Photo by Peter G. Sánchez
JustFaith participants take part in an “Off the Market” exercise, figuring out the cost of groceries in Mexico, during a session of “Crossing Borders: Migration, Theology, and the Human Journey” on March 3 at Holy Eucharist Parish in Cherry Hill.
CHERRY HILL — For eight weeks, a group of 18 men and women met Thursdays in classroom 103 in the Holy Eucharist Parish Center here, examining and reflecting through prayer, readings and discussions on the plight of migrants in the United States and those wishing to come to the United States. Their ultimate goal is to work for comprehensive immigration reform that is in line with Catholic social teaching.
The eight-week session was part of the JustFaith module “Crossing Borders: Migration, Theology, And The Human Journey,” which focused on contemporary immigration debate and public policy; the history of the migration; the plight of migrants, and their struggle to find a better life in the United States; and Catholic social teaching on immigration.
In the second-to-last session, “The Face of the Migrant,” participants viewed the documentary “Dying to Live: A Migrant’s Journey,” which tells of the journey individuals take from Mexico to Arizona in search of a better life in America. Leaving their spouses and children behind, men will walk across the brutal stretch from Mexico to Arizona called “the devil’s highway,” where daytime temperatures soar to 100-plus in the desert, the nights are freezing, and there is constant fear of being caught by the U.S. Border Patrol, or being ambushed by robbers.
The film, directed by Bill Groody, seeks to show the human face of these poverty-stricken and socially marginalized people. It also introduces the viewer to some of those, on both sides of the border, who are trying to provide for the migrants’ physical and spiritual needs. Given the Christian imperative to protect the vulnerable and assist the downtrodden, a number of speakers argue that the problem of migration cannot be approached merely as a political or social phenomenon, but must be understood, first of all, as a moral challenge.
The group also took part in an exercise called “Off the Market,” where they realized just how little money a typical Mexican family makes. After non-negotiable expenses such as medical visits, rent or house payments, water, gas, electricity, transportation to/from work, school tuition/uniforms for children, there is little left for items which are common in American households, such as laundry detergent, cooking oil, toilet paper and tea.
After a presentation last year on immigration at Holy Eucharist, parish leaders reached out to Larry DiPaul, director of the Office of Life and Justice for the Diocese of Camden, to help organize this JustFaith workshop. JustFaith Ministries, started in 1989 in Kentucky, provides workshops in faith communities around the nation, to educate those committed to social justice ministry.
The eight weeks were “an opportunity to form a community, get to know each other, and understand comprehensive immigration reform from the perspective of our Gospel teaching, our Catholic social teaching, and what the U.S. Catholic bishops have written about the need for reform,” noted DiPaul.
“We can no longer stand idly by, while so many of our undocumented brothers and sisters are burdened so heavily, day in and day out. We have to take a look at the systems, structures, and laws that need to change, to create a better quality of life for (immigrants).”
For more information on JustFaith, and to schedule a JustFaith module for your parish, call Larry DiPaul at 856-583-6119, or e-mail LDipaul@camdendiocese.org
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