Living the Gospel: What’s Next
“We are not called to do all the good possible, only that which we can do.” – Saint Mother Theodore Guerin
So, what can I do? What can we do? Put another way, what is ours to do?
As the person leading the Providence Community’s justice efforts, these questions move around in me almost daily. All of Catholic Social Teaching rests on the principle of respect for the life and dignity of the human person. Promoting justice comes down to deciding what, when, where and how we are to respond to threats on human dignity.
Coming Together
One such response was the Ash Wednesday service we conducted in front of the Clay County, Indiana, Courthouse. Ninety folks gathered to pray, sing, lament and to share stories from those held in ICE detention in the jail next door while receiving ashes in an ancient ritual acknowledging our need for individual and collective repentance.
We came from a variety of faith traditions and from all over the Wabash Valley. We gathered because we could. We gathered to give witness to the lack of dignity afforded our neighbors who happen to have not been born here.
We prayed for them and called on our elected leaders locally and nationally to acknowledge our common humanity and to stop the mistreatment of those in ICE detention as well as the illegal methods used to actually detain people.
Good Company
The Providence Community is in good company when calling for a more just and humane immigration policy. Pope Leo XIV consistently does so. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a Special Message on Immigration in November 2025.
Silence or inaction is not an option. There can no longer be any doubt about it. All people of goodwill are being called to do something.
We partnered with Catholics in Communion to have public events during the Season of Faithful Witness. On Good Friday we prayed Crosses of Resistance from the Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice in the Church of the Immaculate Conception.
I invite you to consider what you can do and what your faith community can do. And do remember those wise words from our dear foundress: “We are not called to do all the good possible, only that which we can do.”
Originally published in the summer 2026 issue of HOPE magazine.
