Prayer • Study • Action

Week 6, March 29-April 4

Greetings!

As we conclude this Lenten season and prepare to enter Holy Week, we are keenly aware that we worship a God who is revealed to us in the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As Christians, we too are on a journey, one that began with a call on Ash Wednesday “to loose the bonds of injustice… to let the oppressed go free… and to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house” (Isaiah 58), a journey that will end with the Easter hope of resurrection and abundant life for everyone.

Last week’s Prayer-Study-Action invited us to see the connection between systemic racism and the unjust treatment of immigrants in our midst. This week, we continue this reflection as we are invited to name the racist practice of mass detention and mass deportation of immigrants as “a grave moral evil,” one that requires us to stand in solidarity with our immigrant sisters and brothers, by building community, neighborhood by neighborhood, in order to nonviolently resist attacks by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on the human dignity and human rights of immigrant families. In doing so, we too bear witness to a God of Life, a God who calls us to welcome the immigrant in our midst as our neighbor, and to practice Gospel nonviolence.

• PRAY •

Song: Build a Longer Table, Not a Higher Wall (music by David Bjorlin, 1984)

God of the journey, God of the traveler, we pray for those who leave their homes in search of new beginnings and possibilities.

May they know your presence with them.

We pray that those who seek to make a home in this country may find us welcoming and willing to help them find a path toward citizenship.

We pray that our legislators, as they craft new immigration legislation, may find the wisdom and courage to enact new policies that do justice for our country and for those who would immigrate here.

We pray that those who fan the flames of fear and discrimination against the undocumented may be touched with your divine compassion.

We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Archdiocese of Chicago, adapted

Final Monday night prayer service during Lent

Join Pax Christi USA for a 30-minute prayer service on March 30, 8:30-9 PM Eastern. We will have scripture readings, time for silent reflection, prayers of the faithful, and everyone is welcome to join brief breakout rooms for further discussion after the service ends.

Use this link to register with Zoom.

• STUDY •

In this recent pastoral letter excerpted below, Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso invites us during this Lenten season to “Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth” (Ephesians 5, 8-9). As we study his letter, we invite you to reflect on the following stations on this Lenten journey, illuminating with the Gospel the journey of immigrant families in our midst and calling us journey with them by building communities of solidarity and hope:

“... God’s people began as a people on the move. In the Hebrew Scriptures, we encounter Abraham and the prophets, people of the tent, forced to move by famine, drought and conflict and always on a journey towards freedom. In the Gospels, we meet Jesus as a child living in exile and as an adult with no place to lay his head. In his ministry, Jesus called his followers to join him on the road, and we Christians have always been a people on the move.”

“Here in the borderlands, we have seen generations of migrations, each with their faith, their struggles, their culture and their hopes. Together, we have worked to forge a common home. Building community at the border has always been an act of hope, whether against tthe desert’s dryness or manufactured fears about those who are different. The fiesta that we celebrate has always been a dance that challenges division and death, a reminder of our Eucharistic hope. …

“[Today, n]eighbors are being snatched as they walk out of immigration court proceedings downtown. Workers are being taken from construction sites across the city. Mothers and fathers are no longer able to work because the government has taken away their legal work permits. Young women are languishing in mental torture for months in private detention centers, even when, coerced by the conditions of their imprisonment, they beg to be deported. So many people are once again being made to feel like they are less than American. People are dying in El Paso’s Camp East Montana immigrant detention center.

“To those of you affected by hatred and discrimination and afraid of what comes next, know that the church stands with you. As your bishop, I carry your pain daily in my heart and in my prayers. I stand with you. Our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, told me personally to stand in solidarity with suffering migrant families and not to remain silent. I will do everything I can to uphold the God-given dignity of every person in our borderland community. …

“I am blessed with many friendships with our local law enforcement and immigration enforcement agents. Their work to keep our community safe is vital. But the death of those in immigration detention is unacceptable. An unjust immigration system that leads to deadly outcomes is destructive of our shared humanity. No one has to obey an immoral order. I implore all involved to carefully discern the moral requirements of the Gospel at this moment with integrity and honesty. When we take off our masks and encounter each other as neighbors, we can reclaim our common dignity. I promise the pastoral support of our priests, chaplains and myself as you navigate the demands of conscience with sincerity. You are also in my prayers.

