Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

CIS-NYC: A Beacon of Outreach and Information During Uncertain Times

January 30, 2025

Following the recent inauguration of the Trump Administration, Cabrini Immigrant Services- NYC (CIS-NYC) has been actively engaging in rapid response efforts to keep our communities safe. On Monday, we hosted a Know Your Rights training with 150 participants, ensuring that vital information reaches those who need it most. Through our Justice for Immigrants program, we are planning a series of upcoming events to continue this critical work.

This week, we have a Know Your Rights session with District Representative Adriano Espaillat, providing community members with key legal resources and protections. On Thursday, we will host a workshop with the NYC Comptroller’s Office on labor rights, equipping workers with the knowledge they need to advocate for themselves.

Looking ahead to February, we are organizing various workshops, including a session on tax filing as an immigrant and a family preparedness workshop with our social services team to go over parental designation in NYC. These efforts aim to provide concrete tools for families navigating uncertainty.

In addition to our advocacy and education work , we remain committed to creating moments of joy and connection in our community. Last week, we launched this year’s Nutrition Workshop—our second in-person group—run in partnership with Cornell Medicine. Thirteen participants joined the first session, which focuses on supporting parents, caregivers, and grandparents in providing better nutrition for children.

We’re also excited to announce the return of our activity classes, beginning with a session on salsa dancing. These gatherings offer a space for our members to relax and have fun.

Guadalupe Province Assembly Concludes

October 24, 2024

From October 13 – 18, 2024, Missionary Sisters and lay leaders of the Guadalupe Province gathered in Newark, NJ for the annual Province Assembly. They were joined this year by MSCGeneral Superior Sr. Maria Eliane Azevedo da Silva and General Councilor Sr. Gilda Mercedes Mendoza Argueta, MSC.

In her remarks, Sr. Eliane reflected upon our life’s purpose; that Mother Cabrini always contemplated the life of Christ. Our charism is a gift of the Holy Spirit to Mother Cabrini, cultivated in love, that is about doing, transforming, and transmitting hope. For this, we have an inspiring vision of walking in solidarity and communion in diversity.

The Assembly proceedings – facilitated by Sr. Imma De Stefanis, RSCJ, PhD, and Sr. Reyna Gonzalez, RSCJ from Sherpa Consulting – addressed the topics of mission and governance through the presentations of Sr. Arlene Van Dusen, MSC, Sr. Pietrina Raccuglia, MSC, and canon lawyer Sr. Sharon Euart, RSM, Esq. and civil attorney Christopher Fusco, Esq. John DiMucci, Director of Sponsorship and Mission Services for the Sisters of Charity, provided insights into different models of governance for religious orders.

Updates on vocation ministry and the shrines and spiritual ministries – from an international and province perspective – were shared. Additionally, reports from the Cabrini Lay Missionaries, Immigration Commission, Global Health Commission, UNANIMA, as well as progress reports from the working groups on Mission Integration and On-Going Formation, which were established at the 2022 Assembly, were provided.

Sr. Diane Olmstead, MSC, Provincial, offered an overview of the Guadalupe Province ministries and all that has transpired in recent months and years.

During the days that the Missionary Sisters gathered among themselves, Sr. Mary Pat Garvin, RSM, PhD presented a workshop on Mission: The Never-Ending Story.

During the Assembly, Fr. Tom Faiola, OFM, Cap., Fr. John Lager, OFM, Cap., and Fr. Ron Galt were presiders at the various days’ liturgies.

As with any Cabrinian gathering, there was time for fun, good conversation, and a dinner social, as well.

Use Your Voice – Take Action

March 8, 2023

The Biden administration has proposed a new immigration rule that, if implemented, would limit the ability for people to seek asylum in the U.S. The proposal would consider some migrants ineligible for asylum if they fail to first seek protection in another country that they traveled through on their way to the southern border (such as Mexico) if they don’t apply through other legal pathways, with some exceptions.

Under the last administration, a public health policy knows as Title 42, has been used to expel more than 2 million migrants since Spring of 2022. This policy will end on May 11, 2023.

