“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, a stranger, and you welcomed me, naked, and you clothed me, ill, and you cared for me, in prison, and you visited me.”
Matthew 25:35-36
Sisters, associates and agrégées from the St. Louis Province, along with many others—faithful members of various Christian denominations, including Catholics, and members of many women’s and men’s religious communities—gathered in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, on March 7 outside the federal detention center.
They came together to pray for those who have been detained, their families, those living in fear and the jailors, ICE, border patrol and administrators who are held captive by power and money. It was a powerful image of the communion of saints coming together in a communion of love, witnessing in solidarity, standing against injustice and courageously embodying a vision for the needed change.
The Gospel reading was from Matthew 25: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, a stranger, and you welcomed me, naked, and you clothed me, ill, and you cared for me, in prison, and you visited me.” Standing outside a detention center and hearing this Gospel mandate, these words hit differently because of the proximity to those detained and knowing that many of the people gathered have faithfully lived out this Gospel mandate by giving money for food, drink and rent to our immigrant neighbors and their families so they can have some financial stability when separated from their loved ones and providers. Some have even taken families, including children, to visit our detained immigrant neighbors.
Sara Drost, the President of Abide in Love Ste. Genevieve, shared with us that as of that day, there were 154 ICE detainees in the detention center. Since Abide in Love’s inception in July 2025, 1,145 men and women have been detained from across the globe, each being someone’s parent, child, sibling, cousin or friend.
Two Abide in Love pen pal volunteers also shared how they support those who are detained. They coordinate communication with family and friends and assure that our detained brothers and sisters are not forgotten. When someone is detained for a traffic violation, they help locate their towed cars for family members. They have also assisted in obtaining legal documents when needed.
Additionally, they informed us that when detainees are transferred to different locations, they are shackled at the wrists, waist and ankles. Most are men and women detained for a traffic violation or who were detained during their scheduled ICE check-in after following the law. They are not criminals, yet they are shackled. These men and women are often confined in large groups with no privacy, limited access to fresh food, fresh air, or exercise. Sometimes, they don’t even have access to a bed.
In her preaching, Rev. Sarah Brown, United Methodist Church retired clergy, encouraged us to remember “In this time we are called to respond not with fear but with love, not with exclusion but with hospitality, not with division but with justice and mercy.”
In the same spirit, Fr. Scott Jones, Episcopal Vicar of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, proclaimed that “…we are here today to share that we do know what is happening, we see it and that we do care, and that we are willing to speak up. You are not forgotten. Whether you are detained, or at risk of detention, or have loved ones who are at risk…We also care deeply about law enforcement officials and those who work in detention centers. We care about those who mistakenly support everything that is happening to our immigrant brothers and sisters. The love of Christ doesn’t discriminate. That’s what makes it love.”
As we prayed outside the detention center, the sisters gathered in the chapel at Nazareth Living Center and prayed the same prayer vigil in solidarity with our detained neighbors and us. Their spirit and love were felt in Ste. Genevieve. “We may not have been able to make it down to Ste. Gen, but we were right there with you in solidarity in the Nazareth Chapel,” says Sister Pat Dunphy, CSJ. “We prayed for our dear neighbors in detention centers, not only in Ste Genevieve, but for all those caught up in the unjust immigration system.”
As always, the sisters and associates show up. They serve as witnesses to the truth and stand in solidarity with unifying love, carrying the pain and suffering of our immigrant neighbors and their families, and engage that same love to bring about God’s kingdom.