Office for Social Ministry
“At Pentecost, the doors of the upper room were opened because the Spirit opens borders… The Spirit opens borders, first of all, in our hearts… The Spirit also opens borders in our relationship with others… Finally, the Spirit also opens borders between peoples.” (Pope Leo XIV, homily for Pentecost)
In his first papal Pentecost homily to thousands of Jubilee Year pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Leo XIV offered a stirring meditation on the Holy Spirit’s work in the world today, especially how the Spirit opens borders on three interconnected levels — within ourselves, with each other and between peoples of different cultures.
“The Spirit opens borders, first of all, in our hearts. He is the gift that opens our lives to love. His presence breaks down our hardness of heart, our narrowness of mind, our selfishness, the fears that enchain us and the narcissism that makes us think only of ourselves… The Spirit opens our interior borders, so that our lives can become places of welcome and refreshment.”
Just as in the first Pentecost, our new Holy Father calls on the Spirit to open the borders of our hearts and renew the fire of our faith by breaking down our inner walls of isolation and individualism and focus outward to others by “…opening our hearts to our brothers and sisters, overcoming our rigidity, moving beyond our fear of those who are different, and mastering the passions that stir within.
“The Spirit also transforms those deeper, hidden dangers that disturb our relationships, like suspicion, prejudice or the desire to manipulate others… The Spirit broadens the borders of our relationships and opens us to the joy of fraternity.”
Pope Leo preached about opening ourselves by tearing down walls of indifference and hatred and inviting all people to see each other as children of God: “Let us invoke the Spirit of love and peace, that he may open borders, break down walls, dispel hatred and help us to live as children of our one Father who is in heaven. (For the pope’s complete homily, please visit www.vatican.va)
Pope Leo’s inspiring words have strong pastoral implications for ministry with migrants worldwide. His homily message is very resonant with recent reflections by Diocese of El Paso, Texas, Bishop Mark Seitz, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Commission on Migration. Bishop Seitz spoke April 22 at Loyola University Chicago, delivering the Cardinal Bernardin Common Cause Address.
Drawing from years of experience in migrant ministry with the border diocese of El Paso, Bishop Seitz encouraged all to see migration as an opportunity rather than a threat, saying that the diocese is “bound to our community on the other side of the border by ties of history, culture, language and family… Migration need not be a threatening reality, but can be an enriching one, when the movement of people is embraced conscientiously as an opportunity for human encounter…” and for experiencing “ a living vein of compassion (that) accompanies the aspirations, anxieties, pain and joys of those who are forced to migrate.”
Bishop Seitz believes that “the incredible perspective that faith offers is that this reality of migration and this vein of compassion are the very presence of Jesus among us and speaking to us today.”
The bishop said he celebrates the Eucharist on the border praying that “the Lord might bring peace and salvation to all who approach and pass through the border seeking a better life because they are a part of us and we were once them.”
Like Pope Francis did, Bishop Seitz warned that mass deportation campaigns represent a moral social crisis that “tears at the heart of human fraternity.” He encouraged every diocese to put together legal services to protect the vulnerable.
“We must pull together in every diocese to protect our people and to protect the vulnerable,” he said. “This is work that can and should be done ecumenically, with other civil-society groups, and especially alongside the directly affected. … People need to see Jesus, visible and concrete. They need to feel his compassion… It is at the nexus of real life on the margins, close to the pain, as a throbbing vein of compassion, that we discover the presence of God.
“In this Year of Jubilee, the doors of our churches should be places where people, including our immigrant communities, feel concrete expressions of mercy.”
For the full text of Bishop Seitz’s reflections on border ministry, please visit www.commonwealmagazine.org/living-vein-compassion.
This living vein of compassion extends far beyond the borderlands of El Paso — it is alive here in Hawaii through the community collaboration rallying around our migrant and refugee neighbors. If you or someone you know is seeking legal guidance on immigration, please reach out to:
The University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law’s Refugee and Immigration Law Clinic: (808) 956-0836
The Legal Clinic: (808) 777-7071
Catholic Charities Hawaii: (808) 524-4673
In the spirit of Pentecost, this is one way to make our faith visible in a living vein of compassion, overcoming the walls that divide us and revealing God, the Risen Christ and the Advocate Holy Spirit in our midst.
As Pope Leo concluded in his inspiring Pentecost sermon: “May the strong wind of the Spirit come upon us and within us, open the borders of our hearts, grant us the grace of encounter with God, enlarge the horizons of our love and sustain our efforts to build a world in which peace reigns.”
Mahalo,
Your friends in the Office for Social Ministry