3 minute read
The Immigration Ministry: Helping Neighbors Handle Matters Of Immigration Law
Our challenge as Christians is to do Christ’s work in our families and communities. That work looks different for everyone. St. Teresa of Avila gave us a great picture of what serving those around us looks like. She said, “Christ has no body but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes with which He looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which He blesses all the world.”
Here on Hawai`i Island, in our parish and in the community, many immigrants who are here from around the world need assistance with matters of immigration law. The members of the newly formed Immigration Ministry stand ready to be the hands and feet of Christ.
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There are very few resources on this island to help immigrants. To meet this need, the law school at the University of Hawai`i in Hilo is sending students periodically for open office hours in the Immaculate Conception Mission Church Hall here at St. Michael's Parish. Our goal is also to provide translators for the different languages to help during office hours. The processes related to immigration law can be very complicated, and this is just one way we can help. Several community agencies are also involved in this ministry.
Deacon Sándor Hernandez Morales is himself a political refugee from Cuba and he knows how vital this ministry is. His family came to the United States in 1979 with political asylum and legal resident status.
“I am very grateful for the life I have and know personally what it is like to seek freedom and a life of dignity,” Deacon Sándor says. “All my life, I have seen countless friends and relatives do the same. Thankfully, the U.S. remains a beacon of hope and freedom around the world. This ministry is a small way to help people lawfully remain in the land of freedom and opportunity by going through the processes afforded them by our nation’s laws.” Deacon Sándor says we need to be aware that there are immigrants present here from all over the world — not just Latin America. There are Asians, Micronesians, South Pacific Islanders, Filipinos, Europeans, Russians, and others who may need help. By welcoming them into our parish, it’s also a way to evangelize. Folks can see a smiling face there to help, which can spread Christ’s love.
“People of many different cultures and faiths come to our parish and experience the ‘aloha’ we share that comes from being disciples of Jesus,” Deacon Sándor says. “This is the most effective form of evangelization. We are supposed to be recognized as followers of Christ in the way we live love.”
Deacon Sándor asks us all to consider how we might support this ministry. In particular, translators are needed. It’s also helpful to have volunteers during office hours so that people may be greeted with a friendly face. Deacon Sándor would love to see this ministry grow and provide real help to all those who need it. After all, when we welcome the stranger and shelter the homeless, we are living the Corporal Works of Mercy.
“This work is important because immigration has become a highly politicized issue with people often complaining about where things stand without really doing anything about it,” Deacon Sándor says. “In the interim, real people suffer the consequences and the result is avoidable stress and suffering. We can help people resolve some of their immigration law matters and in this way take action locally to be helpers instead of being complainers, or worse yet, spectators.”
