The immigration issue is complex and aggravating, to say the least. As a Catholic and as an American, I sometimes feel pulled in different directions. I try to keep in mind that my families came from Ireland and Italy—immigrants themselves—and not loved by the establishment of that day.

On one hand, I feel for those suffering. On the other hand, I want our national borders secured and respected. I care about the hungry but I also get aggravated at politicians who seek their long-term employment by robbing Social Security and Medicare to dole-out unearned benefits to potential future votes. And as one who believes in our Constitution and our Republic, I am frustrated by our Congress and our President for their lack of cooperation and compromise, the latter being the “art” of politics. It seems that Mark Twain was correct, “Common sense is very uncommon!” And so to whom should we turn? Let’s look at Sacred Scripture and the Gospels—Christ—for to place our Hope in anyone or anything else will be eternally disappointing.

“Whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40) “You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Leviticus 19:34) The Christian faith calls us to care for all in need—those who need water and food, those who need housing and healthcare, those who need a place to live after being forced from their homelands by war, dictatorship or extreme poverty. Noel Castellanos, CEO of the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA), a group of more than 500 churches and organizations committed to transforming communities by living and working among the poor—much like the Catholic Worker’s Movement—wrote an article in Plough Quarterly entitled “When Love Demands Justice: A Christian Response to America’s Immigration Crisis.” The author reminds us to Christ’s command to care for those in need.

Our Catholic Christian faith and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops calls us to consider as a prime motivating factor in our debate over immigration the goal of keeping the family together. According to the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC), the Catholic Bishops call on Catholics and all Americans to consider the need to balance secular concerns on the status of immigrants with the building-up of support for strengthening the family unit. In some cases, according to CLINIC representatives, “a child born in the United States whose parents are illegal can sometimes wait 18 to 20 years to be reunited as a family.” While our immigration system is in need of repair, the Catholic Bishops understand a nation’s right and duty to protect and secure its borders against criminal and dangerous elements.

Noel Castellanos asks a very powerful question: “Instead of focusing our efforts in poor communities primarily on pulling drowning people out of the river, we need to go upstream to find out who is pushing them into the water in the first place.” Here is the difference between “service” and “social justice.” Service, while needed and very noble, feeds the hungry or provides medical care to the needy during a crisis—even an ongoing crisis; “social justice” attempts to find and repair the root of a problem.” As we look at the immigration issues facing the United States, our government seems to be working the “back end” of the issue—who and how many may enter the US and become citizens—when the question we should ask is: why are you so intent on leaving your homeland? Are the billions of US economic aide given to South and Latin America helping the people leaving? What are the root causes and can we effectively fix them? Certainly, the problem is complex—so much so that the average person feels individually powerless and ill-equipped to offer a solution.

However, every Catholic—and all Christians—are called to care and to act in the face of poverty, social injustice, or human pain and suffering. The Catholic Church offers many outlets to be part of the solutions to these difficult issues while respecting sovereign national rights—however poverty and social injustice must not be protected by national borders. In fact, two of the potential solutions offered by the Church differ in approach yet are effective answers. The first is service. Service is ministerial- based and helps with the immediate need of hunger, pain, suffering, homelessness or ill health. Service can be found in our own parish ministries here at St. Catherine:

Pantry Partners, St. Elizabeth House, or Feed the Hungry Youth Group to name a few. Here—with their dedicated assistance—the immediate needs of the hungry are fulfilled. The same can be said for church-based homeless shelters where the need for immediate shelter is met; or in the Knights of .” Malta Mobil Healthcare Clinics where the immediate need for medicine and treatment is prescribed and filled; or in the Church’s shelters for battered women where the immediate need of safety is guaranteed.

The second approach that the Church offers is called Social Justice. “Social justice,” which is different from service, seeks a solution to a systemic need: this is where the Church works to “go upstream and see who is pushing them into the water...” To call attention to “why” are people homeless, lacking medical insurance, suffering from cyclical poverty, or forced to immigrate to another land. And then the Church works for systemic change through governmental action or through strong public information and education programs to change cultural attitudes. Some examples of Social Justice in the Church are the Catholic Worker Movement who move right in, literally, to the surroundings of poverty and healthcare and then work in difficult situations to end poverty and injustice through education and action; another example is the Catholic Legal Immigration Network which seeks to redress serious social deficiencies through the legislative process.

Here at St. Catherine of Siena our local Social Justice Committee works to educate us all to the need to “fix” the problem at its root cause. One such way is through education. Let’s look at two examples. First, Families in Crisis, which is an organization in Connecticut that seeks to offer assistance to spouses and family members of incarcerated individuals. One of the biggest issues of incarcerated individuals, often fathers and heads of households, is that they are unable to acclimate back into the family/community after release; not to mention the need for support of the family while the incarcerated one is away from them. If the real point of prisons are supposed to rehabilitate, what then is the point—other than to warehouse a criminal—if not to assist the incarcerated one during what has to be a difficult situation, no matter who is at fault? Another problem needing “fixing” at its root cause is hunger in America. (The Social Justice Committee hosted a movie and discussion on this very topic on November 21 in Russell Hall.) Do we really want to solve hunger, and if we do, then what can we do to go beyond the immediate provision of food during a crisis? Should we not be discussing ways to end underemployment, single-parent families, or poor education? It all begins with a conversation. Join us in whatever approach you feel comfortable. Our parish, part of the universal Church, offers many opportunities to do God’s work in the short term or long term. Join a ministry; come listen to the conversa-tions at our Social Justice Committee. Either way, you are doing God’s Will.