Bishop leads prayers at Capitol for migrants
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“My journey reminds me that we are all God’s children and that we need one another as we walk together toward eternal life.”
Felicia Annunoby’s words echoed off granite walls etched with Scripture verses and ceiling panels emblazoned with images of past immigrants to Missouri, hard at work.
“By God’s grace and with persistent prayer and the support of my faith community, I was able to overcome the challenges I faced as an immigrant,” said Mrs. Annunoby, a member of St. Peter Parish in Jefferson City.
She was one of several people who spoke of their immigrant experiences during a Prayer and Witness to Stand with Migrants event on Aug. 15 in the State Capitol Rotunda.
The Jefferson City diocese and Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri cosponsored the peaceful, nonpartisan prayer service.
About 300 people gathered in the Capitol with Bishop Ralph B. O’Donnell and a priest representative of St. Louis Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski — Father Scott Jones, a Kahoka native and episcopal vicar for the St. Louis archdiocese’s Northern Vicariate.
They prayed for strangers to be welcomed with compassion and for the God-given dignity of every human person to be upheld from conception to natural death.
Father Stephen Jones VG, vicar general of the diocese and pastor of Cathedral of St. Joseph Parish in Jefferson City, served as emcee.
It was the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother.
“We honor the many immigrant, migrant and refugee communities whose faith, labor, cultures and sacrifices have helped shape this nation into what it is today,” said Fr. Jones.
He mentioned his own great-grandparents from Germany who arrived at Galveston Island, Texas, in 1871.
“All of us have an origin story which has led us to this time and to this place,” he said.
Sheep and goats
The people began in the nearby Proto-Cathedral of St. Peter by meditating on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary.
Several people took turns leading the prayers in Igbo, Tagalog, English, Spanish and Burmese.
Marissa Madden-Flores, director of Family and Immigrations Services at Catholic Charities, offered a brief meditation for each mystery — the Agony in the Garden, the Scourging at the Pillar, the Crowning with Thorns, the Carrying of the Cross, and the Crucifixion and Death of the Lord.
The prayers reminded Bishop O’Donnell of how his grandmother, a daughter of immigrants from Germany, would pray the Rosary in her native tongue at her kitchen table each morning.
“From generation to generation, we learn and carry the faith,” the bishop said.
The people prayed quietly before processing in sacred silence to the Capitol.
The bishop and priests led the faithful in walking behind the diocese’s Jubilee Cross, built for the Great Jubilee 2000 and containing a relic of the True Cross.
Hymns, antiphons and petitions arose within the Capitol Rotunda.
Bishop O’Donnell called upon St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, patron saint of immigrants, to intercede for everyone present.
“May we receive through your prayers the grace to open our hearts so that we may provide hospitality for all who come in search of refuge,” he said.
The bishop proclaimed the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-46).
In that passage, Jesus warns his disciples that when he returns in glory, he will separate those who treated others with mercy and compassion from those who did not.
Those who acted righteously will be taken up into heaven, with the Lord saying, “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”
Those who neglected the people around them will be consigned to eternal punishment.
Bishop O’Donnell said the parable is an urgent reminder to notice people who are hungry, thirsty, estranged, naked, sick or imprisoned and to help them on God’s behalf.
“Let us pray today that all will come to know the Lord’s mercy,” said Bishop O’Donnell, “and in receiving that gift extend it to one another.”
Healed healer
Mrs. Anunoby, a registered nurse, recounted traveling while she was young and vulnerable from her native Nigeria to find work in the United Kingdom.
“During those difficult times, I held firmly to my faith, which sustained me,” she said.
She eventually headed to London in search of better opportunities and a stronger faith community.
Moving to the United States in 1996, she endured emotional and verbal abuse in an arranged marriage marred by addiction.
Local service agencies helped her set out on her own. She went on to pass her nursing board exam and earn a BSN and two master’s degrees.
She joined St. Peter Parish 30 years ago.
“The parishioners and Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration became the sanctuary I needed during my struggles, isolation and loneliness as an immigrant,” she said.
