As the passengers of bus nine from Brownsville disembarked at St. Anthony’s Croatian Catholic Church in Chinatown, there was the usual mix of emotions; some happy to see relatives there to meet them, others confused or suspicious of the strangers moving toward them.
That was understandable, since it was strangers who placed them on the bus in Texas on Aug. 20, sending them on a near-30-hour trek to Los Angeles where they arrived on Aug. 21.
But the people who met them at St. Anthony’s — mostly affiliated with either the Archdiocese of Los Angeles or the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) — were welcoming, offering food, clothing and, in one case, balloons and flowers.
The bearer of both balloons and flowers was Filiberto Cortez, or rather, Father Filiberto Cortez, a fact lost on many that evening. After all, that particular day was the priest’s day off, and he wasn’t wearing his usual Roman collar. Instead, “Father Fili,” as he’s known among his brother priests, was wearing his civilian duds and looked very much like “a guy who was going to a Dodger game,” recalled Yannina Diaz of the archdiocese’s media relations team….
Cortez knew about the young mother because the group that meets the buses has become “a very efficient operation,” said Jorge-Mario Cabrera of CHIRLA. “At most, we get 24 hours notice that the buses are coming. We’ve gotten very good at quickly making arrangements to meet them at schools or houses of worship. Those are human beings coming on those buses, brothers and sisters, moms and dads, and we want them to know that there are human beings here for them who they can trust.”
It is not Texas state officials who tell them of the bus departures; instead the information comes from contacts the consortium has developed in Texas, contacts who not only tell them when buses are leaving but who is on them. Bus nine contained 37 people, including 16 families with 14 children, the youngest of which was 3 weeks old.
There is, of course, always special concern when children are on the buses — and they usually are. That concern was ramped up this time since bus nine was headed toward Southern California just as Hurricane Hilary was. Also, less than two weeks before, a 3-year-old child had died on a bus en route from Texas to Chicago.
“It’s impossible to see that child and her mother and not think of Mother Mary,” Cortez said. “I mean, that was Mary and I’m not talking about a story, this was real, this was happening right now, a call from God to act..”
“I can tell you, when I see these immigrants each time getting off the bus, I see Jesus coming to us,” Cortez said. “And, again, I’m not talking about metaphors or symbols, I mean Jesus is literally there. I’ve never had a feeling, an epiphany like this, to feel what the saints must have felt, to serve Jesus, to recognize it is him you are receiving.”
From Angelus News
Enjoy the consequences of being a sanctuary city in a nation that is committing cultural suicide through uncontrolled illegal entry of foreigners.
I’m really glad I’m not younger than 20. Those kids are going to have a heck of a time in fallen America.
So the eucharistic revival is now about seeing Jesus in the illegal immigrant. That’s where this is going. “Jesus is literally there.” Mm-hm. Okay.
That is Tradition.
Jesus is not literally there in the immigrant. The immigrant is not Jesus Christ. That’s blasphemy and heresy, not tradition.
Jesus is in all the baptized.
It is not just Tradition; it is Scripture and Tradition.
How many of these people who want open borders leave their homes and cars unlocked, their bank accounts unprotected, their churches unlocked, their retirement accounts available for pillaging? None of them. Yet they are willing to leave America unlocked and her wealth subject to being drained. And they have the nerve to call people who want a secure border and controlled immigration racists and unchristian.
This priest should look at NYC and other sanctuary cities; the money and services eventually run out; he does not see to have thought this out long term .
Haven’t you read the Bible? God’s generosity is never outdone. Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fish to feed everyone to their satisfaction, and there were leftovers. Elijah promised the widow that her flour would not run out and her oil flask would not run dry, and they didn’t. God gave the Israelites manna and quail and water from the rock all through their journey in the desert. There’s nothing to worry about. God provides. God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good. At least that’s what a lot of black preachers say.
God did not tell “the city” or the government to welcome the stranger. He told you and me to.
What about “Let us build the City of God? May our tears be turned into dancing.” We sing that at my parish. We built this city on rock and roll. Now it’s time to build it on God.
I never thought about it but what does that even mean?
Building the City of God?
