Because the mercy of God knows no limits

Why Peñitas, in a colonia known as Pueblo de Palmas? Why such a remote area along the U.S.-Mexico border where many in our own Rio Grande Valley here in South Texas have never visited? And why would the Holy Father send a message to the people of a rural area that some say is “insignificant”?

These are questions Father Michael Montoya, a Missionary of Jesus priest, who is pastor of St. Anne Quasi-Parish in Peñitas, Texas and its three missionary churches, continued to hear as he was finalizing plans for a World Youth Encounter/Encuentro Mundial de los Jovenes on July 26. This local celebration, which coincided with World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland started off as an idea to help the young people in one of the poorest areas in the country see how they are connected with the Church and young people from around the world.

Given the extreme poverty levels in the community and their immigration status, it is impossible for most to travel. In Peñitas, explains Father Montoya, traveling even from their homes to church comes with risk. Some fear the real danger that if they are pulled over for even a minor driving infraction, they could be deported. Father Montoya points to what he refers to as a “military presence” in the area. There is a no shortage of local police, sheriff’s deputies, state troopers, U.S. border patrol agents and National Guard patrolling the area located just miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.

“It’s a constant reminder to the people that something is not right. We live so close to the wall that divides families, it affects self-identity. All the images we receive from the outside are negative. It’s always connected to the border, always connected to the things we cannot do,” said Father Montoya.

Add to this the poverty and lack of basic infustructure in some neighborhoods that do not even have sewage and water lines. “There are many circumstances,” Father Montoya said, “that make it difficult for the people. They think they are forgotten.”

But they are not forgotten. Today they are celebrating after learning that the Holy Father prepared a personal message for the youth of the diocese, specifically for the youth attending the Encuentro Mundial de los Jovenes at St. Anne Church in Peñitas.

“The parish of St. Anne is beyond happy. Things like this don’t happen to a place like Peñitas,” said Father Montoya. “The pope is sending a message to us! I think that is proof enough, that the love of the Church for our poor people is really palpable, it’s real.”

So even before they heard the message, the community celebrated the fact that a message was on its way, that the Holy Father took the time to think of them.

As Father Montoya stressed, the idea of hosting the encuentro in Peñitas was to help the people witness that “the mercy of God knows no limits within a Church that knows no borders,” “that it reaches even the remotest part of the world. We don’t have to be in the center of power to be recognized by the Church.”

Forgetting perhaps, that the infant Jesus chose to be born in the small town of Bethlehem and not a city center, many doubted that such an event like the encuentro could happen in such an “out of the way” place. The people of Peñitas and surrounding communities proved otherwise. “Not everyone can travel to Poland for World Youth Day,” explained Father Montoya, “but we believe that even in our area, a profound and meaningful encounter with the world’s youth can be organized.”

“It’s a re-imagining,” Father Montoya said, “of who we are. We are not defined by the border, we are defined by our culture and by our faith.”

This is truly a testament that the mercy of God knows no limits. It should also serve as a reminder to each of us that no matter where God places us, no matter where we stand in the world, we each matter and must do what we can to reach out to those in need and foster a “culture of encounter.”

Some people may still be asking, “Why Peñitas?” Three Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary who have been living and helping in the area for 12 years will tell you, because the people of God here have a deep faith that is not daunted by poverty or other hardships they may endure.

The rich faith of the people moved the ICM sisters – Sister Carolyn Kosub, Sister Emily Jocson and Sister Fatima Santiago to remain in the area after they arrived in 2004 to help rebuild the community after it was devastated by a tornado. Through an outreach center they started, Proyecto Desarollo Humano, this underserved area started to blossom. They also built St. Anne Church in 2009. They never dreamed it would become a mother church of a parish four years later, or that one day, on the feast of St. Anne, the Holy Father would send a personal message to the youth of that parish. In the words of ICM Sister Kosub, “God has certainly worked wonders.” 

(Originally published in August 2016 edition of The Valley Catholic newspaper. Another version was also published on the Catholic News Blog, July 26, 2016 - https://cnsblog.wordpress.com/2016/07/26/why-a-poor-rural-texas-town-captured-the-popes-attention-on-wyd/) 

On the other side of the fence

Growing up on the border in Brownsville with family on the other side of the Rio Grande River in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, I was accustomed to life on both sides. We traveled back and forth without worry. I say “without worry” because as a child I did not realize the barriers some of my aunts and uncles faced when crossing to the U.S. side. One of my uncles drowned in his last attempt.

Where we stand, where we are at any given moment informs our perspective.  Two experiences in February during the Holy Father’s visit to Mexico, both pure gift, enriched my perspective in new ways. One, the Mass in Mexico City on Feb. 13 at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, helped me reflect on the gift of waiting. The other, with a view of the Mass in Ciudad Juarez from across the border in El Paso, Texas on Feb. 17, gave me a new perspective on the immigrant experience.

