SAN JUAN – A large sculpture of the Blessed Mother embracing the still-unborn Jesus was placed June 27 in front of the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle-National Shrine, marking the start of a two-month stay here. Entitled "Life Monument," the 2-1/2 ton bronze statue, with Jesus in the womb modeled in polished stainless steel, is the work of Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz of Ontario. Father Jorge Gomez, rector of the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle-National Shrine, said, “Of all the places it could have gone, we are especially privileged here to have been chosen for its visit.” Father Gomez and Martin Lopez, maintenance department director for the basilica, both noted the remarkable timing of the sculpture arriving at the basilica just as the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision of almost 50 years ago that legalized abortion. Almost 65 million abortions have been performed in this country since that 1973 ruling. But with trigger laws coming into effect after the June 24 ruling, abortion is already effectively outlawed or soon will be in some 13 states. The pro-life sculpture’s installation here was delayed briefly because its size and weight required bringing in a special crane to move it from the maintenance yard and into its space in the plaza at the base of the basilica’s steps. A smaller model of the statue was placed May 27 at the Church of San Marcello al Corso in central Rome, even as the full-size version went first to Houston before coming to the Rio Grande Valley. When this “colossal” version leaves here, it will go to Washington D.C., to be installed permanently outside the Theological College of the Catholic University of America, right across the street from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Schmalz, the sculptor, said his hope is to offer a pro-life message that reminds people of their own gift of life and the beauty of art to touch the hearts of those who are in favor of legalized abortion. The mirroring effect of the womb allows viewers to see themselves there, as a reminder that their lives, too, started in a womb, he said. If proponents of abortion can see the beauty in unborn life, he said, "perhaps that will be some sort of persuasion" to make them think more deeply about all human life as being beautiful. “If I can move that dialogue one step closer to some understanding and love on both sides, then the sculpture is a great tool, it's a great instrument,” Schmalz said. “You have to use beauty and love or it's just not going to work.” _______ Catholic News Service contributed to this report.

Bishop Daniel E. Flores and Auxiliary Bishop Mario A. Avilés will lead a prayer vigil at 7 p.m. Friday, April 22 at the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle-National Shrine, for Melissa Lucio, a death row inmate scheduled for execution on April 27.

Construction workers set a steel roof beam in place on the twin candle rooms taking shape on the north side of the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle-National Shrine on Monday, April 11. During peak times, visitors to the Basilica may bring as many as 13,000 candles a week to the shrine -- more than the current candle room inside the Basilica can accommodate. The new candle rooms are expected to be ready by this summer.

By PAUL BINZ The Valley Catholic MATAMOROS, Tamaulipas, Mexico – The synodal process bridged an international border March 27 when the bishops of the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas crossed the Rio Grande into Mexico to celebrate Sunday Mass with the bishop of Matamoros. An afternoon of synod workshops and discussions followed. As late morning Mass began at Catedral de Nuestra Señora del Refugio (Our Lady of Refuge Cathedral), Matamoros’s Bishop Eugenio Andrés Lira Rugarcía opened with a warm welcome to Brownsville’s Bishop Daniel E. Flores and Auxiliary Bishop Mario A. Avilés. The Rio Grande Valley of far South Texas and the border cities of northeastern Mexico have historically enjoyed strong family, business and cultural ties. Although these have been interrupted in recent years by border crossing restrictions, the coronavirus pandemic and immigration issues, Sunday’s events were an opportunity to renew the close relations the two neighboring dioceses have maintained. “The dioceses of Brownsville and Matamoros – we are sister churches,” Bishop Lira said. “This permits us today to have a binational synodal experience.” “We greatly appreciate this invitation, this honor of sharing this Mass that manifests in a very strong way the communion of the Universal Church,” Bishop Flores responded. “We ask Our Lord’s help to keep us on this path that he has shown by his own example, and also the grace of the Holy Spirit to be able to open our hearts to the reconciliation and the communion – the principal themes of today’s Scriptures,” Bishop Flores said. The Gospel for the fourth Sunday of Lent was the story of the Prodigal Son. Angel Barrera, the synod coordinator for Diocese of Brownsville, explained afterward how this parable played a key role in Sunday’s proceedings. “The principal theme of Bishop Flores’s homily was on reconciliation,” Barrera said. “And that was woven in different ways into many synodal moments.” In the parable, after the son squanders his inheritance and is reduced to hiring himself out to tend pigs, he begins to think over what he has done, and how he got there. “In Spanish, the passage reads, the Gospel says, ‘Se puso reflexionar’ – ‘He began to reflect.’ … That’s what we’re doing now. We’re reflecting,” Barrera said. “The other principal action of the son for this conversion was that he remembered. He remembered how good it was with his father. He remembered how generous his father was.” After Mass, the South Texas delegation met with Matamoros’s Bishop Lira and his contingent at the Catholic Universidad del Noreste de México for lunch and then synod workshops. The 43 participants comprised the bishops and five priests, five religious, five lay persons, and five permanent deacons from each diocese. “It was the work of the Holy Spirit to get the right people there,” Barrera said. “Some of our lay people live and work on both sides. So they reside in Brownsville, but their workplace and business is in Matamoros. Many of them were coming from lived experiences of being on both sides, serving people on both sides.” The hospitality continued at the workshop site, Barrera said. “We had a wonderful meal, that amazing image of breaking bread together,” he said. “It was a very celebratory event.” “The way I would characterize (Bishop Lira’s) presence was joyful. Every time I would see him with a group of people he had never met, he was just so joyful, so approachable. He was talking to them like they were dear friends. “It was just a very warm and welcoming experience.” The delegations broke up into working groups for about three hours to discuss issues proposed by the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops. The questions posed to the groups at the meeting included: What has been your experience of “walking together” in the Church, in your family and in society in general? Do you feel that we are reaching the people on the peripheries and those most in need? What steps do you feel the Holy Spirit is asking us to take in order for us to grow “walking together” in the Church, in the family and in society in general? Who would be good to invite to accomplish this together? The questions echoed an oft-repeated theme of both Pope Francis and Bishop Flores about walking or journeying together through life. A saying often appears in Bishop Flores’ sermons: “If we don’t walk together, we’re not going to get there.” The afternoon’s discussions proved to be more of a start than an ending. Barrera noted, “I was encouraged by what Bishop (Flores) said: ‘We didn’t finish, but we’re getting started in articulating this.’” “The questions were helpful, but we don’t have a finished document yet,” Barrera said. “For me, this could be the beginning of a series of conversations, or other ways of having these focused discussions. “So what this really does for us is provides a witness to the communion of the Church, and the potential in the world, because we are two countries. … It’s a sign of us moving toward that together.”