We are disappointed that the Administration has chosen to move forward with this proposed rule and feel it enforces the false statement that asylum seekers are a threat to our country. One way for your voice to be heard is to join us and “Take Action” with Save the Children below.

Guadalupe Province Immigration Commission
Yolanda Flores, MSC, Pietrina Raccuglia, MSC, Lucille Souza, MSC, Karol Brewer

SAVE the CHILDREN ACTION NETWORK
is the political voice for kids

Denying asylum puts children in serious, unthinkable danger. President Biden MUST do better — and the first step is stopping the asylum ban.
Take Action

The administration is moving forward with its plans to bring back an asylum ban. It’s devastating, inhumane and downright illegal.

If you send a message in protest today, your words WILL reach the White House – because before President Biden makes his final decision, he wants to know how the public feels.

The government will review comment submitted by March 27th — which means we can change this cruel policy before it goes into effect. Your message must be personalized to be considered, so make sure you edit our pre-drafted suggestion to include your experience.

It’s the voices of asylum seekers that we should truly be listening to. But they won’t get the chance to share their stories – so we can’t waste ours.

My hope is that the President will accept us,” said Rosa Lila, a single mother of five who set out for the U.S. “That is my dream, to be there with my children. It’s to have a better life.”

We have an opportunity to speak out on behalf of migrants like her – people who are doing everything in their power to build a brighter future.

But our window is closing fast.

So please, will you tell President Biden how this ban will hurt asylum seekers? Kids are counting us!

Immigration Reform Needed: NOW!

November 16, 2022

The United States needs comprehensive immigration reform! The last time the United States significantly changed its method for awarding visas was in 1965, when Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). This law changed the immigration system from one based on country-of-origin limits to one based on family reunification

A majority of Americans agree that Congress should pass bipartisan legislation to permanently protect Dreamers and TPS holders so these people can continue to live, work and contribute to the only country they have called their home.

With the DACA program so vulnerable in the courts, the risks to Dreamers and particularly DACA recipients could not be more urgent. We are urging you to help push Congress to pass a bill now to protect Dreamers and other people who are undocumented. If DACA is halted in court, an estimated 1,000 DACA recipients could lose their deferred action status and work permits each week, causing severe harm in the healthcare, education, food production and service industries, all of which are experiencing shortages. Getting any deal will unquestionably demand compromise, such as extreme border security measures. There is a chance reforms on recapturing lost visas, improved case processing, and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act might also be included if a deal comes together.

Midterm elections have taken place so, NOW, is the time for action!

CALL: Your Senators and ask them to reform and modernize our immigration system. If you do not know your Senator’s phone number, dial 202-224-3121 and a switchboard operator will help connect you directly to the correct office. Post on social media (Facebook, Twitter) asking your contacts to join in on the action!

Guadalupe Province Immigration Commission
Sr. Yolanda Flores, MSC
Sr. Pietrina Raccuglia, MSC
Sr. Roselle Santivasi, MSC

Sr. Lucille Souza, MSC

Karol Brewer

Building the Future with Migrants and Refugees

October 5, 2022

~ by Rhina Guidos

For nearly a half century, the Catholic Church in the United States has celebrated National Migration Week, which is an opportunity for the Church to reflect on the circumstances confronting migrants, including immigrants, refugees, children, and victims and survivors of human trafficking.

National Migration Week for 2022 took place September 19-25, and ended with the World Day of Migrants and Refugees (WDMR), on the last Sunday of September. The primary theme for this year’s WDMR was “Building the Future with Migrants and Refugees”.

There has been an influx of migrants being sent to New York City this spring and summer, most fleeing crime and poor economies in Central and South America which has tested New York’s reputation as a world sanctuary. And it shows no sign of slowing, thanks in part to Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, whose decision to send busload after busload to Washington, D.C. and New York hoping to pressure Democrats on border policy.

Not all migrants who reach New York enter shelters; some go to live with friends and family in the region. But a large number of the recent newcomers are Venezuelan, and, unlike previous groups of immigrants from places like Mexico, El Salvador or Ecuador, they are less likely to have already established communities to join when they arrive.