In Mexico City, Sister Norma Pimentel and I waited 11 hours before for the Mass with Pope Francis. Entry began at 6 a.m. for the 5 p.m. Mass, so we woke before sunrise, gobbled a portion of a prepacked lunch before going through security and then finding our seats inside the basilica dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe.

As we sat there, we knew it was Nuestra Virgencita who brought us to this point. Arriving early gave us time to gaze at her image on San Juan Diego’s tilma framed behind the altar, just as the Holy Father would do later after the Mass. Naturally, he had a private viewing, but we were content to sit before her in the pews.

I discovered as I sat there the gift of waiting. Sometimes waiting can feel like a burden, but in the light of the Basilica, I saw it as an opportunity. Waiting forced me to pause from my tendency to rush from one project to the next; it gave me time to pray, especially for the intentions of family and friends. One senses the responsibility of being entrusted with such personal prayer requests, and I did not want to fail in this responsibility. Waiting also gave me time to thank God for the blessings of the moment.

Our days are not built around waiting. So much is designed to rush us through from one experience to the next. But what a gift when we remain stationary in readiness or expectation. What a gift to have 11 hours to prepare for Mass.

Four days later, we were in El Paso on the levee across from Ciudad Juarez along with two of our sisters who work with immigrants in the colonia of Peñitas, Sister Carolyn Kosub and Sister Fatima Santiago, Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

In Mexico City, we sat inside the basilica with a clear view to the altar and to the Holy Father. The story changed in El Paso. While more than 200,000 attended the Mass with Pope Francis in Juarez, we were among some 400 guests hosted by the Diocese of El Paso and Catholic Extension on the levee. Among the guests were the pope’s “VIPs,” immigrants, refugees and people who assist them.

Hours before the Mass, the experience started to shift my view. The immigrant experience came into focus during our half-mile walk up to the levee as Homeland Security checked our green wristbands to make sure we belonged in the group. We walked without water on a dirt path along the fence with signs indicating the international boundary and “DO NOT TRESPASS.” Ours was a short walk and water was waiting for us at the end. What must the journey feel like for those who walk countless miles and face an uncertain path in their quest for a better life? Will we be there to offer them water?

On the border between Mexico and the United States, two nations joined in prayer, but on this day we were the outsiders looking toward what lay beyond our reach.  We could see the Mass about 100 yards away, but our view was blocked. However, it was just as moving to see the pope through the fence and participate in the Mass.

Crowds on both sides of the river welcomed the pope’s arrival before the Mass with chants of enthusiasm and watched as he walked up the partial bridge leading from Mexico into the United States. Organizers said the Holy Father originally wanted to cross the border, but the logistics dictated otherwise.

Near the edge of the bridge that stopped midpoint, the pope placed flowers near a giant memorial cross and prayed for those who have died along the Mexican-U.S. border. Tears flowed from many who had been waiting hours to witness the Holy Father come to the border.

Throughout the event, Homeland Security and Border Patrol agents maintained a visible presence along the fence. Some made reference to a “militarized zone” we were in at the levee, but that did not deter our focus on the historical moment. Peace reigned on in El Paso and throughout Juarez. As Sister Norma said after Mass, the pope’s presence leaves us with love and joy and we must continue doing the right thing.

One thing was clear. While we strained to hear Pope Francis’ homily from where we sat, his message of helping those in need and ensuring everyone’s human dignity reached us on the other side of the frontera. Faith has no borders. We were two nations joined in prayer.

(Originally published in March 2016 edition of The Valley Catholic newspaper) 

Into the Desert

I look forward to Lent more and more each year.  I see the desert journey as an opportunity to reflect on my ways, on my steps and missteps. It’s a chance to get back to where I need to be, to readjust my direction according to God’s will. The desert provides an open space free of distractions. It’s up to us of course to eliminate the distractions that present themselves in our day to day walk.

Pope Francis said, “Lent calls us to “give ourselves a ‘shake-up.’” In his homily on Ash Wednesday he said, “With its calls to conversion, Lent comes providentially to rouse us, to shake us from our torpor, from the risk of moving forward [merely] by inertia.”

I need the shakeup. I need to be roused. Already, I feel the energy that comes from refocusing and putting aside all that weighs us. I’ve learned that the penitential practice of giving something up for Lent, may seem like a sacrifice at first, but actually it’s a blessing.  In the end, we are better for the experience. I find that fasting and giving something up makes more room in my life not only for prayer but also for family time and writing.  

As for the prescribed days of abstinence from meat on Ash Wednesday and Fridays, I can’t count these days as sacrifice as I crave, year round, the desert dishes served during the Lenten season, starting with nopalitos en salsa.

I do have some challenges ahead of me. By the grace of God, I pray I am roused into action.

A ver que nos espera en estos días en el desierto.