Editors Note: This is the 1st installment of our new summer series, Journey Moments. To learn more about the series and the stories we will be sharing throughout the summer please check out Journey Moments: An Introduction.
The Migrant Corridor
Every Tuesday at 8:30 PM “Night Cap, Call Matthew” pops up on my iPhone. Matthew is a member of my Jesuit community at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. We spend Tuesday evenings during the school year debriefing, avoiding our many pages of reading, and dreaming of the day when our theology will be put into active service. The problem is, for the past three weeks, I haven’t been able to reach him.
On June 14, 2012, Matthew’s theology studies jumped off the page and into the world. A group of Jesuits, Matthew included, embarked on a five week journey along the migration corridor from central America to the United States. While they could never hope to emulate the difficult and often life-threatening trek made by many migrants seeking a better life, these Jesuits have undertaken the journey to inform their own social and theological reflection, so that they might attain “a better understanding of the reality of migration and the difficulties encountered by migrants on their journey to the U.S.” And their goal is not simply to understand, but “to understand in order to transform the reality of oppression, violence, and sin.”
While visiting the various human rights organizations, parishes, shelters and other projects that assist migrants along the migration corridor, the group will be sharing their reflections and experiences online. You can follow their pilgrimage on their blog, The Migrant’s Journey. (Added bonus: The site is bilingual. To quote our good friend Pitbull, ¡Dale!)
Thanks to the magic of skype, internet cafes and file-sharing, The Jesuit Post will also be following their journey. We’ll be posting videos and interviews with the group throughout the summer. Check out their progress, and stay tuned for more soon.
