Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from You.”

The Rule of Benedict reads in chapter 53: “All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ for he himself will say: I was a stranger and you welcomed me. Proper honor must be shown to all . . . .”

Benedict specifies a bit further: “Great care and concern are to be shown in receiving poor people and pilgrims, because in them more particularly Christ is received; our very awe of the rich guarantees them special respect."

Pope Francis addressed the U.S. Congress in October 2015, speaking of those who present themselves at the borders of the world’s wealthier countries: “Migrants are our brothers and sisters in search of a better life, far away from poverty, hunger, exploitation and the unjust distribution of the planet’s resources which are meant to be equitably shared by all.”

His talk brought some legislators to tears, but not to any welcoming action. A country often termed the richest in the world has had a policy of slamming the doors to migrants and immigrants at the behest of fear-mongering politicians.

The United States once understood itself as a refuge with no distinction of religion, race or place of origin. A bronze plaque on exhibit at the Statue of Liberty (words by Emma Lazarus), calling America ‘Mother of exiles’, reminds Americans of their nobler ideals. In part it reads:

“Give me your tired, your poor,/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,/ The wretched refuse of your teeming shore./ Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,/ I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Psalm 27: “I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness / in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord; be strong; / be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!”

Reply to Fr. Don at: DTalafous@csbsju.edu

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