The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate serve poor and abandoned people in the United States and 70 countries around the world.

Mission Affirmed

Brownsville, TX

By Valerie Gonzalez, Staff Writer, Originally Published by the Brownsville Herald

With Thanks to Fr. Kevin Collins, OMI

BROWNSVILLE – A familiar opportunity knocked at the door of a Brownsville church last Christmas Eve when a journey-worn family sought shelter from the church in the midst of their holiday mass.

“The cathedral sort of made some room at the gym to accommodate these families and give them a warmer place to stay for that night,” Bishop Daniel E. Flores said on Thursday. Since then, the Immaculate Conception Cathedral has kept its doors open.

Two weeks ago, a Venezuelan family walked in only to walk out 15 minutes after their arrival.

Maria Carolina, a Venezuelan mother who preferred not to share a last name for safety reasons, remembered feeling a little more than the expected emotions that came with finally setting foot on U.S. soil.

That morning of Jan. 16, Maria Carolina, by then nine months pregnant, her husband and 10-year-old daughter

A woman from Venezuela holds her newborn son on Thursday who was born on Jan. 16, 2023, as she rests in the Life and Family Pregnancy Center, while staying at the short-term migrant respite center next to Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Brownsville. Photos by: Denise Cathey | The Brownsville Herald

Click here to see the rest of the article on the website of the Brownsville Herald

<