Holy Work During Holy Week

Associate Director of the Lay Mission Volunteer Program Ellen Sprigg (front, left), joins Americorps member Julia Gerwe (front, right), and other volunteers in assisting refugees at the Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas.

Moved by news reports and firsthand accounts of the crisis at the United StatesMexico border, three volunteers with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth answered the “call to serve” during Lent.

This spring, Ellen Sprigg, associate director of the Lay Mission Volunteer Program, and Julia Gerwe, an AmeriCorps member who is in ministry at Nazareth this year, volunteered, along with Ellen’s daughter, Lauren, to assist refugees at Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas.

Ellen and Lauren spent much of their time serving meals, mopping floors, cleaning cots, washing bedding, dispensing basic essentials and medicines, preparing travel bags of food, organizing donated items, playing with the children, holding babies to give moms a rest, and anything else needed at a moment’s notice.

Julia’s fluency in Spanish enabled her to assist the refugees in completing required paperwork as they were released from detention centers, overseeing COVID-19 testing of refugees, contacting family members and sponsors of the refugees, and organizing departures of refugees to bus stations and the airport.

Ellen reflects, “Every mission that I experience is another stretch of the heart – witnessing such happiness and sadness in the faces of those I am with, and being ever-present in this speck of time that our paths have crossed. My role as a guest servant at Annunciation House was to be present and welcoming each and every day, to each and every person.”

She notes that on the website of Annunciation House there is a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. that holds even more meaning to her after this experience, “One comes to appreciate the reality that there can be no ‘we’ or ‘they’ in our lives, but only brothers and sisters all sacred and dignified.”

Both say in the moment, and in the months since, it can be overwhelming to think of the road that the refugees have traveled and must travel even after crossing the border. Upon returning from their experience in El Paso, Ellen and Julia were able to spend an evening with SCNs Susan Gatz, Brenda Gonzales, and Rosemarie Kirwan. All three have volunteered on the border and have spent significant time working with their brothers and sisters locally who are searching for a new beginning in the United States. The Sisters echoed the

Top: Ellen Sprigg says one of the more touching moments during her time volunteering at the Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas, was a washing of the feet ceremony during Holy Week. Bottom: Refugees find a simple and safe place to sleep at the Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas.

heaviness that weighed on Julia and Ellen’s hearts. After this meeting, Julia and Ellen reflected that they couldn't stop thinking about the struggles that families have faced with deportation, fear of not being granted asylum and so many other daily worries. The two kept wondering, how many of the thousands of families they crossed paths would be deported after their trial dates, spend years waiting for a favorable decision, or decide it is easier to live in the shadows and never truly be free?

As time passes and the experience further settles into Ellen, Julia, and Lauren’s hearts and minds, they reflect fondly on the beautiful, holy moments woven throughout their time with Annunciation House. They share that sometimes, radical love took the form of offering a warm meal, a listening ear, or a bottle of water. It was sometimes easy to show up and show love, like when young children were given the opportunity to play, joyfully, in safety. At other times, showing up was more difficult, like when a member of an already disillusioned and traumatized family had tested positive for COVID-19 and needed to be told and reassured that they would be okay.

In remembering these moments, Ellen reflects, “I will remember the faces of many, the smiles and laughter of the children, and the appreciation I felt from the adults. I am filled with gratitude for having traveled this road.”

Julia shares, “Experiencing life in the borderlands wasn’t always easy, but it was certainly worth every moment. Every emotion that I felt was experienced tenfold by the families passing through our doors, on their continued journey to something more. Where we served basic needs, the immigrants and refugees that we served will always be the heroes of this story – risking everything for a better life, gracefully enduring a broken system at our hands.”

Radical love has further manifested itself in the solidarity that Ellen, Julia, and Lauren share with the wider mission of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth through this experience. “Being there during Holy Week was the holiest of weeks in my life,” says Ellen.

A sentiment also felt by Julia, and expressed in the pages of her journal during Lent. “Love resides in every baby’s face, every mother changing a diaper, every father asking for milk. Love multiplies when men and women assist in post-meal clean-up, when children play basketball and soccer in the living area, when we can laugh with each other and share our stories. This place is love living on Earth, and I feel so blessed to be here. Tending to the needs of my neighbors, feeding the multitudes, and reuniting families is holy work. Holy work in this holy week!”

Recent volunteers at Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas included (from left to right) Mark and Diane Tribo, Julia Gerwe, Lauren Sprigg, and Ellen Sprigg.