The parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel celebrated a special Mass for Immigrants and Refugees on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, an appropriate day for the Mass as Father Andy De Guzman noted in his homily that we are all designed to be one in the Body of Christ.
Approximately 100 people attended the Spanish-language Mass and immigration fair that followed at the Redwood City parish, where Catholic Charities attorney Andres Baez was able to offer an overview of immigration rules and law and to offer specific guidance to immigrants.
For Parish Administrator Father De Guzman, the Mass and resource fair brought the Church’s Catholic Social Teaching to life.
Community groups offered resources and information. (Photo by Saul Perez/Archdiocese of San Francisco).
“It is a blessed timing to conduct a service event on immigration on the day of the Solemnity of Corpus Christi,” Father De Guzman said.
“On this day, we profess in a solemn way our belief in the real presence of the Lord in His Body and Blood, in the Eucharist. In the second reading today (cf. 1 Cor. 10:16-17), St. Paul teaches us that as we receive the Body of Christ, we participate in the Body of Christ, His Church,” Father De Guzman said. “Participation–or communion–is not simply being a member on paper nor in joining some activities but rather sharing in the very life of the members of the Church. This means communion in joy and pain; communion through thick and thin; communion in praise and admonition.”
The Catholic Charities attorney Andres Baez gave a Know Your Rights presentation at the immigration resource fair. (Photo by Saul Perez/Archdiocese of San Francisco)
The Mass for Immigrants and Refugees was a manifestation of the Church’s concern for the poor and vulnerable and a sign of its solidarity with those in need, said Saul Perez, Archdiocese of San Francisco social action and digital media coordinator. Perez spearheads the Office of Human Life & Dignity’s immigration ministry.
“A special thank you to Our Lady of Angels and Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors for sponsoring this event, and to the parish’s new Social Action Ministry and all of its dedicated volunteers for helping make this gathering possible,” Perez said.
At the immigration resource fair. (Photo by Saul Perez/Archdiocese of San Francisco)
For more information about the Archdiocese’s immigration ministry and the Catholic Church’s teaching on immigration go to sfarch.org/immigration.
For more information on Catholic Social Teaching go to this U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops web page: https://www.usccb.org/sjp/catholic-social-teaching
–By Valerie Schmalz, director of the Office of Human Life & Dignity.
