Caesar what is Caesar's. Humanity has developed laws to better navigate its relationship with life. These laws are often inspired by our belief in a loving God, but at times they are dictated by our fears. The Arizona law is evidence of such a reaction to fear, a reaction that impedes our embrace of God's goodness in life. Immigration reform cannot be achieved in ways that lead to oppression and marginalization.
At the root of the immigration conversation is anxiety over what new people, new customs and new ideas will do to us. Perhaps it is a question of seeing. Do we see with our fear? Or with the eyes of a loving God? Can we handle the change that comes from openness to life? Can we see the tapestry of humanity that God has given us, or do we pull out one thread or another to fit our own limited vision? We need first to admit this weakness to ourselves, before we can ever think clearly or approach with justice the children, women and men whose hopeful journeys wind up in our jurisdiction.
As members of one body in Christ, we were all migrants once. Whether linked by a distant history or personal experience, all of us can trace our coming here to someone's courageous journey -- a journey that laid this soil at our feet. We cannot live believing that our migration story is somehow better or more privileged, for as a people of faith, our stories only make sense when linked to the redemptive story of the suffering and resurrection of Christ. A loving God is our compass, and our stories live best in kinship and solidarity with others who also suffer.
Our Catholic Church has served as a clear and powerful guide for us and as a prophetic voice for urging unity. Our Mission Congress in October will highlight the joy of mission that comes when we bloom where we are planted. We can be missionary in our time and place. We can reclaim our Christian mission in defense of the vulnerable by calling upon our leaders to see with new eyes, and develop a policy based on life, not fear. Tell them that compassion and justice for our brothers and sisters is overdue. A courageous journey has brought us all together, and is calling us to action.
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Comments from readers
CESAR J. BALDELOMAR - 7/28/2010 5:24 PMBest wishes to you and Amor en Accion!
Cesar Baldelomar,
Master of Theological Studies Candidate
Harvard University
I came here at 11yrs old, in 1948, of a family matter, we left everything behind, I mean everything a home, my own "Tata", money pet & toys...etc, I grew up in Miami Beach, St. Pat's was my school, my "life", it was not easy, English was the only language and foreigners were not welcomed, mainly by the Jews and Southerner.
I consider myself a practicing Roman Catholic...YET I agree w/the Arizona Law..how would any of us feel if a bunch of strangers came into our home and broke all the Laws & Rules we have?? please answer that. ...why didn't the U.S. Bishops and all others, Religious, have not spoken out prior to the elections of November 2008 about ABORTION? why not?...now that is murder, killing of innocent life/Souls. Please think about it and vote for those that want the BORDER CLOSE FIRST BEFORE TALKING ABOUT immigration rights, how can we judge Arizona when we have not even given them the chance to enforce the law that the Fed Gov. is suppose to do, let us answer that, too. That's all Arizona wants to do, we should go live in Arizona not just for a year, let us make it our home forever then we will have a different opinion. As the saying goes..."the grass looks greener on the other side"
I came w/o papers we were given an Alien Registration Card and had to wait yrs. for the time to become citizens. Isn't OBEDIENCE what our Catholic Church teaches us? I love Cuba like I do my grandparents, but I love my Country, the U.S.A. w/a passion and will fight to defend it's Constitution, I was a single mom because I refused to abort my baby, have had it very hard and still even now, but w/God on our side and Faith we will prevail because we are a Nation Under God and in God We Trust...a Nation of Law please let us remember that.
As I was distributing the Blessed Sacrament a woman fell to her knees weeping; it was the first time in 8 months she had the chance to receive the Eucharist. She was from the Ukraine, she came here with a man who promised her a better life. After working as his slave in NY she ran away, ended up in South Florida and is now in jail waiting to be deported. I think we can do better than this.
We need prophetic voices now to help us remember that we are all called by our baptism to speak out when anyone is being treated unjustly. What would Jesus do? I believe he would be speaking out against this law as the Catholic Bishops are.
We need a fair and just way for people to become citizens and then yes, we should uphold the law. Right now we have corporations who encourage workers to come here to do the jobs we don't want to do. Would we all really want to pay the price it would take if the farms and industrial meat factories had to pay everyone fairly? It is the easy way out to place blame on the immigrant family.
I sometimes try to imagine how bad life would have to be for me to pick up my family, load them in a boat and make the journey across an unforgiving sea to a place where I had no guarantees. Or to cross a dessert when I know so many have died trying?
Thank you for your work and your words.
Frankly, I am very ashamed at so many of my brethren in their almost hysterical stance on the immigration issue, with so many who don’t even blink an eye at the suggestion that we round up and deport 11 to 15 million people. In my opinion, the current state of immigration in this country needs an extensive comprehensive and yes, compassionate overhaul, including path to residency and citizenship for those who are here and have been “good citizensâ€. My hope and prayer is that those of us who by some chance happen NOT to be Native Americans, realize that our families were all at one time immigrants, and can put ourselves at least somewhat in the shoes of those current “poor…tired…huddled masses who yearn to breathe freeâ€.
The Catholic Church has a long tradition of welcoming the stranger - and this is perhaps one of the clearest social teachings of our Judeo-Christian heritage.
In Leviticus 19:34 we hear: 'The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God."
In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus continues in this vien, teling us that as we welcome the stranger, we welcome Him: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me†(Mt. 25-35).
The US Bishops reflect on this passage and make clear: "As we welcome the stranger into our midst, we welcome Christ Himself, for in the face of the migrant, immigrant, and refugee, we must see the face of Christ."
What an opportunity! But also what a challenge when fear of foreigners and economic downturns face our nation.... But the call of the Gospel is always one of opening our hearts and embracing the "Other" - and taking a stand for the poor, the maginalized, the immigrant.
Rooted in this tradition the US Bishops have taken a clear stand on the Arizona legislation. Writing on behalf of the USCCB, Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City, chairman of the U.S. bishops' committee on Migration, makes clear: “U.S. Catholic bishops stand in solidarity with the bishops of Arizona in opposing this draconian law. We call upon the Administration to review its impact on civil rights and liberties. We renew our call for the Administration and Congress to work in a bipartisan manner to enact comprehensive immigration reform as soon as possible.â€
As Mrs. Gonzalez baeutifully states, this is not simply a political issue, but a spiritual opportunity as well. It is an opportunity for us to open our hearts, live our faith, and welcome the stranger in our midst... And in doing so, encounter Jesus alive in the world today.