I welcome strangers who call me first and tell me why they’re coming; who knock at my front door and wait for me to open it. I welcome strangers who ask for help with what I can afford to give.
I don’t welcome strangers who break through my back door or climb through my kitchen window and claim they have the right to live in my house and be provided for with necessities, when I myself am having a most difficult time providing for my family. Such strangers are burglars and thieves. I don’t think Jesus expects me to provide for people who break His commandment: Thou shalt not steal.
That is not a very good analogy.
I believe it is very important for all Catholic priests to wear their Roman collars, and let others know, a priest is here for them– he is Christ’s representative– not some “ordinary guy.” A priest should give them some Catholic material in Spanish, including religious material, and information on local church charities. He should invite them to his parish church, to the Spanish Mass. He should take down their names and follow-up on all their cases, and make sure that all their needs, and especially, their children’s needs, are fully met. A safe place to live, food, clothing, jobs, medical care, schools, safety, etc. Babies, especially, have tons of needs– diapers, clothing, formula, blankets, medical care, etc.– and must be in a safe and clean environment.
Are there laws requiring a doctor or nurse to check all incoming immigrants on these buses– for possible diseases? Children and babies, as well as their moms, and the elderly, are vulnerable– and may need some special care. Who is sterilizing baby bottles, making sure that babies have clean diapers, and clean blankets and bedding, conducting routine medical check-ups, making sure all the routine vaccinations are given, watching for all the important growth milestones, making sure that babies have good nutrition when ready for solids, watching out for possible diseases– etc. etc.– and ensuring that babies receive continuing good care, all through childhood? That is very important. Same thing, with all the other immigrants– the moms, dads, children, elderly, everyone… It is a tragic thing, if innocent moms, dads, babies, children, elderly, etc., who are immigrants– suffer from things like disease, due to poor care and poverty– and others, who are U.S. citizens, are badly affected by this… a great danger.
They are not too stupid to take care of their own children.
Nope. You American saps had to follow social distancing and get the jab, and tennis stars are refused a visa to play in America if they aren’t vaccinated, but illegals get to do whatever they want. And don’t complain about it, otherwise you’re waaaaacist.
Those who are poverty-stricken and those in crisis situations, will often not have the money and resources available, for good and decent medical care, good nutrition, and normal necessities of life. Things like childhood diseases, poor nutrition, unsanitary conditions, etc. –can cripple and kill. One child with an illness, can spread it to everyone in a community, children and adults. An illness may severely affect adults, even more than children, especially, the elderly. Vulnerable infants, children, and the elderly, can die— both the immigrants and American citizens of our country. Before the era of modern medicine– even in the 1930s– parents used to watch, hope and pray that a child would make it through all the common childhood illnsses— many died from them. If a child could make it past about age seven, then there was hope. Knowledge and practices that lead to good health, from the day a child is born, and all through the childhood years, and through the adult years– is fairly recent, in our society– which is much richer, with higher standards, than many other, poorer countries. We have been blessed, in the era of modern medicine, to wipe out many terrible diseases, in the U.S.– and in other countries, too. But this may not last forever. This is a sad reality of life– not a political debate, as in the COVID-19 situation.
Yes, U.S. border patrols are required to provide emergency care for lawbreakers who break our immigration laws at the border. They are required to take the sick and the injured to nearby hospitals. And if those sick and injured lawbreakers die, it’s the U.S.’s fault.
“Father Filiberto Cortez: ‘It’s impossible to see that child and her mother and not think of Mother Mary'”‘
I don’t think Blessed Mama Mary broke any immigration laws. Even during the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt, they did not break through another country’s border because Egypt and Judea were both parts of the Roman empire, so they did not need any green cards to travel from one region to the other. It was like leaving one state for another state because the baby’s life was in danger there.
If you really come to think of it, illegal immigration is against the Seventh Commandment. It’s like breaking into your neighbor’s house without his permission and expecting (stealing) everything you could get. It’s so sad that the Catholic Church is helping thieves commit this crime, this sin. It’s blasphemy to look at a thief and see in her the Blessed Mother.
The next archbishop will be even worse. It’s slim pickings.
