On Friday, January 23, Minnesotans were invited to withdraw from their daily routines and act in whatever ways they could in response to the Federal ICE Operation Metro Surge.

At a peace prayer service at Carondelet Village, S. Linda Napier, CSJ, posed a question to the gathered community: “What difference does it make?”

Do our humble actions make a difference—especially when immigrant neighbors are living in fear, struggling to make ends meet, and risking detention during the influx of thousands of federal agents into Minnesota? We can feel like we are not doing enough, given all that we are facing.

It helps to remember that we are not acting alone. While over 60 community members gathered in prayer, more than 35,000 others viewed the service on Instagram.

Additionally, while only a few CSJ community members were able to participate in the downtown march due to the nearly -20 degree temperature and even harsher windchill, more than 50,000 people showed up—sharing hand warmers and hot drinks, beating drums, chanting, and marching with signs proclaiming, “Love your neighbor!”

Across our state, the Congregation, and the nation, people have been responding with love and doing what they can to keep our dear immigrant neighbors safe in the days leading up to January 23 and ever since. Many have been praying, delivering groceries, offering rides, standing watch outside schools and daycare centers, preparing care packets, donating, attending vigils, marching in Singing Resistance, supporting immigrant businesses, and advocating with elected officials.

Yet S. Linda’s question lingers: how do our humble presence and actions—of a few CSJs alongside thousands of others—make a difference. Her answer that day was clear and confident: “It makes a difference!”

Our actions may be humble, but they are concrete signs of profound love. Together, they remind our immigrant neighbors that they are not alone. Our collective witness makes visible what is true among us: love is alive and at work. And as Scripture reminds us, love never fails—for “the greatest of these is love.”

Keeping hope alive—in ways both seen and unseen—is shaping us, drawing us toward a more compassionate way of being community. In this way, the difference we are making is deeply spiritual. We are helping build a community where love leads, where hope endures, and where everyone belongs.