Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
January 9, 2002
U.S. bishops urge welcoming immigrants
Week of Jan. 6 celebrates National Migration Week
By Al Hooper
Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was ... a stranger and you welcomed me," (Mt 25:34-35).
National Migration Week is celebrated the week of Jan. 6. This year's theme, "Called to One Table," reflects the great diversity and inviting complexion of the universal Church. In "Welcome the Stranger Among Us" by the United States Catholic bishops, they write:
"Immigrants, new to our shores, draw us out of our unawareness to a conversation of mind and heart through which we are able to offer a genuine and suitable welcome, to share together as brothers and sisters at the same table and to work side by side to improve the quality of life for society's most vulnerable members. In so doing, we work to bring all the children of God into fuller communion.
"The call to communion speaks to all members of the Church and asks that we prepare ourselves to receive the newcomers with a genuine spirit of welcome. Simple, grace-filled outreach to newcomers on the part of all members of the Church community is a first step that needs to be accomplished by constant and patient efforts at intercultural communication."
Camden Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Migration, writes: "Each of us is called to welcome newcomers — migrants, refugees, and immigrants — into our country. We welcome them for a simple reason. All these people, from so many different lands, with many different languages, cultures, traditions and religions, are our brothers and sisters. We are called to share in the same banquet of God's love. It is in this spirit that we have chosen "Called to One Table" as our theme for National Migration Week 2002, and proclaim Jan. 6 as the National Day of Prayer for Immigrants and Refugees.
"As understandable as our fears and anxiety may be, we must not allow it to harden our hearts. One merely needs to look at the response of refugees around America to recognize that now in our time of need they are standing in solidarity with us. In Amarillo, Texas, refugees from Iran and Iraq and Afghanistan joined in the relief efforts at the Red Cross Center. In New Orleans, Iraq refugees raised $30,000 for relief. For these refugees, terror and death are not new. They are painful reminders of what they fled. Tofijh Gabrian, a Kurdish refugee from Iran, spoke through an interpreter: `Sometimes I cry. I feel like the American people. I am an American.'"
To understand the experience of the immigrant and the refugee in relation to our faith expression we only have to look to the Scriptures. From the stories about the Exodus, Joshua, Joseph, the destruction and exile of the
Jewish nation, to the wanderings of the Holy Family anxious to find rest in Bethlehem, to the command from Pentecost for the disciple to go to the "ends of the earth," the movement of God's faithful people is apparent.
Jesus, himself, often had to leave towns and villages because of growing hostility to his presence and his message. And of equal importance, God commands and extends his blessings to those who welcome, harbor and protect moving people: "You shall treat the stranger who resides with you no differently than the natives born among you, have the same love for him as for yourself; for you too were once strangers in the land of Egypt" (Lv 19:33-34).
The bishops offer the following guides for reflection:
•Scripture reminds us that we, too, were once strangers in this land. When did you or your ancestors first arrive in America? Where did they come from? Did they come willingly, seeking opportunity and adventure, or were they forced to come as slaves, or because they were fleeing war, violence, hunger, or poverty? What was life like for your family when they first arrived?
•What sort of fears do you have about those coming to America today? What sort of experiences or information are your opinions based upon?
•What sort of conversion is needed to bring about the vision of sharing together as brothers and sisters at the same table? What does conversion mean to you?
•What obstacles exist to welcoming strangers among us? Which barriers are cultural? Which are personal? Here are two activities that may assist in the process of welcoming and the building of peace and understanding:
•Visit the web sites at www.ellisisland.org and www.genealogy.com for help in beginning to research your roots and building a family tree. How many generations does your family tree go back before you discover a refugee or immigrant?
•Hang a world map in a prominent public area. Invite each member of your community to attach their name to stick pins in every country they have an ancestor from.
Hooper is executive assistant in the archdiocesan Social Concerns Office.
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