Reflection for Sunday – June 8, 2025

Denise MackSunday Readings Homilies

Readings: Acts 2:12-11; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13; John 14: 15-16, 23b-26 
Preacher: Deni Mack

These are times when we know we need the Holy Spirit. ICE handcuffed people who were born here, who worked here for years.  Their families and lawyers searched for days to find them after their wives and children saw ICE throw them into unmarked vans.  Their search found they’d been taken to 5 different detention centers in 3 different states. Their families are terrified; the press seems confused and the legal system is challenged. Neighbors are fearful; their health care is threatened.  We want to help, we want to assure one another we’ll have each other’s back through hard times.  We know we can’t make much of a positive difference on our own. 

 Sometimes I feel so inadequate that I weep.  And then I remember a mass back in 1986 when the priest said, “There is this man. His name is Alijandro; he needs a safe place.”  

The congregation spontaneously leapt up shouting and clapping. It felt like Pentecost. I saw no tongues of fire above our heads but our hearts were on fire with loving purpose.

In tears of joy I was one with my faith community rising up.  Their beaming smiles were radiant; shouts of joy pulsed with the spirit of God as enthusiasm soared. We confidently shouted support for a stranger. It felt like we came to mass looking for ways to put our faith into action. 

While that outburst of support at a local church in 1986 was the biggest sign of the Holy Spirit I ever witnessed there’d been many signs of the Spirit in that faith community.  For years we’d been welcoming unhoused people, dying people, their loved ones and ex-offenders.  Full blown ministries evolved as we listened and learned and worked together. Now we would learn from refugees. We knew we would provide safety for Alijandro and his family. We trusted the Spirit.

That first burst of spiritual fire did not die out. This April, thirty-nine years after that Spirit filled mass we stood in front of City Hall in support of today’s refugees.  Impassioned speeches from people who’d been working with refugees for years moved our hearts.  One recalled two local churches raising bail money for Alijandro on Memorial day weekend in 1986 when banks were closed and there were no cell phones nor Venmo. They drove to Buffalo with bail money to release Alijandro. He and his family thrived in two churches loving community.  

 Spirit filled work continues.  This March we held a prayer service with prayer leaders from many faiths. One has 150 Congolese refugees in his congregation. They entered this country legally and now are afraid to go to work for fear of being deported.  On June 10 at Henrietta United Church of Christ on Lehigh Station Road Church we will show a film of current immigrants and how Bishop Seitz of El Paso TX and Sister Norma Pimental of Catholic Relief Services work in solidarity with refugees.  In 2015 Pope Francis facetimed with Sr Norma where he praised her years of work.  Our local Sr Janet Korn was one of many volunteers who worked with asylum seekers in El Paso, loving the children and admiring the bravery of their parents. Lawyers who volunteered at the border tell me they did not encounter one asylum seeker whose paperwork and story did not meet the long established criteria here for a path to citizenship.

Today’s crisis and today’s scriptures prompt us to ask—Where is the hope? Where is the solution?  While there is no single answer, our faith communities respond in a plethora of ways. We pray. We amplify papal teachings on welcoming the stranger and Pope Francis’ actions such as sponsoring refugee families, Muslims included and Pope Leo’s work in solidarity with poor people in Peru. We acknowledge we are pilgrims of hope.  We ask God what that can mean for us individually and collectively.  We support Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Charities and Afghanistan refugees through Keeping our Promise. 

One cause of my weeping these days is my unmet desire for all humanity to hear the Word of God proclaimed expectantly, applying biblical faith to life today. The Holy Spirit wants to soar through us. On February 9, 2025, in San Diego, 15,000 people gathered with Cardinal McElroy to pray in solidarity with immigrants. Cardinal McElroy now leads the Diocese of Washington DC. Can we fill our churches the way San Diego filled theirs?  I think we can by being who we are called and gifted to be, by being who we are baptized to be, communities of loving compassion and mercy applying biblical imperatives to every injustice. 

Denise Mack
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