Sr. Norma Pimental speaks at SHSST

“We are restoring humanity,” is how Sr. Norma Pimentel, MJ, describes the work that she and volunteers do at the Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas. Executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, Sr. Norma was the main speaker at today’s Dehon Lecture at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology. Since 2014 she and volunteers from a variety of area faith communities, as well as civic and business leaders, have assisted migrants on their asylum journey. However, she insists that it is the responsibility of all Americans to help in this migration crisis. “We need to go to sleep at night tired from doing good, from doing more than the bare minimum,” said Sr. Norma. “It is a wonderful feeling to know that you have done God’s will… We must seek to quench the thirst of Jesus in every person. Don’t say to yourself, ‘Oh, someone else can do this better than me.’ All are called to help others.” How? “Start by finding the things that we all have in common," she said. "We must remind each other that we are one family, one human family.” The program was a joint effort of SHSST and the Dehonians' North American Migration Commission.