Events in Observance of National Migration Week

US Conference of Catholic Bishops National Migration Week
January 3-9, 2010

Events at St. Teresa of Avila in Summit
Memorial Hall (across the street from the church & school)
306 Morris Ave. Summit, NJ

Prayer Service & Program January 7th
Please join the St. Teresa's Social Concerns and Justice Committee on Thursday January 7th at 7:00 pm in Memorial Hall for a prayer service and program in observance of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops' National Migration Week. The theme of the program will be "Welcoming Christ the Foreigner". Participants will be asked to reflect on the life of Jesus as a "man on the move".

Marian Devotion January 9th
We will also gather at 9:00 am on Saturday January 9th in Memorial Hall to offer a devotion to Our Blessed Mother Mary that she might provide peace, protection and comfort to refugees and immigrants in our community and everywhere.

About National Migration Week

National Migration Week is an observance that was initiated over 25 years ago by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

It is a time for us to reflect on the work of the Church on behalf of immigrants, refugees, trafficked persons and other people on the move. It is also a time for us to reflect on the life of Jesus and the Holy Family who were forced to leave their home to travel to Bethlehem and then to flee into Egypt to escape Herod. Popular devotion considers Jesus as a man on the move and Mary as Madonna of the Way.

We welcome you, Jesus.

Dear Jesus, you came into this world as a migrant.

We welcome you Jesus
There was no room for your family at the inn

We welcome you Jesus
Along with the angels in heaven

We welcome you Jesus
Along with the shepherds who wandered the hills

We welcome you Jesus
Along with the Magi who traveled from the East

We welcome you Jesus

Your family became refugees fleeing Herod

We welcome you Jesus
In Egypt you were an alien

We welcome you Jesus
In your public life you did not have a place to rest

We welcome you Jesus

Dear Jesus, we see you today, and

We welcome you Jesus
In refugees fleeing war and violence

We welcome you Jesus
In immigrants seeking a better life

We welcome you Jesus
In migrant workers who enrich our land with their labor

We welcome you Jesus
In seafarers and other people on the move

We welcome you Jesus

Dear Jesus, you are the refuge of people on the move.
We ask you to grant immigrants, refugees, and other migrants peace, protection, and comfort.
Help us to recognize that whenever we welcome the stranger in your name, we welcome you.
Teach us to recognize your presence in every human being.
Bring us together as one family, at the banquet table of your love,
with you who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen

National Migration Week January 3-9

National Migration Week, is an observance that was initiated over 25 years ago by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

It is a time for us to reflect on the work of the Church on behalf of immigrants, refugees, trafficked persons and other people on the move. It is also a time for us to reflect on the life of Jesus and the Holy Family who were forced to leave their home to travel to Bethlehem and then to flee into Egypt to escape Herod. Popular devotion considers Jesus as a man on the move and Mary as Madonna of the Way.

The God Who Moves
by John Newbury, International Catholic Migration Commission

Holy God,
You are a God on the move.

You move in the world and in our lives.
You shape and direct Creation, and us.

Your people have always been on the move.
Moses led your people out of slavery in Egypt.
The Holy Family fled to Egypt with Jesus to escape the murderous King Herod.

Today, people continue to move.
War, poverty, oppression and injustice drive people from home and country.

We pray you will move with today's refugees, forced migrants, and internally displaced people. Comfort and save them.

We pray for the work of the International Catholic Migration Commission
We pray for all those who serve those forced to move in our world.

Holy, moving God, hear our prayer
For the sake of your own uprooted son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Where Does My Food Come From?

What am I going to have for lunch? It is a simple question. One I ask myself every day. Rarely do I ask myself how blessed am I? There is little doubt that I will have lunch and even less thought is devoted to how this wonderful bounty reaches the supermarkets where most of us purchase the food we eat. The recent food safety scares have forced many Americans to consider some of the conditions under which food is produced throughout the world because it has had a negative impact on us. There is still little consideration of the negative impact our consumption and demand for cheap abundant foods at all times of the year on the environment and the laborers in other countries.

The Fair Food Across Borders Campaign is trying to raise awareness about the human rights abuses suffered by migrant agricultural workers in Mexican agribusiness camps." They want us all to be asking "Where does my food come from?"

For a look at where our food comes from you can watch Paying the Price: Migrant Workers in the Toxic Fields of Sinaloa. Here is a link to the video

Facts about farmworkers in agribusiness camps in Northern Mexico:

* There are estimated to be over one million migrant farmworkers in Mexico. The majority come from Southern Mexican states like Oaxaca and Guerrero. They are forced to leave their communities because they have no other way to support their families.

* Workers are recruited by contractors in their communities of origin and often transported under very dangerous conditions.

* Many of these workers are indigenous and speak languages such as Mixteco, Nàhuatl, Zapoteco, and Tlapaneco.

* There are hundreds of trans-national agribusiness camps in Northern Mexico, in states like Sinaloa, Sonora and Baja California. They grow a large variety of produce from tomatoes to watermelon. The vast majority of the crops harvested are for export to the U.S. and Canada.

* During the 2007-2008 harvest season, more than 790,000 tons of fruits and vegetables were exported from Sinaloa - the vast majority of these crops came to the U.S. The main crop is tomatoes, followed by bell peppers and cucumbers.

* For six to eight months, migrant families live in small, crowded shacks made of sheet metal and wood, often with no access to clean water or other basic services.

* Most migrant farmworkers are surviving under precarious working conditions, receiving very low wages and no labor protections.

* Child labor is widespread in the camps. About 20% of the labor force are children under14 years of age. About 374,000 children between the ages of 6 and 14 work in fields harvested for export.

* Pay by piece-rate dominates, which forces workers to work as much as 12 hours per day.

* Health problems that these workers face include malnutrition and chronic-degenerative illnesses because of their constant exposure to dangerous pesticides.

* There are many documented cases of children and adults losing limbs and lives to work-related accidents and illnesses in the fields.

* This internal migration has not improved the marginalization and extreme poverty in which these families live. They often return home with barely enough money saved to get them through till they return again to the camps six months later.