In mid-December, an intergenerational group of Pax Christi USA members participated in an encuentro border delegation as part of the Jubilee Year of Hope. The 12 participants from across the United States are involved in local immigrant support and advocacy networks; several of the participants are immigrants themselves. The majority of the group were young adults (under 40) and almost all were part of the Pax Christi USA Peace Pairs program.
Over the past few weeks, we have been releasing a series of reflections from some of the participants of the pilgrimage. The fourth reflection, a series of journal entries written by Kim Redigan, is below.
We are grateful to our generous donor who made this immersion trip possible.
Use this link to read more about the delegation and to read the other reflections.
“Pilgrimage to a different border”: Kim’s journal entries
Kim Redigan
Pax Christi Michigan
Peace Pairs 2025
Sunday, December 14, third Sunday in Advent
pilgrimage to a different border
muscular man on plane
shielded, masked, wraparound shades
his inscrutability a sign of these times
on this third sunday in advent.
and yet . . .the brown mountains stand firm
and the river still runs
our star-speckled mother rips through barbed wire
and reaches over walls.
God is not mocked by
the omniscient eye of the surveillance tower
nor angels usurped by
the hovering drones.
in the dark el paso night
we light the pink candle and dare sing of hope.
Monday, December 15
in the circle
we share
our immigration stories.
I reflect on empire’s refugees, farflung casualties
of cruelty,
the dust heap of humanity
swarmed by vultures of every variety
pernicious predators ready to devour all that is
decent,
tender,
true
today’s anawim
left to rot like bones in the desert
by a system
that has driven
them into
diasporas of despair
what does it mean to
accompany those
fleeing the horror of the herods of our time?
To go through gaza
with these holy families
all the way to egypt?
Tuesday, December 16
el paso sundown
border patrol stands between
God’s dream and this wall
Wednesday, December 17
without an interior life,
we’re lost,
says the priest
who longs to liberate
the Lady who has
been frozen into
a sterile icon
of quiet piety.
unleash her
that she may lead
us down paths of life . . .
that could lead to death,
says the priest
before he heads
back across the border.
Thursday, December 18
the migrant women
Weave the bright yarn in and out through
the thick canvas
while their babies sleep nearby.
artisans of hope
creating beautiful bags
too small for the things they carry
~~~~~~~~~
in juarez
jesus wrapped in
a worn robe of blue
stomps his staff
in the middle of the mercado
no one seems to listen
Friday, December 19
on the way to the airport
we pass the desert hellhole
where people are detainedin a place called “bliss.”
The poem by Ms. Kim Redigan truly and beautifully encapsulates the present border reality. Now, under the regime of Big Brother and many of our bicameral politicians, the Border Patrol agents, mentioned in the poem, conveniently have become the antagonists. There was a time not too long ago when border patrol agents from the San Ysidro-San Diego sector clear across to El Paso and beyond treated immigrants with respect and on countless occasions, risking their own lives, saved the lives of border crossers. At the end of the day, the really cruel actors in this tragedy are the anonymous politicians that enact diabolical laws that both discriminate and exploit immigrants.
David-Ross Gerling, PhD
Beautiful poetry. What an artistic reflection of experience.