Dear brothers and sisters,
I imagine that by now we all know about the caravan of Central Americans that comes with the intention of entering the United States. My intention is not to politicize the issue because the media has already taken care of that. My intention is rather to make people aware that nobody leaves their country for pleasure. There is always a need or a difficulty behind someone leaving their country. We as disciples of Jesus have the responsibility to see others not as numbers or as a burden but as children of God and brothers of Jesus, who himself, was an immigrant. This ‘Immigrant Creed’ I am sharing with you today describes very well what we believe about the issue of immigration:
I believe in Almighty God, who guided the people in exile and in exodus, the God of Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon, the God of foreigners and immigrants.
I believe in Jesus Christ, a displaced Galilean,who was born away from his people and his home, who fled his country with his parents when his life was in danger, and returning to his own country suffered the oppression of the tyrant Pontius Pilate, the servant of a foreign power, who then was persecuted, beaten, and finally tortured, accused and condemned to death unjustly. But on the third day, this scorned Jesus rose from the dead, not as a foreigner but to offer us citizenship in heaven.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the eternal immigrant from God’s kingdom among us, who speaks all languages, lives in all countries, and reunites all races.
I believe that the church is the secure home for the foreigner and for all believers who constitute it, who speak the same language and have the same purpose. I believe that the communion of the saints begins when we accept the diversity of the saints.
I believe in the forgiveness of sin, which makes us all equal, and in reconciliation, which identifies us more than does race, language, or nationality.
I believe that in the resurrection, God will unite us as one people in which all are distinct and all are alike at the same time.
Beyond this world, I believe in life eternal in which no one will be an immigrant but all will be citizens of God’s kingdom, which will never end. Amen.
- José Luis Casal
Fr. Manuel Rosiles, MSpS