On Ash Wednesday, Cardinal Roger Mahony criticized what he referred to as "hysterical" anti-immigrant sentiment, and called on the 288 parishes of the Los Angeles Archdiocese to fast and pray for comprehensive immigration reform.

His words reminded me of a press conference we held at Dolores Mission on February 1, to announce a month of fasting and prayer for the same purpose. Later that day, a correspondent from NBC News approached me and asked me a question I had been hearing repeatedly: "Why are you fasting and what do you hope to accomplish?"

These past months, I have been seeing and hearing the deep divisiveness, both locally and nationally, concerning immigration reform. In the midst of these conflicts and differences in perspective, I have decided to fast and pray with my parish community.

As I do so, I find my attention drawn more deeply toward God, to the One who made all of us "in God's image and likeness" (Genesis 1:26). I experience a profound connection to the One who calls me to "not oppress a resident alien" (Exodus 23:9) and urges me "to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin" (Isaiah 58:7). I connect more deeply with Church teaching about living in solidarity, recognizing and living out of our interdependence as a human community.

And my gaze is not only drawn to God, but also to the ideals that express who we want to be as a nation. I am reminded of John Winthrop's image of becoming a "city upon a hill," of the Statue of Liberty that "lifts the lamp beside the golden door" to those in need. I remember the Declaration of Independence's eloquent hope: that the United States become a country rooted in the truth, "that all are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

The desire also deepens in me to let go of the fear that would compel me to embrace "enforcement only" immigration reform policies, and instead to allow God and these national ideals to be my touchstone. I am led to experience physical hunger in order to be in solidarity with the undocumented person, who hungers for work and for a better life.

My heart becomes more deeply opened and moved by the stories of undocumented people, like a man from our shelter, who as one of nine children started working at the age of eight, in order to "not be a burden to his family," and who came to the United States to earn money to start a business in Mexico. Anger and disgust fills me when I hear that four months ago, another person staying in our parish worked for nine hours a day in a Los Angeles silk screen t-shirt factory, thinking he would make the minimum wage ($6.75 an hour), and at the end of the day was paid the unlivable wage of $2.25 an hour.

Knowing these stories and guided by the compass of faith and the light of our national ideals, I feel compelled to fast and to work for just and humane immigration reform. I am led to oppose bills like the one that the House of Representatives passed in December, The Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Act (H.R. 4437), which would criminalize over 11 million undocumented persons as well as the people and organizations that help them.

I feel the urgency to advocate for legislation that would allow those who are undocumented to live and work in the United States legally, that would keep families of mixed immigration status together and unite those who are separated, that would establish labor laws preventing exploitation and abuse of immigrants in the workplace, and that would implement a proportional and humane border security policy.

I believe Cardinal Mahony used this moral compass when he called on the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to work for comprehensive immigration reform. He was guided not only by Scripture and Church teaching, but also by the history and the principles that express the type of nation the United States wants to be --- a place that welcomes the stranger in our midst.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has begun discussing an immigration reform proposal, which the Senate is scheduled to debate on March 27. May we heed the cardinal's call to fast and pray together, so that we open ourselves to allowing God and our national ideals to be our compass, leading us to work toward just and humane immigration reform.

As we reject the temptation to succumb to fear and prejudice, we will find ourselves on what the United States and Mexican Catholic bishops have referred to as "the journey of hope," a walk of solidarity with all undocumented persons. By fasting and praying, we are invited to walk this path with them, and as we do so we will recognize the immigrant not as an "alien" or a "terrorist" but rather as our sister and brother.

We will also become who we want to be, both individually and as a nation, and it will open our minds and hearts to what Rev. James Lawson of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference expressed so powerfully last month --- that "in the eyes of God no one is undocumented."

Jesuit Father Sean Carroll is associate pastor at Dolores Mission Church, Boyle Heights.