Gary bishop to migrant workers: ‘We love you and will continue to pray for you'
Bishop Robert J. McClory presided over the Mass for Migrant Farm Workers, which was primarily in Spanish on Sunday afternoon, with Father Eduardo Malagon and Father Ivan Alatorre. The gathering marked the return of a longstanding tradition for the Diocese of Gary that goes back 15 years.
'We're together today because we are family. Families support each other, especially in times of fear. We trust in God to care for us,' McClory said in Spanish to the crowd. 'We thank you for your work, which gives us food to eat. We love you and will continue to pray for you.'
The communion table included a basket of vegetables picked from the farm to symbolize the fruits of the farm worker's labor. Musicians from various churches came together to play Spanish worship songs throughout the service. Congregation members brought tables full of food for a potluck after mass.
Diocese of Gary volunteer Mona Enriquez said she has worked with the Diocese of Gary's migrant ministry since its origin. She said when they first started the outdoor masses at farms, the workers would sit far away in the back during service. She said little by little, they have moved to the front rows and have become more a part of the services.
'We try to show them family, that this is the church,' Enriquez said. 'That's our goal. That they get to know God through us, and they can feel they have a family here, too, even if they're far from home and loved ones. They have children. One of them recently had grandchildren born, twins, and he was able to go visit them and come back. They work hard to help their families in Mexico. When they see people who care, it touches their hearts.'
Enriquez said her mother and her siblings came to the U.S. with their parents, who were migrant workers. She said they all slept on the floor and didn't have air conditioning or heating while housed at the farms they worked.
'(Migrant workers) go through a lot, but they do it for the love of their family,' Enrqiuez said. 'My mom saw that, she knows the struggle. That's why she donated a washing machine to them. Especially with what's happening in the country right now, compassion makes a difference.'
Intercultural Ministry Coordinator Dr. Claudia Sadowski said that the migrant workers are people from Mexico who are legally hired as cohorts to work in U.S. farms during certain months, and then return to their home country at the end of the harvesting season.
Immigrants who come to the U.S. to work seasonally are protected by entities such as the U.S. Department of Labor and the National Immigration Center. Through The Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, immigrant workers have rights to minimum wage, overtime, union participation, protection from discrimination and a safe workplace.
The Diocese of Gary has had a ministry group geared toward helping migrant workers for 15 years. Herr Farms is one of four farms that the Diocese of Gary is ministering to.
'We are blessed by the work of these migrant farm workers,' McClory said. 'They work long hours and hard days in the heat, and in difficult conditions.'
Each farm has appointed 'padrinos,' which are church members who ensure the needs of the workers are communicated to the Diocese. Richard Serna, a padrino, led the Hispanic ministry at St. John the Evangelist and he currently works with other parishes in the Diocese of Gary to support migrant workers. Serna helps coordinate donations of toiletries, food, clothing and other items to the workers. Volunteers also help the migrant workers with transportation and tasks like opening bank accounts or shopping.
'It's a very touching experience to bring the Lord to those in need,' Serna said. 'It's important to recognize the work they do. And not just the migrant workers here, but all through the country. I'm very supportive, naturally, of people who came here the right way. However, for those who came in a different format, they might be facing more difficult circumstances. Should they be treated like people? Should they be treated with grace? Should they be given compassion? Yes, they should. They're people with feelings. They're people with families.'
Serna is a first-generation American, his parents were immigrants who came to America seeking a better life.
'My family, my aunts, my uncles, they left everything at home to start fresh, and we are truly sensitive to that,' Serna said. 'My wife's grandparents were farm workers.'
The men work more than 12 hours a day outdoors and send the majority of their earnings back home to their families, Serna said.
'They're here to send money back home for their children, their parents, their grandchildren,' Serna said. 'Helping them with basic things helps them to do that.'
The Diocese of Gary serves several minority groups across Northwest Indiana, including Vietnamese, Filipino, Polish, Lithuanian and Croatian communities. According to data the Diocese of Gary collected, every Catholic Church in Northwest Indiana has a Hispanic presence and 14 parishes are predominantly Hispanic, Sadowski said.
Adeline Torres served for 25 years as the director of cultural ministry for the Diocese and is considered the 'godmother' of the migrant workers ministry.
Looking at several tables' worth of food, clothes and toiletries presented to the migrant workers, Torres said, 'This is nothing' compared to the larger picture of what the congregations have collected to donate.
Torres said some congregation members are also sponsoring immigrant families, which is a legal process that allows for protection of their children, belongings and assets should anything happen to the parents. Torres said they do this to prevent the government from putting the children into the system and taking the family's possessions and money.
'It's our gospel, being about 'the other,'' Torres said. 'Jesus said to love your brothers and sisters, and that's what we're doing.'
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