Second Sunday of Lent

For Lent 2021, members of CTA’s Anti-Racism Team are sharing weekly reflections. As they are published, their pieces will be posted here.

Readings

Genesis 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18
Psalm 116: 10-15, 16-17, 18-19
Romans 8:31b-34
Mark 9: 2-10

“I will journey with the Lord, in the land of the living.” (Psalm 116:9)

Prayer

Show me the suffering of the most miserable; So I will know my people’s plight
Free me to pray for others; For you are present in every person.
Help me to take responsibility for my own life; So I can be free at last.
Grant me courage to serve others; For In service there is true life. Amen
—Selection from the “Farmworkers’ Struggle,” Cesar Chavez

Reflection

In 2019, CTA’s WorkGroup: Immigration and Borders held a convergence in the Rio Grande Valley, which included visits with LUPE, La Union del Pueblo Entero.

I was asked to write this reflection and to focus on this Psalm. I find it was so appropriate as I had just retired after working for over 20 years with the farmworkers’ movement here in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. With the experience of working with families of mixed status, I can truly say that I have “journeyed with the Lord in the land of the living.”

I saw how the families live their faith every day. Forced to live without documents in this country, exposed to the possibility of being deported at any time. It could be when you go to buy groceries, take your children to school, or going to a doctor’s office. You are also a target for abuse from employers.

Imagine yourself having to live with this stress every day and just relying on your faith to survive. This is what I witnessed as I journeyed with my sisters and brothers here in the Rio Grande Valley. I have been enriched by my work with them.

This journey helped me to reflect on my own immigrant story of coming to this country at the age of fifteen with no documents. I needed to find opportunities just to get the basic needs of survival. I think about how much my own faith grew and how my heart has been stretched.

Our country will be so enriched when the day comes that these immigrants will be able to live freely here, lifting all the stress that they deal with every day. Except for the indigenous natives, we have all come from somewhere else. Immigration reform will make all of us more humane. The dehumanizing images we saw on January 6 in the Capitol can never be what we are about.

As we continue to reflect during this season of Lent, let us commit to doing something to make Immigration reform happen. Call your Congresspersons and Senators and the President, write letters to your local papers and officials, support groups working to assist, and educate yourself on the issues.

Reflection Question

What is your immigrant story? When and where did your ancestors come from?

Almsgiving

Instead of donating money, I challenge you to gather with three or four other people in your immediate circle, make a definite plan to push for immigration reform, and follow through.