Day 3: 50 Beds

We spent the day preparing the shelter in downtown El paso for those who have fallen off the wall. It's a beautiful two-story brick building with inviting yellow walls and tall ceilings, named Casa Vides. 

It had been closed for a year during the pandemic, so we spent the majority of our time dusting and cleaning. We made fifty beds and cleaned hundreds of dishes in anticipation for our recently injured guests. Three of the volunteers will be stationed here this summer. 

A colorful and prominent mural greets those who enter the building. It features indigenous symbols, bones to represent all of the tragedy inherent in the migrant journey, corn plants, and faces of various migrants. The two largest faces towards the right are those of an El Salvadoran activist couple (the Vides family) who were killed in the 1970s violence, whose five children Ruben adopted. 

Ruben proudly told us that he has many Vides grandchildren now, many of whom are older than we are. 

The orange banner underneath the faces quotes Óscar Romero, an El Salvadoran archbishop who was shot by an assassin while he was celebrating mass in a hospital in 1980. It says: "Si me matan, resucitaré en mi pueblo." (Meaning: If they kill me, I'll be resurrected in my village.)

In his life, Romero focused on the church's "preferential option for the poor" and was backed by supporters of the liberation theology movement. It's something I've been thinking a lot about since Ruben discussed it on the first day. I'm fascinated by how social justice philosophy integrates with Catholic social ethics, which integrates with the struggle of the poor for justice. 

I copied down a prayer I found on the wall of Casa Vides. 

Good and gracious god, 
We pray for all migrants and refugees, especially those who come to our doors. Guide us as we continue to build a church and a world for all; to build the city of God & human. Transform our hearts, so we can truly welcome our migrant and refugee siblings including everyone at the table of plenty, where there is a home for each of us. Strengthen our action, so we can continue to work to protect the human dignity of everyone, especially of those who have been forced to leave their places of origin and migrate to a distant and strange land. Sustain our compassion... Enlighten our minds... 
In your name, we pray. 
Amen.