Cabrini Immigrant Services, NYC, is starting to work with some of these families and in honor of National Migration Week, the Guadalupe Province Immigration Commission is collecting donations of cash and/or gift cards to places such as: Trader Joe’s, Old Navy, Target, and also much needed New York Metro Cards. We are also asking for donations of underwear (in all sizes for both men and women).

If you are able to contribute, please send or drop off your donations to:
Karol Brewer: Cabrini Formation Office/ The Cottage/610 King of Prussia Road/Radnor/PA 19087

Sr. Lucille Souza, MSC: Sacred Heart Convent/71 Jackson Street/New York/ NY 10002

We so appreciate your support!

Guadalupe Province Immigration Commission
Missionary Sisters Yolanda Flores/Pietrina Raccuglia/Roselle Santivasi/Lucille Souza
Karol Brewer/Zelene Suchilt

Jesuit Network with Migrants (RJM)

February 9, 2022

Jesuit Network with Migrants (RJM)
~ An account by Sr. Sonnia Margarita Osorio, MSC *

I have lived a very intense month, accompanying the caravan of Honduran migrants at the Aguas Calientes border between Honduras and Guatemala, accompanying a family in the process of recognizing the body of their son, who was in the truck that crashed in Chiapas on December 19, 2021. The truck was carrying more than 150 migrants [as they were observing] the first anniversary of the 19 migrants killed in Tamaulipas on January 22, 2021. Of those 19, 14 were from Comitancillo San Marcos. On January 20 and 21 in San Marcos we had a Eucharist and inaugurated a mural in honor of the victims and their families, the mural represents the process of mourning and hope.

“I have seen the oppression of my people in Egypt and I have heard the cries of pain, I have seen the oppression of my people in Egypt and heard the cries of their oppressors; I know their sufferings…” Exodus 3, 7

With this text of the Exodus begins the prologue of the book “The Flight of the Hummingbird” which contains the review of each of the migrants killed and burned in Camargo Tamaulipas. It also narrates the process of accompaniment of mourning with their families made by the Network. I have had the grace of accompanying these families for some months in group processes. We have also taken the opportunity to visit each family, listen to them and encourage them. Further on, the same text says:
“I have come down to deliver you from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring you up from this land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey…”.

This experience of celebrating the first anniversary of these victims of Tamaulipas, has a double reality and feeling, on the one hand, the joy that gives “the lowering of God to free his people” and the certainty that they come from the Gospel, where it is not the full and satisfied who enjoy the banquet of the Kingdom, but the strangers, those of the squares, the roads, the discarded, those who, like the Master, have nowhere to lay their heads.

The other reality is the indignation of seeing how the bodies of the victims of the “accident” in Chiapas continue to arrive, in which so many migrants, mostly Guatemalans, were traveling, and where we see that the blood of our brothers and sisters continues to cry out for justice. We are all brothers and sisters and we must eat at the same table because the earth belongs to all and produces for all.

“Hope multiplies strength a hundredfold,” says Mother Cabrini and I believe that this is a reality of the RJM team extended to our families and communities where lay and religious men and women live with joy the encounter with our brothers, Haitians, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Hondurans, Guatemalans who with their courage challenge us to leave the comfort and always look for something better.

*Translated from the Spanish with www.DeepL.com/Translator

Pilgrimages to Resume to Honor Our Lady of Guadalupe

December 8, 2021

~ By Alejandra Molina, Religion News Service

To the Rev. Esequiel Sanchez, it’s important for Catholics to be cautious, but not afraid, as they prepare to honor the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe a year after COVID-19 shut down the annual pilgrimage in Des Plaines, Illinois – considered to be the largest gathering in the United States honoring the patron saint of Mexico.

The pandemic last December forced the cancellation of large-scale pilgrimages as the virus surged during the winter months. who has been a source of hope for many Latinos throughout the pandemic. As the omicron coronavirus variant circulates, Catholic leaders are urging mask wearing during these events and promoting the vaccine against the virus.

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims are expected to arrive on foot, bike, bus, or car at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines to fulfill or make “mandas” or promises, to the Virgin Mary, praying in return for health, employment and immigration issues. Many make promises to visit the Virgin at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.

