By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami
Homily by Archbishop Thomas Wenski at evening vespers for the first day of the Annual Priest Convocation in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Sept, 15, 2026.
Today is the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, Mater Dolorosa.
Mary did not flee the scandal of Christ's public execution but stood under his cross and thus shared in his sufferings participating in his redemptive mission. We believe that Our Lady of Sorrows shares in the sufferings of those people today hiding in the shadows of our neighborhoods. And don’t we see the modern face of the Mater Dolorosa in our pews, and at our rectory doors, every day reflected in those who have been separated from loved ones because of immigrant arrests, detainments, and deportations.
St. Paul writes to Timothy: "I bear with all this for the sake of those whom God has chosen…." When Saint Paul wrote these words, he was not preaching from a comfortable pulpit. He was writing from prison, staring down his own execution. And when Paul says he bears with all things, he uses the Greek hypomeno—to remain under a heavy weight instead of running away.
Paul writes to encourage Timothy not to flee but to remain faithful, again for sake of those whom God has chosen. As priests, we are called fidelity and to stand under the weight of our people’s suffering, even when that suffering is messy, legally complex, and politically controversial.
The temptation for us as priests is to view the immigration crisis purely as a political problem. And thus, try to skirt around it – unless it affects you directly. In the verse before tonight’s reading, Paul says that while he is in chains: "The word of God is not chained!" (2 Tim 2:9). Human laws can chain bodies, and political ideologies can chain minds, but the Gospel we carry cannot be bound by national borders or partisan lines.
We all know the reality of our pews. The issue of immigration divides our parishes just as it has divided our nation. If we speak out for the dignity of the irregular migrant, we are accused of being partisan. But, if we remain silent, don’t we betray the Gospel.
Let this Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows remind us that a priestly heart must be a pierced heart. We cannot minister effectively to a wounded world with a bulletproof soul.
Let us pray for each other at this gathering. Let us ask for the courage to lead our parishes past political tribalism and toward Christ-like compassion. May we find the strength to endure the exhaustion, the criticism, and the heavy lifting of justice, so that our people recognize Christ in the faces of the migrant, so that “they too may obtain the salvation to be found in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.”
