Bilingual book dedicated to a Mexican priest includes reflections by local contributors

BURLINGTONBy Armando Machado

A new book about the plight and dangers faced by migrants from Central America and Mexico tells their stories through reflections and prayers.

“The Migrant’s Way of the Cross” was compiled by Father Simon C. Kim, who said during an impromptu interview last month in a food bank at St. Charles Parish in Burlington that he believes some of the anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States comes from people who are simply anti-Latino.

He noted that there’s not much talk about people who arrive here via airplane from many countries and overstay their visas indefinitely.

“We mislabel and lower people’s dignity by categorizing them as undocumented or illegal,” Father Kim wrote later in an email interview. “Rather, they are God’s children, and my hope of tracing the Stations of the Cross through their journey is to allow those living in the United States to see Christ in them, to see them as our true brothers and sisters.”

Local contributorsEach “station” of the 80-page book, published by Liguori Publications, is written by one of 12 contributors, including Father Kim. Each reflection is followed by the Spanish translation and an accompanying prayer in both English and Spanish.

Father Simon C. Kim, who compiled The Migrant's Way of the Cross, visited the Tri-Parish Food Bank at St. Charles Church in Burlington in early June. With him are Marcelino Lopez Martinez (left), a Skagit Valley migrant farmworker, and Jose Ortiz, coordinator of the food bank.  Photo: Armando Machado

The book includes photos of Hispanic/Latino migrants.

Father Kim, born in Seoul, South Korea, serves as an assistant professor in the theology department at Our Lady of Holy Cross College in New Orleans, La.

He immigrated to the United States at an early age and his own experience of church and identity is the impetus for his theological endeavors as he strives to make faith relevant in a cultural and generational way, according to the college website. Father Kim has led conferences, workshops and retreats across the U.S. on Korean-American pastoral ministry.

Contributors to “The Migrant’s Way of the Cross” include:

•   Father Alejandro Solalinde, a Mexican priest who operates a shelter in southern Mexico for migrants from Central America. The book is dedicated to Father Solalinde.

•   Juan C. Macedo, a St. Charles parishioner, who migrated to the U.S. to escape violence in his native Mexico. Today he is a laborer taking whatever work he can find to provide for his family.

•   Mary Gilbert, a parishioner at Holy Family in Kirkland, who works on behalf of migrants in the Skagit Valley and with the homeless in the Seattle area.

An excerpt from ‘The Migrant’s Way of the Cross’

BY FATHER SIMON C. KIM Fifth Station, Jesus is helped to carry his cross by Simon of Cyrene As I accompanied the migrants from the shelter in southern Mexico back to the station to catch the night train north, my attention quickly turned to an elderly man because of the way he walked, stumbling from side to side. His poor eyesight caused him difficulties in the dark of night … even with the railroad tracks to guide his every step. At first, I walked behind him, afraid he would fall or lose his way before I eventually summoned enough courage to grab his hand and walk with him the rest of the way … One thing is certain: Simon of Cyrene left a different person that day after encountering Jesus and experiencing the weight of his cross. Today, we too have a wonderful opportunity to encounter Christ in migrants, to help carry Jesus’ cross by assisting them in their journey, and to be radically changed by this event in our lives.

June 26, 2013