Humanitarians bringing food to migrants - a team effort

This article should receive international acclaim because people must know that we all can do our part to help the innocent immigrants and migrants who are being caged in concentration camps at the US and Mexico border. We can do something and the Knights of Columbus have stepped up.

Published in The Knights of Columbus Magazine "Columbia" by Daniel Cavazos

Louder than words: Knights bring food, clothing, medicine and a Posada celebration - to desperate migrants on the border.

It's hardly ironic that the Posada celebration is about the Biblical migration of Mary and Joseph, from Nazareth to Bethlehem. 

Las Posadas, (Spanish: “The Inns”) religious festival celebrated in Mexico and some parts of the United States between December 16 and 24. Las Posadas commemorates the journey that Joseph and Mary made from Nazareth to Bethlehem in search of a safe refuge where Mary could give birth to the baby Jesus.

Servando Salinas Rios and a dozen other Knights hoisted the last boxes of food and supplies over their shoulders and carried them to the nearby Casa del Migrante, a migrant shelter in Matamoros, Mexico.

"Helping people who don't have anything to eat, or a place to live, fills me with a lot of joy," said Salinas Rios, 23, a member of the Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe Council 16378, in Matamoros, just across the border from Brownsville, Texas.

Inside the shelter, young mothers holding toddlers balanced music sheets with their free hands to sing during a Posada celebration, hosted by the Knights.

Among those participating in the December 13, event were Bishop Daniel Flores, of Brownsville, who had earlier blessed the truckload of supplies, and Bishop Eugenio Lira of Matamoros.  Bishop Flores noted that Las Posada, an Advent tradition reenacting Mary and Joseph's search for shelter before the birth of Jesus, can be viewed as a reflection of the whole immigrant experience.

"At times, the world closes its eyes and does not want to recognize the difficulties of human existence," Bishop Flores said. "I'd like to thank the Knights for raising awareness and reaching out to people who are on the peripheries."

Matamoros an the event there, was part of the Order's initiative, announced at the Supreme Convention last August, to provide vital humanitarian assistance to migrant families in cooperation with dioceses and councils near the U.S. Mexico border.  Knights in Texas and Mexico have similarly distributed in the Piedras Negras and Ciudad Juarez, where Central American immigrants seeking asylum await lawful entry in the United States.

A Team Effort

This Knights of Columbus border initiative began in El Paso, Texas.  Knights there, in conjunction with local parishes, had spent $54,000 by mid-2019, to purchase food, prepare cooked meals and rent showers for migrants across the border in Ciudad Juarez.

Border towns like Juarez have struggled to accommodate the growing number of men, women and children waiting to be considered for asylum in the United States.

"Parishes and councils were simply running out of money," said Supreme Director Terry Simonton, a past state deputy of Texas.

Simonton approached the Supreme Council for help and his request led to the initiative announced by Supreme Knight Carl Anderson at the Supreme Convention in Minneapolis.

In his annual report, the supeme knight stated, "This is not a political statement....This is about helping people who need our help right now."

In fact, the Knights of Columbus has since delivered more than $270,000 in aid to help meet the humanitarian needs at the border. With each delivery, Texas Knights have been welcomed and assisted by their Mexican brothers.

I can't say enough about our brother Knights from Mexico and the United States, working together to help make the migrants lives a little better," Simonton said.  "The bonds that our brother Knights made at these distributions will never be forgotten."

Armando Gonzalez, a member of the Sacred Heart of Jesus/San Felipe Neri Council 11980 in Hidalgo, Texas, and a former district deputy, said it was gratifying to help those in need who are so close to home.  

"We have helped people in many parts of the world," he said.  "Today, we are helping our Hispanic brothers who find themselves here in Mexico."

The migrants need more than food and shelter, said Servando. Salina Rios, who also helped with the delivery.

"We should support people in need with food and bread," he said, "but more importantly, with love and an embrace- taking the time to meet them and talk to them and listen to what they have to say."

"We are here to give this testimony, that you are to be treated as a person, not a problem, a number, a statistic, that does not have an identity."  Bishop Flores said, "You have an identity that God has given to you as sons and daughters of God."

Joy and Sorrow

Fraternity and love of neighbor were especially evident during the shared Posada celebration, which was followed by a hearty lunch and festivities for the children.  Excited boys and girls swung sticks at pinatas and then scurried to scoop up the candies that had fallen to the floor.

Yet, the joy and fellowship felt at the event were interspersed with painful reminders of what drove the migrants on long journeys from their homelands. Edwin Reyes, a young Nicaraguan barely past his teenage years, spoke emotionally about fleeing the political repression in his country.

"I am one of the people who defends our country, civically and democratically, and yet the government has tried to kill us," he said. "Like many who are here, I am asking for an opportunity, because we fear losing our lives."

Another migrant, Wendy Concepcion Castro Cruz of Honduras, spoke about being separated from her husband and son shile staying at the shelter with her daughter. Her husband and son are awaiting initial asylum hearings in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas.

"It is difficult being apart," said Castro Cruz, who worked daily at the shelter kitchen in Matamoros to show her gratitude.  "We hope to be back together someday and make it to the United States to work hard, do our part and provide for our children."

Moreover, the Knights witnessed the character and resiliency of the migrants, along with their gratitude for the distributon of food, shoes, medicine and hygiene items.

"AT every distribution, the people were so appreciative," Simonton said. "There is no doubt that these events have changed the lives of the migrants for the better. It has also changed the lives of the Knights who have participated."

Bishop Eugenio Lira of Matamoros connected the distribution of aid to the golden rule taught by Jesus, about treating others as we would want to be treated.

"This is what the Caballeros are doing, in expressing love and solidarity, with migrants who are going through very difficult circumstances," Bishop Lira said.  "The testimony of what's actually done is stronger than words."

For Simonton, the response from the migrants says it all.  

"The smiles on their faces and from the children and their parents are priceless," he said.  "I'm so proud of what the Knights have done."