In 1989 we saw the destruction of the Berlin Wall.  What rejoicing not only in Germany but all over the world, especially in the United States.  We could not understand how a wall could be built to separate peoples from a country.  How many people were killed trying to scale the wall!  How difficult it was to pass from one side to the other!  When the wall came tumbling down we remarked that now all parts of Germany could accept each other as brothers and sisters.  After all this is the teaching of Jesus that all are brothers and sisters in Christ.  Also, because East Germany was communist we were always on the side of the West Germa ns.

In January Deacon Luis, Sister Melanie and I were in Mexico.  From time to time we watched the news.  What dominated the news was the intent of the United States to build a wall along the border that would stretch for hundreds of miles and would cost billions and billions of dollars.  The news commentators and government in Mexico were appealing to the United States not to build the wall. 

The situation in the United States is not too different from that of Germany.  As we know, a great part of the Southwest of the United States, Texas, California, New Mexico, Arizona and others were all once part of Mexico.  By methods that weren’t always admirable the United States succeeded in taking this land and establishing its border.  If you travel through parts of the southwest you will see that much is still very Mexican.  What the line did was separate many families, made it difficult for them to see each other, made them suffer economically and continues to cause some unrest. 

Now the United States is proposing building a wall along the border.  Are we trying to keep others out or are we trying to isolate ourselves?  Will a Canadian wall be next?  We are a highly civilized society and intelligent society.  Cannot immigration reform be achieved without walls?  If this wall is built, I believe that in the future there will be great rejoicing, like at the Berlin wall, when it is torn down, when we come to the realization that we are all brothers and sisters and that the only way to advance our society is to work together.  The idea of fences keeping out or keeping in has been used for many centuries with cattle.  It is not meant for humans.

Once again immigration reform is very much needed but a reform that is mindful of the dignity of the human person, our responsibility for one another as well as for the protection and economic welfare of our country.  It cannot come from the hysteria surrounding the attempt to protect our borders from terrorists.  It cannot come at the expense of the many lives lost at the border.   I was celebrating Mass in a village in Mexico in January and we said we will offer this Mass for all their family members in the United States as well as for all who died trying to cross the border.  In two minutes they came up with the names of eight young people who died trying to enter the United States looking for work to support their families.

Let us pray that we do not lose sight of the responsibilities we have as followers of Jesus in our treatment of others.  “What you do to the least of your brothers and sisters, you do to Me.”