The Record • Week of Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Pope: Welcome migrants with ‘respect’ All Christians must recognize Jesus Christ in migrants and refugees, and welcome them with “respect and solidarity” while avoiding “suspicion and prejudice,” Pope Francis has said. “e mission of the Church, herself a pilgrim in the world and the Mother of all, is thus to love Jesus Christ, to adore and love him, particularly in the poorest and most abandoned; among these are certainly migrants and refugees, who are trying to escape difficult living conditions and dangers of every kind,” Pope Francis said in his Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, released Sept. 23. e Pope noted the “vast movements of migration” and the many people who leave their homelands “with a suitcase full of fears and desires, to undertake a hopeful and dangerous trip in search of more humane living conditions.” He stressed the conscience’s call to “touch human misery” and put into practice Jesus’ call to care for the stranger, as shown in the Gospel of Matthew: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” e Pope warned that human weakness includes the temptation “to be that kind of Christian who keeps the Lord’s wounds at arm’s length.” “e courage born of faith, hope and love enables us to reduce the distances that separate us from human misery,” he said. “Jesus Christ is always waiting to be recognized in migrants and refugees, in displaced persons and in exiles, and through them he calls us to share our resources, and occasionally to give up something of our acquired riches.” Pope Francis warned that “suspicion and prejudice” towards migrants can appear even in church communities, noting that this can arise “prior to any knowledge of the migrants’ lives or their stories of persecution and destitution.” “In such cases, suspicion and prejudice conflict with the biblical commandment of welcoming with respect and solidarity the stranger in need,” he said. e World Day of Migrants and Refugees dates back to 1914, having been established under Pope St. Pius X. It will be commemorated on January 18, 2015. Pope Francis’ message frequently alluded to the 2015 theme, “Church without frontiers, Mother to all.” “From the beginning, the Church has been a mother with a heart open to the whole world, and has been without borders. is mission has continued for two thousand years,” he said. e Church spreads “a culture of acceptance and solidarity, in which no one is seen as useless, out of place or disposable.” Migration movements are a call to “deepen and strengthen” values that strengthen peaceful coexistence. e scale of these movements also shows the need for “a systematic and active cooperation between states and international organizations” to regulate and manage them. e globalization of migration also requires the globalization of charity and cooperation, Pope Francis said.
Don’t overcomplicate Christianity
Pope Francis resumed daily Mass Tuesday after his papal visit to Albania, telling those present that living the Christian life is simple:
Pope Francis
listen to God's word and put it into practice. “ese are the two conditions in order to follow Jesus, hear the word of God and put it into practice. is is the Christian life, nothing more,” the Pope said Sept. 23 at the Saint Martha residence. “Simple, easy. Maybe we've made it a little difficult with explanations that no one understands, but the Christian life is this: listen to the word of God and practice it.” is morning's Mass is the Pope's first this week after his one-day visit to Albania on Sunday. e Sept. 21 trip was packed with a full slate of meetings with local state and Church leaders as well as members of religious and lay groups. e day also included a quick visit to a center for abandoned children. A reoccurring theme in Pope Francis' remarks Sunday was the condemnation of all violence done in the name of religion as well as the repeated acknowledgment of the brutal persecution of religious groups carried out late last century under the country's now-collapsed atheistic regime. During his homily at daily Mass Tuesday, the Pope urged Christians to read God's word faithfully and to truly listen with our hearts to what he has to say. “Every time we do this – we open the Gospel and read a passage and ask ourselves: 'Does God speak to me, say something to me?' And if he says something, how would you respond?” “is is to listen to the word of God, listen with your ears and hear with your heart.” God, he emphasized, “speaks to each of us. e Gospel was written for each of us.” Although putting God's word into practice “is not easy,” Christ is “merciful and forgives all,” even those who hear his word and turn against him. “ink of Judas. 'Friend' he says, in that moment” in the Gospel where he betrays Christ. “e Lord,” Pope Francis reflected, is “always sowing his word, just asking an open heart to listen and willingness to put it into practice.”
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