Pastoral Letter: Welcome Home Reyna!

Dear Sisters and Brothers –
 
About seven years ago, in response to the influx of migrants at the southern U.S. border, members of St. Ignatius Parish formed our Solidarity Network. Its mission is to raise awareness of issues faced by migrants and refugees, to explore how we might respond to those issues, and to provide support when possible. Our first opportunity to provide such support came in March 2017. We partnered with St. Agnes Parish to support a young mother and her five children who were seeking asylum in the U.S. After six years, many postponements, and the consistent support of the two parishes, Reyna had her final asylum hearing on Tuesday, February 7. (Her five children have had permanent residence for several years.) The exciting news is that asylum was granted, which means she no longer lives in fear of being deported, she can live and work in the U.S. legally, and she has the opportunity to apply permanent residence and citizenship. There is so much for which to be grateful, including you generous parishioners who have supported this family for so long.
 
Yet still, the humanitarian crisis at the border continues. In last week’s bulletin and e-newsletter, you read about St. Ignatius and St. Agnes parishioners who traveled to Mexicali, Mexico, to volunteer with Border Compassion, which helps migrants on both sides of the border. While our parishioners were working at a shelter, they met a family who had escaped from Venezuela because the father had received death threats after graduating with a degree in criminal science. César and his wife, Daniella, took their 3-year-old and 9-month-old daughters on a dangerous, four-month journey in search of security. (For a description of part of that journey, click here.) Through the generosity, creativity and hard work of our volunteers and some parishioners back home, this young family is now in San Francisco, sponsored by our parish as they seek asylum. Their preliminary asylum hearing was last Tuesday, and their next hearing is in April.
 
Like so many of our direct outreach ministries, this one takes a village. The family is living with a generous parishioner until a more permanent arrangement arises. Word of mouth has garnered a few necessities. A generous immigration attorney well known for his work on asylum cases has offered his services pro bono.
 
If you would like to help this family, donations of Similac Total Comfort Infant Formula and Gerber multigrain and rice cereals can be dropped off at the parish office during the week and in the church on weekends. If you are interested in providing transportation and a casual outing, contact Annette Lomont at [email protected]. (As an example, one parishioner plans to accompany the family to the Academy of Sciences.)
 
Fr. John said at daily Mass last Friday: Hospitality is the heart of the Church. Welcome, invitation to belong, a re-membering of the Body of Christ. Pope Francis captured this in his talk on the World Day of Migrants and Refugees in 2021: “[W]e are all in the same boat and called to work together so that there will be no more walls that separate us, no longer others, but only a single “we”, encompassing all of humanity.” A re-membering of the Body of Christ.
 
Let us pray for Reyna and her family; for César and his family; and for all the world’s refugees. And, as always,
 
oremus pro invicem.
 
Fr. Greg