Fr. Don's Daily Reflection - January 9, 2025
Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from You.”
“From this day forward, a new vision will govern...it's going to be only (name your country) First, (name your country) First." (From a onetime president of the United States.) In mid-July 2018 a media headline pointed out how that easily “morphs” into Me First. This ‘vision’ (we call it self-centeredness when it’s you or me) marks the xenophobic* policies of several ‘First World’ countries.
The most consistent expression of the Christian approach to our fellow human beings in this one human race comes from Pope Francis. He says: “The plight of migrants is not a lesser or secondary issue but ‘equally sacred’ to our defense of the innocent unborn.... (For the) Christian, the only proper attitude is to stand in the shoes of those brothers and sisters of ours who risk their lives to offer a future to their children. This is exactly what Jesus demands of us, when he tells us that in welcoming the stranger we welcome him (cf. Matthew 25:35).”
The world’s “weakest and most needy” is how Francis describes migrants and refugees. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports: “An unprecedented 68.5 million people around the world have been forcibly displaced worldwide. Among them are nearly 25.4 million refugees, over half of whom are under the age of 18.... We are now witnessing the highest levels of displacement on record.”
Francis doesn’t let us forget that. In his 2018 New Year’s Day address he urged world leaders to do more. “For this peace, to which everyone has a right, many of them are willing to risk their lives in a journey which is often long and dangerous. They are willing to face strain, fatigue and suffering.... Please, let us not extinguish the hope in their hearts, let us not suffocate their hopes for peace!”
* “having or showing a dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries.”
Psalm 27: “I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness / in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord; be strong; / be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!”
