January 7-14, 2018
For nearly a half century, the Catholic Church in the United States has celebrated National Migration Week, which is an opportunity for the Church to reflect on the circumstances confronting migrants, including immigrants, refugees, children, and victims and survivors of human trafficking. The theme for National Migration Week 2017 draws attention to the fact that each of our families have a migration story, some recent and others in the distant past. Regardless of where we are and where we came from, we remain part of the human family and are called to live in solidarity with one another.
Unfortunately, in our contemporary culture we often fail to encounter migrants as persons, and instead look at them as unknown others, if we even notice them at all. We do not take the time to engage migrants in a meaningful way, as fellow children of God, but remain aloof to their presence and suspicious or fearful of them. During this National Migration Week, let us all take the opportunity to engage migrants as community members, neighbors, and friends.
I admire Bishop Hartmayer’s leadership in immigration policy, especially on behalf of those young adults who came to this country as children. He has encouraged us to write, call, or e-mail our elected officials to express our support for pending legislation that will resolve the status of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) protected young men and women.
Bishop Hartmayer said, “our Catholic Diocese of Savannah and our country need these optimistic, hardworking young men and women. They have already demonstrated honesty, hard work, civic cooperation and a willingness to be part of our American society. The Catholic Church in the United States has always welcomed the newcomer in our midst, and worked to provide immigrants with the pastoral and material support they need. Today, DACA recipients need our prayers and support. These men and women and their families worship with us at our parishes, study in our schools, and work in various vital industries of South Georgia.”
The Bishop stressed that “these individuals have already been vetted by the Department of Homeland Security as men and women of good moral character, and have no criminal history. These 800,000-young people were brought into the United States as infants or children by their parents without authorization, and the United States is the only country they know.” If Congress takes no action before March 5th, 2018, these dreamers will return to the uncertainty of possible deportation to countries and cultures that are unfamiliar to them.
As I stated in last week’s bulletin, I am hoping many of you will attend
St. Michael’s Night at the 80 east Gastropub this Wednesday, January 10th. I am hoping it will be the first of several nights out to our local restaurants during the slow winter months. It’s a win for them and for us as a faith community. It is a “soft” way of reaching out to others and asking them to “come and see.” “Those Catholics sure seem to know how to have fun together. Perhaps we should check out their Church on the weekend.” I’m grateful to Carolyn Williams for coordinating this project for the parish. And starting at 6pm, I will be handing out a special CD,
Sweet Music, to the first dozen folks who show up for this special night.
On the Way Home: God sent the Wise Men a message that caused them to journey half way across the known world. Would you ever put this kind of effort into something? What was worth this kind of a search for them? For you?