In a previous post I wrote about the keynote address at the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) held in Arizona by Sr. Pat Murray, IBVM.  In that address she listed six images, the second of them is:  Be present at the borderlands.

There are many people today who want to help those fleeing their country’s borders for a safe refuge in this country.  One of the places that seeks to offer hospitality and refuge is La Posada Providencia in San Benito, TX.  There they hear the stories of all different kinds of crossings in people’s lives.  They have learned that seeing through the eyes of others is essential and when they do, it carries them across the divide that separates peoples.  For those who minister there, they know what it means to live at the crossroads. They have heard the stories and seek to answer with kindness, compassion, hospitality and love.

For us who may not have an opportunity to serve at those particular actual, physical crossroads daily, we must seek to understand that our God is a “frontier” God, and that our own borderlands right here await our caring ways.  Providence women and men are called to build bridges of understanding, enabling crossings to happen in our own neighborhoods, across geopolitical boundaries, or the invisible ones that include or exclude people who are different from us.  Let us work to help people across the divide of culture, gender, race and ethnicity.  Let us open  our hearts and welcome the stranger in  our midst.