Meet Christ in migrants, and respond with compassion, says US bishop echoing pope’s call

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — In a message ahead of the 110th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, the U.S. bishops’ migration chair stressed Pope Francis’ call for solidarity with migrants, “reminding us that their journeys mirror the biblical Exodus, with God as their guide and companion.”

“(The pope) emphasizes that every encounter with migrants is an encounter with Christ, urging us to respond with compassion, recognizing their struggles as a reflection of our shared journey toward the Kingdom of Heaven,” said Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, according to a Sept. 19 news release.

The USCCB release highlighted the beginning of National Migration Week, observed Sept. 23-29 this year. During the time leading up to World Day of Migrants and Refugees — which takes place on the last Sunday of September — the Catholic Church in the U.S., it said, calls “attention to the challenges confronting migrants and refugees, from their country of origin to their destination, and how Church teaching calls on Catholics to respond with compassionate acts of love.”

Catholic dioceses and institutions around the country are set to commemorate this week with events like special Masses, volunteer opportunities and immigration legal clinics, the statement said.

In his message for this year’s World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Pope Francis emphasized that “God walks with his people,” and he walks within his people, particularly the poor and the marginalized.

“It is possible to see in the migrants of our time, as in those of every age, a living image of God’s people on their way to the eternal homeland,” the pope wrote in his message. “Their journeys of hope remind us that ‘our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ’ (Phil 3:20).”

The pope also said that, like the people of Israel in the time of Moses, “migrants often flee from oppression, abuse, insecurity, discrimination, and lack of opportunities for development.” Like the Jewish people in the desert, migrants are tried by obstacles, including thirst, hunger, exhaustion, and the temptation of despair, he said.

Yet, “God not only walks with his people, but also within them,” and many migrants entrust themselves to God during their perilous journey seeking safe refuge and consolation amid discouragement, the pope added.

“How many Bibles, copies of the Gospels, prayer books and rosaries accompany migrants on their journeys across deserts, rivers, seas and the borders of every continent!” he exclaimed.

According to United Nations’ estimates, there were about 281 million international migrants in the world in 2020 (accounting for 3.6% of the global population). The UN’s refugee agency has said that, in 2023, there were 117.3 million forcibly displaced people — which includes refugees, asylum-seekers, people in need of international protection and internally displaced people — in the world.

In his annual message, Pope Francis recalled Jesus Christ’s insistence that his followers help others in need, as told in Matthew 25. He said that the encounter with the migrant, as with every brother and sister in need, is also an encounter with Jesus.

“Every encounter along the way represents an opportunity to meet the Lord,” the pope said. “It is an occasion charged with salvation because Jesus is present in the sister or brother in need of our help. In this sense, the poor save us, because they enable us to encounter the face of the Lord.”

The USCCB’s statement pointed people to its Justice for Immigrants website for suggestions on how to walk with migrants during National Migration Week through prayer and action.

The website includes a kit about National Migration Week, which suggests ways to volunteer, refers people to the joint pastoral letter that the U.S. and Mexico bishops issued in 2003, and lists ways to offer accompaniment in the context of migration. Some of these ways to accompany migrants include assisting migrants with transportation to court proceedings and medical appointments, helping parents enroll their children in schools, and being present to listen to their stories.

The Sept. 19 USCCB statement also referred people to resources prepared by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

“Migrants are a contemporary icon of this people on a journey, of the Church on a journey, and at the same time, it is in them and in all our vulnerable brothers and sisters that we can encounter the Lord who walks with us,” said a webpage from the dicastery, which shared information and videos about a communication campaign inviting all people of goodwill to organize initiatives with migrants, refugees, vulnerable people.

In closing his World Day of Migrants and Refugees message, Pope Francis urged people to “unite in prayer for all those who have had to leave their land in search of dignified living conditions.”

“Help us to keep walking, together with our migrant brothers and sisters, toward the eternal dwelling you have prepared for us,” the pope prayed. “Open our eyes and our hearts so that every encounter with those in need becomes an encounter with Jesus, your Son and our Lord.”

USCCB’s Justice for Immigrants website includes information on National Migration Week: https://justiceforimmigrants.org/national-migration-week-2024/

Resources on the World Day of Migrants and Refugees are available at the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development’s website: https://www.humandevelopment.va/en/news/2024/giornata-mondiale-migrante-e-rifugiato-2024-tema-messaggio-papa.html

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