Our ministry is primarily sacramental and pastoral. We visit migrant shelters, camps, and detention centers on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border to celebrate Masses or communion services with migrants, along with occasional celebrations of baptisms and first communions.
When we visit, we drape an altar cloth over a table and set up our Mass kit while inviting people to gather chairs and benches to join in the celebration. It creates a privileged space of encounter with the Lord to be able to pause in prayer, to join together in song, and to feel God’s loving presence. We remind people that even in the difficult places they find themselves, they are never abandoned by God, who walks with us on our journey of faith.
We take inspiration in this ministry from Pope Francis, who wrote about the importance of spiritual care of the poor:
“I want to say, with regret, that the worst discrimination which the poor suffer is the lack of spiritual care. The great majority of the poor have a special openness to the faith; they need God and we must not fail to offer them his friendship, his blessing, his word, the celebration of the sacraments and a journey of growth and maturity in the faith. Our preferential option for the poor must mainly translate into a privileged and preferential religious care.”
Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 200
Along with our sacramental ministry to the migrant population, we also help provide local support at San Felipe de Jesús Parish in Brownsville, Texas, where we celebrate Masses and other sacraments, along with teaching confirmation classes and leading retreats.
We provide further support in the Diocese of Brownsville through supply work at parishes in need, offering spiritual direction and retreats, helping with the deacon formation program, and celebrating Masses for local Catholic schools.
An important component of our ministry is engaging in pastoral counseling in informal settings with migrants in camps, shelters, and detention centers. When we visit, before and after our celebration of Mass, we make ourselves available for conversations with migrants. Many of those conversations circle around questions that they have about the border and current policy, but these can often take the shape of pastoral counseling. Here are a few stories that capture how these pastoral conversations often unfold:
Ricardo approaches Joe to ask about getting a pair of shoes because he only has sandals, and it’s becoming more difficult as the weather gets colder. As Joe is taking down his information, Ricardo confesses that he is thinking about crossing the river between ports of entry to try to enter the U.S. undocumented. Joe outlines the potential consequences of making this choice. Ricardo begins to reveal his motives: his mom is sick in his home country and relying on him to send money to cover her medical care. He has been on the journey for six months, and he still hasn’t been able to send any help home. Joe listens to Ricardo’s concerns and affirms the love that Ricardo clearly has for his mother that has motivated this journey. He takes down the name of his sick mother to offer as an intention at our Mass.
Marisol held tightly to a worn backpack in her arms as the Mass was being prepared in the shelter. After Mass, she began crying inconsolably. She placed the backpack in Fr. Flavio’s hands. “These are my daughter’s ashes,” she choked out. “We were on a small fishing boat crossing the ocean to the shore close to Nicaragua, when the boat began to sink. My daughter and others on the boat drowned. I am now hoping to enter the U.S. I cannot return to my country. I am taking my daughter with me.” Flavio hugged her and cried with her. He placed the backpack with her daughter’s ashes on the altar, blessed the urn, and said a prayer.
Joe goes to invite Teresa to join for our Mass at the shelter where she is staying. Teresa is an older Cuban woman who is traveling alone. She was expelled from the U.S. into Mexico, where she had been kidnapped. After paying for her release, she ended up at a local migrant shelter. She explains to Joe how she believes in God, but has not been practicing her faith. Joe asks Teresa how her experience has been at Mass at the shelter, and she opens up to him about how much she appreciates the celebration of the Mass and the way it brings people together, plus the messages of the homilies that connect with her own life and migrant journey. She tells Joe that she is growing curious to know more about Jesus and would like to have a Bible, so Joe brings one for her on the next visit.
Luz, a single mother of two from Honduras, was the leader of the kitchen crew at a migrant shelter. She was stuck in the shelter after the border was closed in January 2025. She continued to live and help in the shelter in the ensuing months, while she waited to see if a legal pathway for entry would open. Her 12-year-old daughter grew increasingly sad and frustrated, missing months of schooling. Luz spoke with Fr. Brian about her struggle as a single mother trying to make the right decision for her children. She broke down into tears, asking if she was a bad mother for keeping her kids at this shelter for so long. Fr. Brian assured her that she was a kind and loving mother who always looked out for the best for her children. Luz made the decision to return to Honduras with her two children. On the day of their departure, Fr. Brian helped them to pack their final belongings and offered a prayer over them as they departed the shelter.
* Pseudonyms are used to protect the migrants whose stories are shared.
Along with our sacramental and pastoral ministry, we bring humanitarian aid to migrant shelters, primarily in northern Mexico. The majority of our aid comes from spending donated funds to make local purchases at stores in the U.S. and then bringing that aid to shelters in Reynosa and Matamoros, Mexico.
Items purchased locally on a weekly basis include:
We also receive items donated through our Amazon Wishlist to bring to the shelters. We are constantly updating the list according to the evolving needs of the migrant population we accompany. This list often includes items like nutritional drinks for children, vitamins, hygiene products, cleaning supplies, tents and tarps, and winter clothing (gloves, socks, and beanies) to help in the colder months.
We accompany migrants in our ministry in a variety of ways, mostly informally through our sacramental ministry and pastoral counseling. In some cases, our accompaniment becomes more formal through explicit actions we take to help a migrant by providing direct resources, orientations on the immigration process, or referrals to legal and social service providers.
For migrants in the U.S., we have remained in touch with some of the people who passed through shelters on the border and legally entered the country over the past few years. As they go through immigration court proceedings, they often reach out for help or advice. We try to accompany them in whatever ways we can. We also organize virtual reunions to bring together migrants we know who are spread across the U.S. to provide a space to pray together, to share updates on life, and to provide orientation of changing dynamics in immigration policy.
For the migrants we accompany in Mexico, we are limited in the ways we can help migrants at this moment, since there is currently no legal pathway to entrance to the U.S. for those seeking asylum. We continue to provide orientations to migrants on the Mexican side of the border, so that they are aware of U.S. border policy and to help dispel false rumors that can spread online.
Our advocacy efforts occur at both a local level and a national level.
Our local advocacy efforts begin with our collaboration with the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Welcoming Committee, which is comprised of a variety of NGOs active on both sides of the border. We have a weekly call and share regular updates and breaking news. Sometimes this group coordinates advocacy efforts or works together to develop strategies to help the migrant population of the area.
Along with collaborating with local organizations, our advocacy efforts have included direct communication with government authorities for both Mexico and the United States. We have contacts with local INM officials (Instituto Nacional de Migración in Mexico) and with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the U.S. We had coordinated with them in the past in a variety of instances. However, with the termination of legal pathways to entry for asylum seekers beginning on January 20, 2025, most of this collaboration has been suspended.
Regardless of border policy, we remain committed to advocating for the most pressing needs of the migrant population through networking and collaboration with local authorities.
We occasionally collaborate with other organizations to join in national advocacy efforts for asylum protections and immigration reform.
We are active in the Jesuit Migration Network of the United States and Canada, which serves as a gathering place for individuals and organizations engaged in social and pastoral ministry to migrant people, grassroots advocacy, and teaching and researching related to migration. The migration network is co-coordinated by the Ignatian Solidarity Network (ISN) and the Jesuit Conference of Canada and United States’ Office of Justice and Ecology.
Within the Jesuit Migration Network, we regularly collaborate in advocacy efforts with other Jesuit works active on the U.S.-Mexico border, including Jesuit Refugee Services-USA (JRS-USA), Kino Border Initiative (KBI), Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in San Diego, and Sacred Heart Church in El Paso, Texas.
