The Beatitudes sum up well the work and spirit of the El Paso Mission.
Fr. Peter Precourt, AA, and two other Assumptionists, Fr. Ronald and Fr. Chano organize the migrant mission in El Paso, TX. There is also a part-time secretary working at the parish. Other than these four workers, the rest of the parish is supported by church volunteers in the community. The heart of their work is to serve the migrants as well as the poor and marginalized in the community of El Paso.
The founding of this mission goes back 6 years when the Assumptionists discerned a call to start a community to serve the migrants on the U.S – Mexico border. Three years back Fr. Ron and Fr. John traveled to El Paso to get an idea of the community and their needs. Then in early 2020, Fr. Peter went down to find a place to start their mission. But soon after he arrived Covid-19 hit the U.S and everything came to a stop. In the interview with Fr. Peter, he explains how the Holy Spirit took over and led him to meet the bishop by chance one day. The two formed a relationship and the Bishop helped find a parish for the El Paso mission. On December 17th, 2020 they started the migrant mission at St. Frances Xavier Parish.
Since the start of the mission, the parish has grown in numbers. They are redoing the hall for the migrants to stay, as well as updating the kitchen and converting the classrooms into rooms for clothing. The parish belongs to the parishioners and most of the work at the parish is done by volunteers.
Fr. Peter explained that the stories from the migrants are very important to hear and that we need to know what they have gone through to get to the point they are at now. He explains that it is not about politics, it is about basic living and we learn a lot of gratitude from this lesson. The migrants are teaching us. God says to go to the poor to find God and this is exactly what is happening when we are helping these migrants. We are finding God in the poor.
He hopes that the church as a whole could become more involved in helping migrants. The church around the world has become too political when it comes to the border. He gave some good resources to go to see what is truly happening. In addition, he points out that across the U.S there are many staffing issues and that these staffing issues are related to migrants not being able to come into the states. These jobs are usually occupied by migrants because many people do not want to do those kinds of jobs. Since Title 42, there has been a crisis on the other side of the border where many are stuck and not able to come into the U.S. Fr. Peter explains that this is causing many issues like human trafficking and increased drug use.
As Assumptionists, we are called to go where God is threatened in man. The El Paso mission is focused on serving those who are most in need of God’s help.
Fr. Peter’s resources: Center for Hope Resource in El Paso and Peace and Justice of CMSM for reports.
