20200927 EMBRACING MIGRANTS
27 September, 2020, Sunday, 26th Week, Ordinary Time (World Day of Migrants and Refugees)
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Green.
First reading |
Ezekiel 18:25-28 © |
When the sinner renounces sin, he shall certainly live
The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows: ‘You object, “What the Lord does is unjust.” Listen, you House of Israel: is what I do unjust? Is it not what you do that is unjust? When the upright man renounces his integrity to commit sin and dies because of this, he dies because of the evil that he himself has committed. When the sinner renounces sin to become law-abiding and honest, he deserves to live. He has chosen to renounce all his previous sins; he shall certainly live; he shall not die.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 24(25):4-9 © |
Remember your mercy, Lord.
Lord, make me know your ways.
Lord, teach me your paths.
Make me walk in your truth, and teach me:
for you are God my saviour.
Remember your mercy, Lord.
Remember your mercy, Lord,
and the love you have shown from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth.
In your love remember me,
because of your goodness, O Lord.
Remember your mercy, Lord.
The Lord is good and upright.
He shows the path to those who stray,
He guides the humble in the right path,
He teaches his way to the poor.
Remember your mercy, Lord.
Second reading |
Philippians 2:1-11 © |
Be united in your love
If our life in Christ means anything to you, if love can persuade at all, or the Spirit that we have in common, or any tenderness and sympathy, then be united in your convictions and united in your love, with a common purpose and a common mind. That is the one thing which would make me completely happy. There must be no competition among you, no conceit; but everybody is to be self-effacing. Always consider the other person to be better than yourself, so that nobody thinks of his own interests first but everybody thinks of other people’s interests instead. In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus:
His state was divine,
yet he did not cling
to his equality with God
but emptied himself
to assume the condition of a slave,
and became as men are;
and being as all men are,
he was humbler yet,
even to accepting death,
death on a cross.
But God raised him high
and gave him the name
which is above all other names
so that all beings in the heavens,
on earth and in the underworld,
should bend the knee at the name of Jesus
and that every tongue should acclaim
Jesus Christ as Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn14:23 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn10:27 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they follow me.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 21:28-32 © |
Tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you
Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people, ‘What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He went and said to the first, “My boy, you go and work in the vineyard today.” He answered, “I will not go,” but afterwards thought better of it and went. The man then went and said the same thing to the second who answered, “Certainly, sir,” but did not go. Which of the two did the father’s will?’ ‘The first’ they said. Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you solemnly, tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you, a pattern of true righteousness, but you did not believe him, and yet the tax collectors and prostitutes did. Even after seeing that, you refused to think better of it and believe in him.’
EMBRACING MIGRANTS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ EZEKIEL 18:25-28; PHIL 2:1-11 (OR >< 2:1-5); MT 21:28-32]
Today, the universal Church celebrates Migrant Sunday, and the theme for this year’s celebration is “Like Jesus Christ, forced to flee. Welcoming, protecting, promoting and integrating internally displaced persons.” Migrants are particularly of great concern for the Church. The Holy Father voiced his concerns that due to conflicts, humanitarian needs caused by climate change and the Covid-19 have displaced many peoples in the world. Many are also experiencing “situations of precariousness, abandonment, marginalization and rejection as a result of COVID-19.” (Pope Francis 2020 Message on World Day of Migrants and Refugees)
The Church cannot dissociate herself from the plight of migrants all over the world. She seeks to promote unity among all peoples and the dignity of all. When migrants suffer or are marginalized, the Church is identified with them. We must not forget that most of us were once migrants. Jesus Himself was a migrant with His parents, taking refuge in Egypt when King Herod persecuted them. Israel, the chosen People of God were all migrants. They were in Egypt for 400 years and in the desert for 40 years. Migrants suffer much in their own native countries, which forced them to look for a better place outside their homeland. They seek for better opportunities elsewhere to look after their families and loved ones. However, when they arrive at a new land, because they are migrants, they are often discriminated. Being vulnerable, unscrupulous people often taken advantage of them by making use of them for their interests.
Indeed, as Christians, we believe that we are all God’s children. The human family is one, regardless of race, language, religion and nationality. God has no favourites. Jesus came for the Jews, sinners and Gentiles alike. He has blessed us with wealth and riches so that we can share with others. There will be no poverty in this world if the world becomes less selfish and the rich share their abundance with the poor. Indeed, we have a collective responsibility for each other. This is the context of today’s first reading. The second generation of Israelites who were in exile in Babylon began to question God as to why they had to suffer because of the sins of their ancestors. They felt that it was unfair. This was what the prophet sought to address, the question of individual retribution.
