“Come, Divine Spirit, send your light from heaven. Loving father of the poor.” The Holy Spirit is present in all creation, in humans and creatures, especially in the poor in history.
The Holy Spirit is an Incarnate Presence in reality, in daily life. For this reason, we must learn to recognize the “Seeds of the Word,” the Trinitarian God in history. The Holy Spirit is light in the darkness, who illuminates the walk. The Holy Spirit acts discreetly without suppressing the freedom of each person, a light united with the light of each Christian. The Spirit is not a magical presence, rather a transformative presence of the personal and community, to the extent that we open ourselves to this presence.
Every time I meet migrant families, men and women, young people, I see that each one carries their own light, each one carries that light like a lighted candle that illuminates others, a light that is a guide. That light inspires the migrants to promote unity and solidarity. It is the Holy Spirit that acts in each human that has invoked them with faith and freedom. The Spirit only intends to increase the light that is in each person who trusts in this presence.
When migrants share their stories, many say with authentic faith that God has been by their side throughout their journey, that they only understand that it is possible to continue forward through the presence of the Spirit in their lives. When a migrant trusts in God’s mercy, they trust that the Spirit is present guiding them with wisdom and strength that acts in the human weakness of each migrant. To trust is to believe, to trust is to love, to trust leads to act knowing that the Spirit is present.
The Holy Spirit is consoling, a “joy that wipes away tears and comforts in mourning”; it is presence in the moments of heartbreak and pain that migrants experience. How is it possible that they can continue with so many painful and humiliating situations that they have experienced? That question arises in each of us who are not in their “skin.” It is the Spirit that acts with discretion, who comforts and sustains in pain. There are many migrants, who carry an internal wound and great pain for the loss of a loved one; in these dramatic situations, only the Spirit can maintain a sigh of hope in the midst of tears.
The Holy Spirit is the giver of life, is light and presence in history. Migrants experience this Spirit in the hope that they maintain throughout the journey, that hope that leads them to go beyond the situations that have affected their dignity and quality of life. It is the Spirit that ignites the hearts of each migrant who has been forced to leave their land and home, seeking new horizons and territories. The Spirit is the one who maintains that hope of a new heaven and a new earth.
Come Holy Spirit! Be light and increase wisdom in each migrant.
Come Holy Spirit! Be strength in the weakness of migrants.
Come Holy Spirit! Increase the courage of the migrants.
Come Holy Spirit! Anoint with your healing presence the wounds of migrants.
Come Holy Spirit! Console the pain and sadness in each migrant.
Come Holy Spirit! Kindle hope and love in migrants.
Come Holy Spirit! Grant us hearts of mercy to welcome and care for the migrant.
Come Holy Spirit! Free us from the xenophobia and homophobia that condemns migrants.
Come Holy Spirit! Grant me prophetic words and expressions to care for and defend the migrant
whom I meet on the way.
Amen.