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TexLaMex, July 2005, Page 4
A few reflections on the trip to Los Angeles:
Holy Cross did have a real presence at the meetings. I would guess that there were about 125 people there. There were three Holy Cross priests and three Holy Cross seminarians. We were by far the largest group from a single religious congregation.
But more striking than our numbers there was the reaction of different people about us. A number of people made comments to me that Holy Cross is really doing a lot of good things. People knew of us because of Notre Dame, Bangladesh, India, Coachella, Chile, and other places. We don't want to be puffed up or arrogant; we are not in competition with anyone. But we really can and should take pride and joy in how others see us and our work. We can be proud of one another.
In terms of the subject matter of immigration, several thoughts come to mind:
The shift in demographics is so very rapid. One out of 4 births in the U.S. is to an immigrant mother. There are many places where until recently there had been almost no Latinos, and now they are a major portion of the population.
Immigration is a very complex reality. There are many different dimensions and different perspectives. We need to try to understand them and respect all of them--even those who appear most outlandish or unreal to us. They all speak of some reality and truth.
With the diminishing Anglo population (How many children did your grandparents have?? How many do your nephews and nieces have?) and a quickly growing Latino population, the Church needs to make room for everyone at the table. The only way for the Church to sustain itself in the long run will be to welcome Latinos. Indeed, one can already see a big different in the number or the lack thereof of baptisms, CCD kids in different parishes. Even in the city of Austin, some parishes are declining in numbers and finances, despite a rapidly growing population in the area.
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Travel to and from the meeting was difficult. When we got on the plane leaving Austin, it pulled away from gate and sat on the tarmac for two hours. After running across the entire Houston International airport (There is always a devilish plot to make the beloved provincial walk more.), we just missed the flight to LAX. After planning out different scenarios as to who would wait and stay in Houston and who might go on which of the two remaining flights, we all did make it on the 9:15 pm flight. Then the taxi took us to Loyola Marymount University, but he left us all at the gate. We did not know how to get to the dorm where we were staying. The people at the meeting couldn't tell us how to get from here to there. The campus police couldn't figure it out even though we were using an emergency phone at a kiosk. Finally, some one from Los Angeles came and got us.
Returning had its problems. We called a cab in the morning, but as we were leaving in the cab some one waved us down--sure enough it was indeed her came. The driver had difficulty distinguishing "John" and "Joan." Apparently they are very similar in most Middle Eastern languages. After waiting for our cab (which never came), we called another. We got to the airport just in time to check in, get through security, and get on the plane. There wasn't even time for a cup of coffee.
We got back to Houston and had to rush across one end of IAH to another. Then we got on the plane. It too pulled from the gate, and we sat there on the tarmac for 3 hours. Before we left, we had to refuel. The usual half hour trip from Houston to Austin took an hour because they went by way of Corpus Christi and San Antonio to avoid the bad weather.