English click here Los obispos latinos de los Estados Unidos publicaron una carta dirigida a sus hermanos y hermanas inmigrantes el 12 de diciembre del 2011. Treinta y tres obispos, encabezados por el Arzobispo Gómez de Los Angeles, expresaron su solidaridad con los millones de trabajadores indocumentados, instándolos a que “no se dejen vencer por el mal; antes bien, venzan el mal con la fuerza del bien” (Rom. 12:21). Los obispos mencionaron uno de los obstáculos para lograr una reforma... Read more

While in high school I learned by experience that I have to watch out what I pray for because I may actually get it. My senior year I had studied for a difficult test.  It was the first test of the first philosophy class I ever took.  Before going to bed I said a half-hearted prayer, “Lord, please, I really don’t want to take this test tomorrow.” I thought of it as an innocent and harmless prayer, but it wasn’t... Read more

Click here for English Imagínese tener quince años y ser ciudadano del país donde nació. Usted vive ejerciendo todos los derechos y responsabilidades de un ciudadano, pero vive con un miedo constante: llegar a casa un día de la escuela y no encontrar a sus padres, quedándose con sus cinco hermanos menores. A menos que se hayan tomado medidas legales antes de la deportación de sus padres, el estado puede colocarlo junto con sus hermanos donde una familia adoptiva. Imagínese... Read more

Imagine you are fifteen years old and you are a legal citizen of the country where you were born. You live in your homeland exercising all the rights and responsibilities of a citizen, but you live with one constant fear: one day you will come home from school, your parents will be gone, and you will be left with your five younger siblings.  Unless legal arrangements were made before your parents’ deportation, the state may take you and your siblings... Read more

Homily for the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year C In the letter to the Hebrews we find the moral of today’s first reading: “Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels.”  Abraham was hospitable to these three unknown visitors and was blessed with a son. These men were angels sent by God, so Abraham did well in being kind to them, in being generous. Saint Benedict, aware of the importance of hospitality, wrote in... Read more

Jesus often has a way of not answering the question he is asked. Instead of answering, he asks a question in return.  Instead of answering, he likes to tell a story.  Instead of answering, he begins to speak of something much more profound that he renders the one asking the question silent. Today’s Gospel passage is no exception. Saint Luke tells of a scholar of the law, a faithful Jewish Pharisee, who comes to Jesus to test him: “What must... Read more

Many today have the impression that Jesus was a marginal preacher who only had twelve men and several women following him.  No one else listened to his message until it was too late, until they had nailed him to a cross. Today’s Gospel passage presents a different reality.  Jesus commissions seventy-two men to go out in pairs to preach the Gospel.  Who are these men?  Where did they come from? These men had been transformed by the message Jesus preached... Read more

La semana pasada escuché en el radio que actualmente dos tercios de los ordeñadores de vacas en los Estados Unidos son inmigrantes indocumentados. Ya que vengo de una familia de cuatro generaciones de ganaderos y después de haber trabajado tantas horas en una sala de ordeño, inmediatamente tomé interés en la noticia. Los ganaderos están muy atentos al debate de reforma migratoria ya que el paso básico y necesario de su industria está en peligro, el ordeño de las vacas.... Read more

Last week I heard a news story on the radio reporting that currently two thirds of cow milkers in the United States are undocumented immigrants. Coming from a four generation dairy family and having spent many hours in a milking parlor, I immediately took interest in the story.  Dairy farmers are very attentive to the immigration reform debate since the most basic and most necessary step of their industry is in jeopardy, the milking of the cows.  Cows must be... Read more

This past Thursday the bishops of Georgia, Archbishop Gregory and his auxiliaries and Bishop Hartmayer, wrote a letter to Senator Chambliss and Senator Isakson urging them to support comprehensive immigration reform.  Here are the highlights of the letter, below is a link to read the letter in its entirety. “As pastors in Georgia, we so often see the destructive effects of the broken immigration system in the eyes of children separated from their parents, in the dashed hopes of workers... Read more