An Uncommon Grace

We weren't sure what to expect from our visit to Minneapolis. We knew we were joining Ascension Church there to celebrate their titular feast day on Sunday after their pastor, Father Dale, celebrated it with us the Thursday before.  But this visit ended up being so much more than a shared celebration of our parish feasts.  It was a profound connection between two parishes that share much in common but also a movement of our souls to understand more tangibly the horror and terror their community experienced earlier this year during the repression and mass detention of immigrants. 

We arrived late on Friday night to a warm welcome in St. Jane House in Minneapolis.  The pastor of Ascension Church in Minneapolis, Father Dale Korogi, suggested that we could stay there since it was a few blocks from the parish.  We’re glad we did.  On the front door of the house, is a No Kings sign, "We Stand with Immigrant Families."  It already felt like we were in the right place.  The house caretaker, Brian Mogren, welcomed us with a beautiful invitation, inspired by St. Francis de Sales, "Be who you are and be that well," a mantra that is pervasive throughout the house, not just in words but in spirit.  The house itself is sponsored by the Visitation Sisters, who live nearby in their monastery, to be a place of rest and support for healing ministries and community activities.

When we gathered to celebrate Sunday Mass with the community, I noticed that volunteer Constitutional observers were stationed on the corner of the Church to monitor any law enforcement activities in an effort to protect parishioners. Although the repression had eased some, the concern for immigrants remained.  We were told stories of empty churches because immigrants feared coming out of their homes, of the overwhelming presence of ICE targeting people of color outside of homes, businesses, schools and, yes, even churches.  Father Dale had shared with us that the parish experienced a lockdown during Mass earlier in the year because of ICE activities in the neighborhood - this was something we hadn't experienced in New York, and remnants of that repression are still present.

But, for the Solemnity of the Ascension, on this particular Sunday, the Church was full with parishioners gathering for the two bilingual Masses Ascension Church celebrates on Sunday.  As our parishes celebrated together the Ascension of our Lord, there were signs of hope, signs that when communities come together to stand for justice, the fruits of the Spirit can flourish.  After the Masses, the parish sponsored a fiesta to celebrate the Ascension but also the hope of a better tomorrow.  There was mole, tostadas, tacos, rice and beans and a banquet of Mexican and Central American dishes representing the countries of origin of many of the parishioners.  We visited the parish's food pantry on Saturday and met volunteers of all races, coming together to support each other, with selfless love, and with a sincere desire to stand with their community in crisis in spite of personal risk.  These were signs of true hope and reasons for celebration.  

While we were there, we visited the memorials for Renee Good and Alex Pretty at the sites of their murders.  The outrage we felt when we heard about their deaths turned to intense sadness knowing that we stood on the ground where their innocent lives were taken only because they wanted to help others.  You couldn't help ask yourself how this could happen in our country - a country of freedom...of expression, of national origin. You couldn't help feel inspired to do more to stand for justice to honor their lives.

Another connection between our two parishes is more subtle.  The artist that painted the  banner for our 125th Anniversary, Brother Mickey McGrath, also painted various works that were hanging in St. Jane House but also in the monastery of the Visitation Sisters.  Brother McGrath is a Salesian brother and has visited these places several times, these places that have charisms founded in St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane Frances de Chantal.  We had the grace of praying Vespers with the Visitation Sisters in their monastery on Saturday evening.

In the midst of the darkness that Minneapolis experienced, we also saw the light shining through - in the parish community, in the return of parishioners to Mass, in the volunteers helping at the food distribution, in the Fiesta parishioners celebrated, in our visit to Ascension Academy - a consortium of schools in the City, mostly privately funded, to provide a quality education to the community without high tuition - in people like Brian Mogren at St. Jane House and the Visitation Sisters, who are committed to help community members in need.  As Father Dale said in his homily, in spite of the terror and trauma the City experienced, "an uncommon generosity and grace emerged."   Ascension took on a new meaning as the Spirit brought our two parishes together - we rise with Christ above injustice and come together in brotherhood, solidarity, and love.

Processing all that we experienced, we can summarize our visit reflecting on the initial invitation we received from Brian Mogren, "Be who you are and be that well." It's what our immigrant brothers and sisters are trying to do as countless immigrants have done throughout this country's 250 year history.  Is there more we can do to help them do that?  Is there more we can do to accomplish that for ourselves ? 

Deacon Nelson Falcon, Petra Falcon, Lisa Rosario, Amina Elderfield