I read that the Democratic Mayor of Dallas, Texas, Eric Johnson, just became a Republican, promoting “law and order” and “fiscal conservatism.” Very smart. He wrote a recent, popular op-ed for the “Wall Street Journal” entitled, “America’s Cities Need Republicans– And I’m Becoming One.” Lots of Californians are moving to Texas for a better quality of life for their families. There are lots of ex-Californians in Dallas. Would love to join them– and actually go a little east of Dallas, to the Diocese of Tyler, to join many fellow Catholics, with Bishop Strickland.
“If you want to honor the body of Christ, do not scorn it when it is naked; do not honor the Eucharistic Christ with silk vestments, and then, leaving the church, neglect the other Christ suffering from cold and nakedness”
St. John Chrysostom
If they are on the buses, they have been processed. They are probably waiting for a court date to review their application for asylum.
Do they get any medical screenings?
I was not able to find any good information on that but the CDC recommends that refugees (which is a different kind of migrant) get a medical screening 30-90 days after coming here.
Yep, you read that right.
In Marseille last weekend, Pope Francis said, “Those who risked drowning at sea “must be rescued”, calling it a “duty of humanity, a duty of civilisation”. Those who impeded the rescue of people at sea were committing a “gesture of hate.” I suspect the same is true of those who risked death in the desert and on roads through cartel-infested lands must also be rescued as they cross the border, running from hostile drug dealers and bad governments, or we risk committing a gesture of hate, the opposite of love. On the other hand, couldn’t we do a better job of helping to eliminate the root causes of the need to leave homes and families? While we must welcome the refugee, we must also be aware that we can only “absorb” so many at one time; 10,000 per week is too many.
It depends. If someone is in danger of dying due to his foolishness, there is no moral imperative to risk your own life to save that person. If you cross a busy highway like an idiot, I’m not going to enter traffic to try to save you. If a toddler wanders into a busy freeway, I might act in that situation; I’d have to assess it in the moment. I don’t see Pope Francis acting on his own words. The Vatican spaghetti is too delicious.
Excuse me? If a toddler wanders into a busy freeway, I will most definitely act to save that child. If you risked drowning, I would try to rescue you, even if you had acted foolishly to get there and in spite of your callous comment.
I think you would need to assess the situation: the amount and speed of traffic, how far the toddler is out on the highway, the danger posed to you if you were to venture out on the highway in an attempt to save the kid. Just because you attempt a rescue doesn’t mean you will succeed, Big Brave Guy.
You might also cause more injury and death by running out into traffic. Drivers might swerve or brake suddenly to avoid YOU, and then they might cause other collisions. Think about that, Big Brave Guy. Your bravado might result in more injury or death than if you acted more intelligently.
…. I would even put my life on the line for pedants.
Thank you Zorro.
Of course, in those situations, those who help always say “They did what anyone would do” or “I didn’t think. I just did.”
Angels help in these situations.
So the other commenter may do what he does not think he would do.
There is also the concept that the Lord puts people in the area to help such as those on Flight 93.
Don’t bad mouth the Pope.
There is always a moral imperative to try to save someone’s life and soul.
Pray for them if the situation is one you cannot help with a deed or a word.
The pope should take that advice as well.
What you call foolishness, others (including Pope Francis) might call bravery.
Living near the San Andres Fault might be foolish. Others might call it an act of beauty.
It depends. There’s being a fool for Christ, and there’s also being a dang fool. They are not the same, and Christianity doesn’t ask anyone to be a dang fool.
Another non sequitur from yfc .
Report out today that migrants are responsible for 70% of violent crimes in France.
It’s similar in American cities now too.
Is the Pope going to help you when your relative or friend is murdered or raped?
When you import third world people without regulation, you import third world problems.
The Western nations that will survive and prosper will be those that build a wall around themselves and only let in people who will strengthen their societies and economies.
The West is committing cultural suicide via unchecked immigration.
Agree. What’s normal in Mexico and Central America is being brought to American cities. And it ain’t Norman Rockwell’s America. Those who grew up in the 1950s had just about the best experience anyone in human history has had.
No. Those nations will not survive and prosper because the Lord will set his face against them.