She reconciled with her late husband, and they raised their children together.
Three girls
Mrs. Madden-Flores spoke of her numerous encounters with immigrants, including her husband.
She told of an immersion trip she had taken to South America in college, where she saw a baby crawling around as the mother rummaged through mounds of trash.
“It was the first time I’d witnessed the kind of extreme poverty that would compel a family to migrate,” said Mrs. Madden-Flores. “I recognized that people had been thrown away both literally and figuratively.”
Years later, she accompanied high school students on an immersion retreat to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Their guide led them to a rock formation that had been turned into a memorial to a 14-year-old girl.
The teen had died in the desert while on her way with her brother to reunite with their mother in the United States.
“I can’t help but connect the girl in the trash dump and the girl in the desert with another special girl here in Mid-Missouri,” said Mrs. Madden-Flores. “My own child, here with us as we pray today, is the 2-year-old daughter of a Mexican immigrant.”
“My daughter, who I fear might be targeted when she’s in public speaking Spanish with her father,” she said.
The mother noted that many children of immigrants — including clients she has helped at Catholic Charities — carry the burden of uncertainty and the fear of separation from those they love.
“When even just one of these children’s dignity is denied, we are all diminished,” said Mrs. Madden-Flores. “These children are our children. Same dignity. Same worthiness of love and compassion. Same hope that all will be well.”
Too much for 10
Last year, Kevin Morales went back to El Salvador, found the place where his grandmother is buried and wished her a long-belated Happy Mother’s Day.
Returning to the home he was raised in, he found her well-worn rosary, “a reminder of the Catholic faith that she implanted in my heart.”
His grandmother took care of him after his parents moved to the United States when he was 2.
His homeland was racked with gang violence. His parents worried about him and finally summoned him on a “field trip” to the United States when he was 10.
“The journey lasted nearly three months, took me through several countries and brought many hardships,” he recalled. “There were moments when I did not know if I would survive.”
He was detained by U.S. immigration authorities in New Mexico but was released six months later and reunited with his parents.
He was protected under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, renewing his status every two years.
He worked in many difficult jobs prior to attaining permanent resident status through his wife.
Mr. Morales is now director of evangelization for St. Vincent de Paul Parish of Pettis County.
“I am blessed to have the opportunity to work in my parish, serving God by serving my brothers and sisters in Christ,” he said.
He noted that many immigrants encounter the same difficulties he had.
“However, many have not been able to obtain stable legal status, and continue to live in fear and uncertainty,” he said.
He pointed out that most come in search of opportunities to work and support their families.
“Their witness reminds us that Christ walks with those who are displaced and afraid,” he said. “As his disciples, we are called to uphold the dignity of every person and remind them that they are never alone. Christ is with them every step of the way.”
“A simple prayer”
Representatives of various communities offered prayers for churches and communities; for unaccompanied minor children; for neighbors, friends and family members; for migrant workers; for all who have been driven out of their homeland by violence; for government leaders; for people in law enforcement and first responders; and for all who have died while searching for safety and hope.
“Strengthen us to recognize Christ in every person we encounter,” Fr. Stephen Jones prayed, “and help us to build a world marked by justice, mercy and peace.”
Everyone present prayed the Lord’s Prayer together in his or her own native language.
Archbishop Rozanski hoped to take part in the event but woke up sick that morning.
Fr. Scott Jones gave voice to the archbishop’s prayers.
“You love each one of your children regardless of the lands they come from,” the priest prayed. “...We ask that you make our hearts humble and willing to welcome those who knock at our doors.”
On the archbishop’s behalf, the priest urged everyone to pray daily for hearts to be open to seeing Christ in every person; for immigrants, migrants and refugees to find safety, hope, justice and welcome; for wisdom and compassion to guide elected officials, civic leaders and law enforcement; and for this nation to grow in unity, justice, peace and respect for the dignity of every human life.
“Go forth today,” Fr. Scott Jones proclaimed, “with a simple prayer on your lips: ‘Lord, help me to see you in every person I meet, and make me an instrument of your peace.’”