The two-day celebration at the shrine will begin December 11 with an evening Mass and will follow with fireworks and “Las Mañanitas,” the traditional serenade to Our Lady of Guadalupe just before midnight Mass. On Sunday, there will be a range of prayer services for immigrants and for the elderly and sick, as well as music and folkloric dance performances by choirs, groups and pilgrims from around the Midwest.

Sanchez, rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, said many of the faithful have been wounded by the pandemic, losing loved ones back home in Mexico and not having the ability to travel there due to immigration status, economic hardship or pandemic concerns. Those who’ve caught the virus fear they can get reinfected and are “unsure of who to trust, who to believe,” Sanchez said.

The feast day, he said, is more than just a social gathering. “It is a true unburdening. It is a true expression of the community’s soul,” Sanchez said.

The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe – Our Province Patroness

December 8, 2021

The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Our Province Patroness
December 12, 2021

People in Mexico and in the United States celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12th. Mary is the Patron Saint of Mexico and Patroness of the Americas. Every year, thousands of people from all over the country make a pilgrimage to the Basilica in Mexico City. The day commemorates her apparition to Juan Diego, a 57 year-old widower, in the hills of Tepeyac in 1531. She asked him to go to the bishop and tell him that the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, sent him to ask for a church to be built atop Tepeyac hill.

The bishop told Juan to have the lady give him a sign. About the same time, Juan’s uncle became seriously ill. This led poor Juan to try to avoid Our Lady. Nevertheless, the lady found Juan, and assured him that his uncle would recover and provided roses for Juan to carry to the bishop in his cape or tilma.

On December 12, when Juan Diego opened his tilma in the bishop’s presence, the roses fell to the ground, and the bishop sank to his knees. On the tilma where the roses had been appeared an image of Mary exactly as she had appeared at the hill of Tepeyac.

Today, as a sign of their devotion to Mary, many pilgrims travel to this site on their knees for many miles. They do this as a sign of their devotion to Mary and to show gratitude for favors received from her.

On the Feast Day, outside of the shrine there are groups of mariachis, folk musicians and ethnic dancers come to celebrate. Inside, priests and bishops from all over Mexico gather to celebrate Mass. In the evening, the entrance of the basilica is filled with pilgrims from different regions of Mexico. Many other fiestas or popular celebrations take place in honor of La Virgen Morena all over Mexico. Almost every household erects an altar to the Virgin Mary for the day and the faithful demonstrate their joy by lighting fireworks throughout their cities.

Mary’s apparition in Mexico to Juan Diego aided the Catholic Church’s effort to bring the Gospel to the Americas. That is why the bishops of the United States affirm: “Mary embraces God’s will and freely chooses to cooperate with God’s grace, thereby fulfilling a crucial role in God’s plan of salvation.” ~ Excerpts of the Saint of the Day and Saint Resource

Food Pantry Summer – CMF and CIS-NYC – a Collaboration

September 14, 2021

The Cabrini Mission Foundation responds with boldness and urgency to the unmet needs of the most vulnerable, especially when there are those in need in our own community. During the summer season, our team worked with Cabrini Immigrant Services’ NYC Food Pantry, and has been dedicated to supporting and feeding more than 200 families each week.

Whether it was lugging groceries up numerous flights of stairs or working as a team to fill the bags of food, our Sisters, staff, and volunteers worked tirelessly to provide meals for the disadvantaged. Though many of us come from different backgrounds, speak different languages or come from various parts of the world, we came together to “answer the call” for help, as Mother Cabrini did throughout her lifetime ~ CMF website

Sending Postcards of Hope

July 14, 2021

In collaboration with their sponsored ministries, the Guadalupe Province Immigration Commission is sponsoring a program of writing and sending postcards to refugee children. Communities of the Missionary Sisters along with their lay collaborators have spent time with pens, markers, crayons and stickers decorating postcards with messages of hope, comfort and love that will be sent to and distributed by the Jesuit Refugee Service to a refugee child overseas.

The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) works in more than 55 countries worldwide, having helped over 677,000 refugees and other forcibly displaced persons.