- May 19, 2023
By Sister Maureen Freeman
There’s a word in Spanish that has become integral to our ministry at the border. The word is “Burbujas.”
As you say it, even though you don’t speak Spanish, you can almost guess what it means by the sound. You are right, it means bubbles. At the ritual where we blessed our three St. Joseph Academy students Arden Menzel, Ashley Stevens and Lila Summers, along with their teacher Ann Hammer CSJA, who were leaving to work at Catholic Charities shelter in Laredo Texas, blowing bubbles was the key nugget of the reflection. Sister Linda shared how even though you may not speak Spanish, bubbles can break the barriers of language. As you see in the pictures, our young women were able to bring a smile and cross borders by simply blowing bubbles.
When our team of four left on May 8, the U.S. government was soon to lift Title 42. The expectation was that there would be a surge at the border, and on that first day of their mission, they served over 300 people. In anticipation of a greater need at the Catholic Charities Shelter in Laredo, Texas, we sent over $1,000 worth of supplies to the shelter from our border fund.
The irony of being a volunteer at the border is how you are pulled one direction by the sadness and the pain you see in the faces of the people you serve, and yet at the same time the joy you feel when you get to see the sparkle in kids’ eyes when they start blowing bubbles and feeling like kids again.
The border is a terrible place of heartbreak but when Arden, Ashley, Lila and Ann reach out to the dear neighbor with love, there is joy. Their experience at the border will change their lives forever. Those three young women broke barriers by simply blowing bubbles and being kind to the dear neighbor without distinction.
We can all break barriers.