I’m visiting Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church in Houston, Texas this week, preaching a Lenten mission, and I was impressed and inspired by an effort they have undertaken with Catholic Extension for a parish Lenten project.
Christ the Redeemer is collecting donations to support a church in El Paso — with repairs and basic maintenance —so that IT can support and aid migrants flowing over the border.
Sacred Heart Church in the Diocese of El Paso is the oldest church in the city, located literally a few steps from the border. Father Rafael Garcia, Sacred Heart’s pastor, said parishioners are committed to seeing the dignity of the human person in everyone who comes to their doorstep. It is not uncommon for hundreds upon hundreds to be camped out in and around the church and the parishioners of Sacred Heart strive to see the face of Christ in all of them.
To meet the needs of so many, Father Rafael and his staff have had to improvise and have converted the parish gym into a shelter. Volunteers bring food and water daily, and medical care is arranged for those sick or in distress. The parish scrapes money together to support and care for as many people as it can every day.
Fr. Rafael and the people of Sacred Heart are not only working to restore the dignity of those who come to them, but they are likewise trying to restore their physical building. The original Sacred Heart church was built in 1892, and through the help of Catholic Extension in 1916, a new church was built. For more than 100 years, Catholic Extension has partnered with Sacred Heart in its mission to serve all of God’s people.
Now, through our 2024 Lenten Almsgiving initiative, we at Christ the Redeemer can help continue that legacy. Your gifts of alms will go to build and restore the physical Church, the Body of Christ, so that the mission of building up the literal Church, the people of God who are the Body of Christ, may flourish at Sacred Heart for generations to come!
I just think this is a sensational idea. I’ve made a donation to this effort. I encourage you to do the same.
Check this link to learn more and to give. And below is a video of Father Rafael talking about his parish’s work.
Meanwhile, not everyone thinks this is a good idea. A reader writes:
I couldn’t disagree with you more over this effort to keep bringing lawless people into the USA. We don’t have a nation if we don’t have borders. You’re enabling the globalists who want the cheap labor and to drive down wages of our citizens. Please educate yourself on this issue. What about drug trafficking, child trafficking, sex trafficking? You’re enabling it.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I’m sure I’m as compassionate as you, Deacon, but I also don’t want any more vicious crimes like we just had with the murder of this sweet girl in Georgia.
From my perspective, my mission as a Christian is to see the face of Christ in everyone I encounter: the migrant, the destitute, the rich, the comfortable — and even those who tell me I’m enabling globalists and child sex trafficking. All need the witness of hope and the love of Jesus.
As Pope Francis told the deacons of Rome several years ago:
“I expect you to be sentinels: not only to know how to spot the poor and the distant – this is not so difficult – but to help the Christian community to recognize Jesus in the poor and the distant, as He knocks on our doors through them. You can make your own the beautiful image at the end of the Gospels when Jesus asks His disciples from afar: ‘Have you nothing to eat?’ And the beloved disciple recognizes Him and says: ‘It is the Lord!’ (Jn 21:5,7). Whatever the need, see the Lord.”