“A new year is a chance for a new start, a time to remember that all people are brothers and sisters and a time to nurture amazement that God became human to save all people,” Pope Francis said on New Year’s Day. January 1
st is also World Peace Day. Pope Francis chose as the theme for this year's World Peace Day: “Good politics is at the service of peace.”
“We must not think politics is reserved to those who govern,” the pope said. “We are all responsible for the life of the community, of the common good, and politics is good to the degree that everyone does his or her part in the service of peace.”
Today we hear the story of the Magi and the gifts they bring to Jesus. You’ll perhaps forgive me this political comparison that I think is still very much valid in our day: When seeing Jesus for the first time, the magi “prostrated themselves and did him homage” and “offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (Matthew 2:11). Nowhere in St. Matthew’s account do we see them offering homage or bringing gifts to King Herod. They recognized the difference between the temporal king and the eternal king, between the one worthy of reverence and the one unworthy of the honor.
Today as we hear the story of the Magi and the gifts they bring to Jesus, it is a good time at the beginning of a new year to look at our own response to God. Stewardship is about making a response to God. And by now, I hope you know that I am not just talking about what goes into the offertory basket. That is a part of it and I am grateful for the generous response of so many at Christmas that allows us to get back to a balanced budget.
But Stewardship is about so much more. So, I am asking how well have we given ourselves to God in response to his wonderful gift to us? How readily and regularly have we spent time with God in prayer, in reading his Word, in spending an hour in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament? How readily and regularly have we given of ourselves and our time to someone who needs love and compassion? How readily have we shown that this King rules in our lives by letting him make a difference when we are confused or lonely or devastated by what life throws up? How readily have we given God, not second best, not what’s simply ‘good enough’, but the best of what we have to offer?
The Magi went home by another road, we too can walk a different road this year, a road where we can make the king of kings the living, active center of everything we are and do. God gave himself to us because he loves us. May his love be reflected in our lives as we worship him with all that we have. That’s our gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Today begins National Migration Week. As I write this on Wednesday afternoon of this week our government is still closed and there is little hope of the folks in Washington working together on reasonable and much needed immigration reform. The Catholic Bishops and the Catholic Church support humane immigration reform. We must reform our broken system that separates families and denies due process. Consider:
Catholic immigrants from Northern Ireland, the Philippines, the Dominican Republic, Italy, Nigeria, Pittsburg, and several other countries have enriched our parish life.
In Pope Francis we have a leader from Argentina, a country of immigrants. He is the son of immigrants and a native Spanish speaker. These issues are close to his heart.
Immigration is about real people who are trying to find a better life and a new beginning. As Pope Francis stated, “Each migrant has a name, a face and a story.”
Welcoming immigrants is part of the Catholic Social Teaching and reflects the Biblical tradition to welcome the stranger.
The Catholic Church has been welcoming immigrants to the United States since the nation’s founding and has been integral in helping integrate into American culture.
In addition to welcoming and caring for those in need, the Church continues to uphold the centrality of family reunification as a critical component of our immigration system.
America is a better country due to the contributions of immigrants.
In 2016 forced displacement of people was at the highest level since World War II, with more than 65 million people displaced around the world.
Refugees are the most rigorously screened population coming into America. This screening happens before they ever set foot in our country.
Question of the Week – To whom do I pay homage? Are they worthy of my respect?