“ICE Raids” on Corpus Christi

Political obsession is a reality we all have to live with. On any given day, even when we intentionally avoid the news, it seems that we hear Trump’s name at least three times a day. If only people would speak as passionately about our Blessed Lord! Perhaps then we would all be just as Jesus-focused as we currently are Trump-focused. A personal anecdote from the Feast of Corpus Christi highlights this fixation on political disagreements. 

In my local Latin Mass church, we have a great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, and every year we are blessed to celebrate Corpus Christi with a solemn procession. Starting from our TLM church, we process to two other Catholic churches that are within walking distance. It’s a beautiful coordination between three Catholic communities that synchronize their Mass times to participate in a shared procession. We arrive with the Blessed Sacrament to each church as they end their Mass. Then we spend time with the Blessed Sacrament, placed on an altar prepared outside of each church. The procession ends back at the first church, and all participants can spend time afterward in fellowship. 

Note that only one of these churches celebrates the Latin Mass. The second church celebrates the Novus Ordo in English while the third church celebrates the Novus Ordo in Spanish. Because of this, our Corpus Christi procession is a beautiful celebration exemplifying what true unity inside the Catholic Church should look like. Diversity of race, language, or liturgical preference have no importance when it is time to adore our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, for whom we all prepare a special place of honor in our churches. 

Nevertheless, the diversity of race is precisely where the political friction was trying to disrupt our prayer. The third church, as noted above, celebrates Mass in Spanish for a large Hispanic community. As the procession was approaching this church, we began singing prayerful songs in Spanish in admiration of their patron saint. As we arrived, the Hispanic community was joyfully waiting outside for the Blessed Sacrament. The monstrance was placed on their prepared altar, which was generously decorated with flowers. The small children from their community stood behind the altar and threw rose petals beside the altar.

In the middle of adoring the Blessed Sacrament, as rose petals gently flew from the hands of the little ones and hundreds joined in praising God with Spanish songs, we heard a shout from behind us: “ICE is coming!” Many of us did not notice the shout, as it was muffled by the voices singing. However, the same shout was heard a second time from the same voice: “ICE is coming!” And then a third time: “ICE is coming!” 

The truth of the matter was ICE was not coming. ICE was nowhere in sight. An actual arrest by an ICE official in our town is practically unheard of, despite the frequent talk about Trump trying to deport every single Hispanic immigrant. Nonsense, of course, and unfounded exaggerations from propagandists. Nonetheless, it still came up in one of the most sacred moments of worship on the Feast of Corpus Christi. In the midst of what should have been an intimate moment of experiencing Heaven on Earth, encouraged by the beautiful assembly of hundreds from different Catholic church communities, someone had to raise political frictions. 

Who would shout such a disgusting comment is unknown to me. We cannot believe it came from someone participating in the procession, and we all hope that it was a random individual viewing the procession from the street. Nevertheless, the comment at that precise moment was almost as repulsive as hearing an explicit blasphemy. If someone were to blaspheme against our Lord during the procession, most of us would have proudly sung beside the Blessed Sacrament as we offered public witness and acceptance of insults for His name. But this political ridicule was different. It wasn’t a direct attack against our Lord, but rather, a perverse mockery of our unity in loving the Lord. 

Why would anyone be thinking of ICE officials deporting Hispanics who are praying as part of a multi-church procession? Are we really incapable of seeing our neighbor without a political lens? What else could St. Paul be calling us to do when he wrote, 

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26-28)

Might St. Paul be living today, would he have added, “neither Republican nor Democrat, neither immigrant nor citizen, neither Hispanic nor American, neither black nor white, etc.”?

The point is not to ignore the reality of perverse, immoral ideologies politically pushed by godless politicians. The proof for this is evident, and any news media reminds us of this plenty enough. However, a current danger we Catholics have consists in identifying our whole person with sides of a political debate. To reduce our love of neighbor to “neighbors on the correct political side” is absurd. In fact, it would be proof that we are not followers of Christ, for He taught us Himself: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).  A current danger we Catholics have consists in identifying our whole person with sides of a political debate.Tweet This

Therefore, the alternatives are simple: either we are followers of Christ first and foremost, not allowing others’ political opinions to determine how radically we love them; or we are not followers of Christ at all. In this sense, our love for others cannot depend on whether “ICE is coming” or not because we are certain of Christ’s Second Coming. And on His Second Coming, we will be eternally sealed by our love for God and neighbor not our politically opinionated retweets. 

The world has always been cynical toward true unity in Christ, and the current political climate does not encourage us to love our neighbor indiscriminately. Nevertheless, we can always opt in to Jesus’ offer of occasionally retreating from the world’s obnoxious provocations: “Then Jesus said, ‘Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile’” (Mark 6:31).