Whilst it is true that everyone is responsible for his or her actions, good or bad, yet we cannot deny that we also have a collective and social responsibility to each other. What parents do, have an impact on their children. The Old Testament speaks of “inter-generational sin” when the sins of our parents will have a bearing on future generations. This is not to say that the future generations share the sins of their parents simply because of biological connections. What is meant is the bad examples of their parents, their disturbed psychological conditions and moral weakness will be picked up by their children. If the world is in such a mess, it is because leaders in society are not setting the right example and making policies that are truly good for the people. We lack good mentors in our society.
This is particularly true in the way we teach our people how they should regard migrants. If we are sending out the wrong messages to our children and peoples about migrants, then we will contaminate the minds of our people. They become inward-looking and see migrants as a threat to our happiness. This is why the constant message of the Church is to welcome, protect, promote and integrate migrants into our community, especially those who are forced to displace themselves due to hardships, poverty, wars, and persecutions because of race and religion. We must continue to educate our people to cultivate the right attitudes towards migrants.
Today’s second reading from St Paul’s letter to the Philippians underscores the importance of living in unity amid diversity. We must take note that Philippi was a cosmopolitan city. The Christians were all from different classes. Lydia, who was converted to the faith, was a wealthy business merchant. (Acts 16:11-15) There was a slave that was possessed and was delivered by St Paul. (Acts 16:16-18) Then we have the jailer, most probably a Roman, who was converted as well when the chains of the prisoners were unfastened and the doors were opened because of the powerful prayers of St Paul. (Acts 16:25-34) Hence, we can appreciate the great challenge not just in the Christian community in Philippi but even in our churches today where we have very diverse members, rich and poor, intellectuals and simple-minded, young and old, different professions, race language and culture, political inclinations, locals and migrants. How do we bring them together?
What are the causes of disunity? Firstly, selfish ambition. We all want to be better than others, to have more than others. We know that in many places, division happens because of competition. This was why St Paul wrote, “There must be no competition among you, no conceit.” It should never be about myself but for all. The only ambition we can have is to make this world a better place, to help everyone to have a better standard of living so that we can enjoy this world’s resources together. Indeed, it is selfishness that prevents us from sharing with others who are deprived, sometimes even of the basic necessities of life. We only think of ourselves and forget that humanity is one. We cannot be happy unless we are happy together. St Paul urges us, “nobody thinks of his own interests first but everybody thinks of other people’s interests instead.” We want to protect our interests at all costs.
The second cause of disunity is pride. We want to be better than others, more popular, more powerful and famous. St Paul tells us, “everybody is to be self-effacing.” Truly, in every community, we have people who think that they are the best and better than anyone else. They are the only people who can lead the organization and have all the best ideas. But St Paul is telling us, “Always consider the other person to be better than yourself.” So let us not think that migrants are second class people. That they have no brains or that we can treat them condescendingly. This is what the Lord warns His fellow Jews in the gospel. The chief priests and the elders thought that they were the privileged ones of God compared to the tax-collectors and prostitutes. But the truth was that none of them were better than the others. The Jews were the chosen people but they abused the privileges given to them. The tax-collectors and prostitutes were sinners but ironically, they were the ones who responded to God’s grace at the end. Indeed, if migrants are a threat to the locals, sometimes, it could be because they are more hardworking than us. They do not take their privileges for granted. They work for them. Some of us natives on the other hand demand privileges. Some have an entitlement mentality. This explains why some countries do not want migrants not because they do not contribute to the economy but because they do so well and their own people fear that they might be displaced by them as they show themselves to be more diligent, resourceful, grateful and hardworking.
Today, we are invited to put on the mind of Christ as St Paul urges us to build unity in our communities and the world. “If our life in Christ means anything to you, if love can persuade at all, or the Spirit that we have in common, or any tenderness and sympathy, then be united in your convictions and united in your love, with a common purpose and a common mind.” What is this mind of Christ, if not the fact that He emptied Himself completely of His divinity to share our humanity, and more than that, to assume the position of a slave to serve us all and even be put to death for our salvation? Only this humility and selflessness of Jesus can empower us to break out of our narrowmindedness in the way we regard migrants. Jesus became man to identify with us in our weakness and suffering. We, too, as the Holy Father reminds us, “to know in order to understand; be close in order to serve; listen in order to be reconciled; share in order to grow; be involved in order to promote; cooperate in order to build.” Indeed, this is not a time for self-centeredness because we are all facing the same challenges today, especially facing Covid-19 together.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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