Location Tag: Texas
Oh, Say Can You See?
Sisters of Mercy call for immediate action to end gun violence
Healing Earth in the Rio Grande Valley: A ‘Women of Mercy’ Story
By Catherine Walsh, Features Writer – Something special has happened over the years since the Sisters of Mercy first started ministering with the people of the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas, near the U.S./Mexico border, in 1875. The sisters and the women, children, and families of the Mexican immigrant community have formed a tight bond. And in recent years they have forged a mutual commitment to the Mercy mission of caring for Earth. In fact, they have put Earth at the center of their work together this year at four ARISE Adelante community centers that are co-sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy and the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word.
Formation at the Border
By Sister Luz-Eugenia Alvarez — From the time I began formation in the novitiate (a phase in the process of becoming a Sister of Mercy), I knew that, following the completion of classes on the vow of service, there was the possibility I would go to the U.S.-Mexico border. This past June, I did. I traveled to the border between McAllen, Texas, and Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico, to learn about how the sisters serve immigrants there.
Mi Hogar–My Home
By Kari Sims, Director of Service-Learning & Leadership, Mercy Academy, Louisville, Kentucky — I celebrated the 4th of July at a Major League baseball game this year. Before the unfurling of the giant American flag on the field, the announcer asked us all to pause for a moment of silence to honor the victims of the Highland Park shooting that had occurred earlier that morning. A solemn mood washed over the crowd. As we stood in silence, I wondered how many of us thought of the 53 people who died in the truck just outside of San Antonio, Texas—all in search of something better, in search of a home. After spending time at the border this past May, I cannot stop thinking about what it means to call someplace home.
Bringing the Border Experience Home
By Elnora Bassey, Policy Advocate, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) — In early May 2022, I arose from my cozy bed hours before sunrise to catch an early flight to the U.S.-Mexico border. An advocate attorney with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), which works to protect immigrant and humanitarian rights, I was participating in a week-long border immersion experience to El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, to learn more about immigration issues facing migrants during and after their journey to the U.S.-Mexico border. The program was sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy and hosted by the Columban Mission Center.
Joy, Pain and Mercy on the Border
By Catherine Walsh, Features Writer
— The joy I found on the U.S.-Mexico border in May surprised me. I heard horrific stories of people fleeing violence and poverty in Central America, Haiti and Ukraine, but I also saw countless kindnesses by migrants and those who help them while I was in El Paso, Texas, and Juárez, Mexico, with the Sisters of Mercy to learn why people are coming to the border in ever higher numbers. I heard people say that the Southern Border is the new Ellis Island.
Following are photos capturing our time at the border.
Uvalde shooting statement
Current news from the Border
By Sister Theresa Saetta — As Sister Pat Mulderick and I woke up to a bright and shiny day, we learned that the tent city camp in Reynosa, Mexico, that housed over 2,000 immigrants awaiting asylum in the USA was bulldozed. The families had to scramble to collect their important documents while the authorities screamed at them to get out…now!
Saying Farewell from, but not to, the Border
I will be unpacking their stories for months to come and mentoring with those who have already discovered how and where to meet the migrants.