“When Did We See You as a Stranger and Welcome You.”

Very often we have heard the Gospel of Matthew referenced to as a call to ministry. St. Matthew wrote, (25:35) And when did we see you as a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? ' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. '

Many of our grandparents and great grandparents have migrated to the United States out of needs for employment, food, adequate housing, and more opportunities for their families. Their countries of origin were no longer a place to raise a family for any number of reasons. In the last months we have witnessed the arrival of our newest migrant community mostly but not exclusively from Venezuela. More than 20,000 migrants have arrived in the greater Chicagoland area within the last year.

Some of the parishes in the Berwyn and Oak Park area have worked with Catholic Charities and other local not for profits by helping migrant families set down roots in our area. Catholic Charities assists the parishes with vetting the families in order to help the family rent an apartment for six months. Local parishes provide various levels of accompaniment for the newly arrived migrants.

In years past, St. Mary’s had a refugee resettlement committee that helped a few refugee families get established in our area. The Cardinal has called for the local parishes to respond to the call to welcome the migrants and assist them in this transition for housing, employment, schooling etc.

There is a core group of leaders at St. Paul VI that would like to provide the accompaniment piece for a migrant family. The family would receive funding for the security deposit and six months of rent from a grant from Catholic Charities. The parish would assist the family with moving into the apartment, securing furniture, helping them set up a kitchen, bathrooms, linens for bedding and general set up for the apartment. Our volunteers would take them to the local grocery stores, assist the family in registering their children in school and mentoring the family during the first months as they become self-sufficient.

If you would be interested in helping a migrant family in the areas of housing, education, apartment set up, translation services, registering children for school, employment, grocery shopping etc. please send an email to Matt Brophy Pastoral associate at mbrophy@archchicago.org.