“Mass deportation will not make our communities safer. They separate families, divide neighbors and threaten our economic wellbeing. While we do need significant immigration reforms, it is an injustice to make families, children and the vulnerable pay the price of our inaction. Policies, laws and borders must always be at the service of human dignity, genuine community security and human flourishing.

“For these reasons, I must make clear, the current national campaign of mass detention and deportation is a grave moral evil, one which must be opposed, with prayer, peaceful action and acts of solidarity with those affected. In these acts, we touch the wounds of Jesus Christ, and in this solidarity, we carry forward the hope of the Resurrection. God is on the side of justice, and as we journey towards Easter, we know that God is fashioning a new humanity that reflects God’s blessings for all people. …

“May Mary of Guadalupe, who challenges us to build up a common home of tenderness and love, pray for us.”

Use this link to read the pastoral letter in its entirety.

• ACT •

Join or host a Stations of the Cross

The traditional Stations/Way of the Cross is a powerful way to pray during the Lenten season. Several versions of the service are available which allow us to walk with Jesus on his journey to Calvary, to enter into his suffering, to unite it with our own, and to hold fast to the promise of resurrection.

• Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) offers this Stations of the Cross service which provides a pathway to meditate on the lived experiences of immigrants navigating the complexities and pain of the immigration system and also on other critical issues related to the common good. This resource focuses especially on the experiences of immigrants after their arrival in the US, where the cross often continues to weigh heavily.
• Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns (MOGC) will offer a Way of the Cross for Peace and Justice which offers reflections on pressing global and national challenges, including war and violence, forced migration, economic inequality and the climate crisis, while lifting up signs of hope and solidarity. Use this link to check the MOGC website; the script will be available by March 27. If you are in the Washington, DC area, please join us to walk this Way of the Cross on Good Friday.
• Use this link to download the facilitator’s script for a Stations of the Cross service prepared by NETWORK Lobby.
• In New York City? Join Pax Christi Metro New York at 8:30 AM on Good Friday for their 44th annual Way of the Cross. Use this link to download the flyer.

Contact Congress

This week and next, Pax Christi members can contact their senators and Congressperson to keep ICE detention and deportation funds off the table, and to protect sensitive locations such as houses of worship, schools and medical facilities from ICE raids.

1) Stop funding for ICE and Border Patrol: To stop the dangerous and unlawful abuses ICE and Border Patrol are committing nationwide, we ask that Congress block funding for both agencies, pass meaningful corrective measures, and fund other Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agencies that provide critical services to US Americans.

As of this afternoon (March 26):

• The Senate and House are getting closer to an agreement about DHS and ICE funding.
• The framework under discussion would fund all of DHS except for ICE's migrant removal operations (ERO); it may include some of the reforms we want.
• An attempt will be made to fund the rest of ICE via budget reconciliation (party-line vote) later.
• At this point, multiple bills are under consideration (a bill to just fund TSA, a bill to fund TSA/CISA/Coast Guard), and it’s unclear which one will prevail.

Take action: Remind your senators and representative that we need strong measures to hold ICE and Border Patrol accountable; it's not acceptable to move forward without addressing these underlying issues. Please find additional talking points from the National Immigration Law Center here and here.

Use this target list to ramp up pressure on senators. Outreach would be especially meaningful to Senators Cortez Masto, King, Schumer, Murray (at the negotiating table); and Senators Coons, Fetterman, Hassan, Kaine, Kelly, Ossoff, Peters, Rosen, Shaheen, Slotkin, Warner, and Warnock.

2) Urge Congress to vote for the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act (HR 1061/S 455): This legislation aims to strengthen restrictions on immigration enforcement at designated sensitive locations such as houses of worship, schools, and medical facilities. If passed, the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act will provide our communities with critical safeguards that they have been without since the Trump administration gutted longstanding guidance for immigration enforcement agents in January 2025. Click here to send a message to your senators and representative.

• US House of Representatives: 202-225-3121, House.gov
• US Senate: 202-224-3121, Senate.gov

Let your voices be heard

Pax Christi communities across the nation are joining with other faith leaders and immigrant communities across the nation in a Season of Faithful Witness. Across our country, many families are facing uncertainty and strain. In this moment, Catholics are called to prayer, to seek moral clarity rooted in the Gospel, and to offer faithful public witness grounded in Catholic Social Teaching. Find local actions here.

> Click here to find additional resources for prayer, study and action throughout Lent.