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WASHINGTON (CNS) — Prayer services and special Masses will be held in many
dioceses across the country as the U.S. Catholic Church has asked that the Dec.
12 feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe be a day of prayer with a focus on migrants
and refugees.
Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patroness of the Americas.
“As Christmas approaches and especially on this feast of Our Lady, we are
reminded of how our savior Jesus Christ was not born in the comfort of his own
home, but rather in an unfamiliar manger,” said a Dec. 1 statement from Cardinal
Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, who is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The day of prayer is intended to be a time to place before a merciful God the
hopes, fears and needs of all those families who have come to the United States
seeking a better life.
“So many families are wondering how changes to immigration policy might impact
them,” Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles,
USCCB vice president said in a Dec. 1 statement. “We want them to know the church is with them, offers
prayers on their behalf, and is actively monitoring developments at the
diocesan, state, and national levels to be an effective advocate on their
behalf.”
The
USCCB suggested that Catholics unable to attend such a service or Mass Dec. 12 or who
live in an area where one is not being held should “offer prayers wherever
they may be.” The USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services office has developed a
scriptural rosary called “Unity in Diversity” that includes prayers for
migrants and refugees. It can be accessed at the Justice for Immigrants website at https://tinyurl.com/hldg3o9.
Another resource suggested by the USCCB is “Strangers No Longer: Together on
the Journey of Hope,” the 2003 pastoral letter issued jointly by the bishops of
the United States and Mexico. Summary versions of the pastoral are available
online in
English at https://tinyurl.com/c4xm2vs and in Spanish at
https://tinyurl.com/c26ql3x.
A USCCB announcement on the day of prayer said the bishops’ conference would
develop additional pastoral resources.
“To all those families separated and far from home in uncertain times, we join
with you in a prayer for comfort and joy this Advent season,” Cardinal DiNardo
added.
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