JCCU

Since high school, my favorite book has been Third & Indiana by Steve Lopez. The novel is about a teenage boy who gets caught up selling drugs in Philadelphia

Faith in Action’s model is transformative. At its center is a belief in the potential for transformation – of people, institutions, and our larger culture.

As I write this, over 7,000 Honduran migrants including children have crossed the Guatemalan and Mexican borders and are marching toward the United States border.

The retreat was very difficult—after being woken up by a gong at 4:30 am, and spending numerous sessions in silent meditation with only two small meals of brown rice and steamed vegetables, by the early evening most of my own meditation centred on food.

Although I was born and raised in Haiti, I was not fully aware of the dire realities of my own people until I left my country in November 1993 for Panama, where I lived for two years as a novice.

For the past decade, the US has experienced a crisis about border security and immigration policy – with a particular question about what to do with the 11 million immigrants who live and work in the shadows of the U.S.

My work with refugees has led me back to a personal experience of loss. When I was a child, my family had a farm in Saguenay region (East Quebec), and later on we had to move to the city.

In April, as part of a three-week seminar on Catholic social teaching, my Jesuit novitiate visited the Louisiana State Penitentiary, better known as Angola Prison. Though in the past I worked for a program that assists recently released prisoners, until this day, I had not interacted with the permanently incarcerated.

I work in Camden, New Jersey. It is America's poorest and most violent city of its size and this year we are on course to set a new homicide record. Put in perspective, if New York City were to have the murder rate of Camden this year, it would mean that close to 6000 people would have been killed already.

Deon used to come to mass almost daily with his wild eyes beaming and flashing a big, toothy grin. He especially seemed to love coming into the church in the middle of my homily and calling out at the top of his voice, "HI, FATHER!" He was clearly suffering from some form of mental illness, and there were numerous stories as to its cause.