By Eli Pacheco 

At a migrant resource center in the border town of Agua Prieta, Mexico, a young Franciscan friar ministered to migrants hoping to reach the United States. As he served at Mass and administered first aid, he found divinity in the humanity of the people before him. 

Many migrants fled violence or economic unrest in their home countries. On their way to the United States, they encountered numerous dangers, and many arrived at the border injured, sick and traumatized.  

Their stories and their plight were too vivid for him to ignore. 

Br. Kevin Hamzik, OFM, a friar artist, recently put the finishing strokes on a new series of icons meant to embody the perfect love of God he saw in the migrants he served at the U.S.-Mexican border.  

“That is what it is all about – seeing God in each other,” said Br. Kevin, who is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree at Columbia College Chicago. “I think of St. Francis of Assisi and his life and how he did that. He saw God in the underdog.” 

The acrylic-on-wood paintings illustrate subjects such as a child peeking through the wall and a woman engulfed in faithful serenity despite cactus needles riddling her hands.  

A mean wearing necklaces and a red long-sleeved shirt stands next to a wall with several paintings on it.

“I am not necessarily saying these people should be saints," Br. Kevin said of his paintings. "But it is for people to meditate on.” (Photo courtesy of Br. Kevin Hamzik, OFM)

Caring for the poor south of the border 

As hundreds of thousands of migrants make their way to the U.S.-Mexico border, many stop at migrant resource centers such as the one Br. Kevin worked in for assistance. 

Br. Kevin helped fulfill the simple needs of migrants suffering from exposure to desert conditions for several days. Hungry, thirsty, and needing fresh clothing, these souls had seen perils unknown in their trek to the United States. 

In them, Br. Kevin saw the love of God. During these fleeting interactions, he sensed their perseverance despite the perils they endured in their journey. 

“I thought about the most impactful moments,” he said, “which were also heart-wrenching.” 

A painting of a man on one knee wearing a ballcap, magenta long-sleeved shirt and jeans. He is raising his hands in front of a cactus.

Br. Kevin painted this image of a man who died as a result of a snakebite. (Photo Courtesy of Br. Kevin Hamzik, OFM)

'For people to meditate on’

Icons are religious works of art familiar to the Catholic Church and Eastern and Oriental Orthodox traditions. They are portraits of Jesus, Mary and saints extracted from moments of scripture or their life and are typically venerated.  

“I am not necessarily saying these people should be saints," Br. Kevin said, "but it is for people to meditate on.” 

Franciscan artist Br. Robert Lentz, OFM, inspired Br. Kevin with his icons of both canonized and uncanonized people. 

He also credits Peter Pearson, an Anglican Franciscan who trained artists to paint icons, and Giotto, a pre-renaissance creator of the Life of Frances frescos.  

“He walked through the streets and took inspiration from everyday people and events, which resonates with me,” Br. Kevin said. “It shows a divine in everyday life and each person if we choose to see it.” 

Br. Kevin chose to depict his subjects through iconography, including a man who died after suffering a snakebite in the desert.  

The others: 

A painting of a woman wearing a magenta long-sleeved shirt, jeans, and a yellow backpack. There are cactus needles in her upraised hands.

Br. Kevin depicted this image of a woman who remained at peace despite her hands being riddled with cactus needles. (Photo courtesy of Br. Kevin Hamzik, OFM)

Woman with cactus needles

Br. Kevin had to pull large cactus needles out of a woman's hands. Her face is upturned, her shoulder-length dark hair reaching the shoulders of her magenta shirt. Br. Kevin wondered how the needles had not impaled her hands. 

If the wounds did not faze her, what other suffering had she survived? 

"It struck me that she had this massive cactus needle in her hand and was at peace with it," he said. "She didn’t seem hurt at all from it.” 

A young girl wearing pigtails and a purple shirt with ponies on it looks through a fence. Her hands are gripping the bars.

This painting represents people Br. Kevin saw looking through the bars of the border wall. The girl in this painting was 1 or 2 years old, Br. Kevin said. (Photo courtesy of Br. Kevin Hamzik, OFM)

Little girl at the wall 

While participating in prayer services along the border wall, Br. Kevin saw people peering through the slats. 

“A little girl was there, probably 1 or 2 years old," he said. "This image is of a little girl looking through the wall's bars at us.”  

Br. Kevin illustrated her with pigtails. She is wearing a purple My Little Pony shirt, and her head and hands are aglow against the wall's bars.

A bearded man with a bandage on his nose stands with his arms outspread. He is wearing jeans and a long-sleeved green shirt.

This image portrays a man who came to Br. Kevin for help changing a small bandage on a broken nose. "The last thing I did for him was hug him," Br. Kevin said. "I told him, 'God bless you.'" (Photo courtesy of Br. Kevin Hamzik, OFM)

Injured man

A man with a broken nose asked Br. Kevin for help changing his bandage, which was thin and insufficient for such a serious injury. The man told a volunteer he had run into a tree. 

“But there are no trees out in the desert,” Br. Kevin said. “He started crying. We believe that someone probably hit him and broke his nose.” 

Without medical training or better supplies to treat him, Br. Kevin tried his best. The bearded man is rendered in a green, long-sleeved shirt, arms open. 

“It was one of the most difficult things I have had to do,” he said. “It is something I struggled with a lot.  

"The last thing I did for him was hug him. I told him, ‘May God bless you.’”

A painting of a woman wearing a hooded magenta shirt extended her hands through the bars of a fence. Two people are walking away on the other side.

The sight of women such as the one Br. Kevin illustrates in this painting, holding her hands through the wall bars as others walked on the other side, brought to mind the Virgin Mary, among other women. (Photo courtesy of Br. Kevin Hamzik, OFM)

Woman at the wall

For Br. Kevin, the sight of women reaching through the wall as migrants walked away on the other side recalled holy images of the Blessed Mother and others in isolation from or mourning loved ones.  

“I was thinking about mothers, wives, whose husbands leave to try and get a better life for them,” he said. “I was reminded of the Virgin Mary and how she might have looked holding out her hands to hold Jesus’ body after he was taken off the cross.”

A painting of a man and woman, both wearing long-sleeved magenta shirts, jeans and sneakers, facing the same cactus. The woman has cactus needles in her hands and the man has a snake bite on his leg with a snake behind him.

Paintings of the woman with cactus needles in her hands and the man with the snakebite fit together. (Photo courtesy of Br. Kevin Hamzik, OFM)

'They are loving people’

Media accounts had suggested to Br. Kevin that migrants were bad people doing bad things, he said. Out to take things from Americans.  

“My experience of them was the exact opposite,” said Br. Kevin, who says the future of these paintings is unknown. He is open to the possibility of displaying them in places like friaries, monasteries, parish offices or retreat centers. 

Anywhere the God in the subjects can shine through. 

“They are loving people who deserve the same things we have and the same life we have. I wanted to do it in the way I did visually because there is a rich tradition of iconography and showing people as holy.

"Everyone is sacred, not in what they do but because of who they are."

In May, the Liturgical Arts Festival of Springfield displayed Br. Kevin’s portrayal of The Annunciation, an awe-inspiring work with color, motion, and rich symbolism.