Last weekend ten Notre Dame students, their parents, and two ND teacher chaperones gathered in San Jose’s Mineta airport for a quick prayer of blessing and thanksgiving. The reason? A justice immersion trip to Dolores Mission and Homeboy Industries in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles.

The trip was filled with moments of grace and challenge as the group met Archbishop Gómez after a Mass for Migrants. "We saw Fr. Ted, formerly of Most Holy Trinity Parish and now at Dolores Mission, which was a blessing. We also served in the classrooms of Dolores Mission, heard stories of fear and pain born of poverty and immigration status. In moments of strength and resilience, students wrote letters of thanks to President Obama and letters of welcome (and requests) to President-Elect Trump," shared Deidre Savino, Notre Dame's campus minister for social justice and immersions. "We were surrounded by images of a loving, caring Blessed Mother, of art, of education, of liberation as we visited sites in the area. And we experienced a moment of grace as we visited with the beautiful Notre Dame sisters of St. Columbkille, and basked in the shared love of St. Julie’s vision of love, education, inclusion and strength."

At a time when uncertainty and fear grip the poor and the immigrants across the country, Notre Dame's immersion group stood in solidarity and prayer with these groups in Los Angeles.