Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
About four weeks back, I received a call from a parishioner after the 11 am mass that a family with two small kids was in church seeking financial help. I wear my heart on my sleeve and I have been taken for a ride numerous times with similar stories. Sadly, I have become immune when people come to me for financial help. I always carry gift cards from local restaurants with me so that I do not send anyone away hungry. Back to the story, I was at mass at St Helen that week and was not going to return to IC till about 2pm. So I asked this parishioner to ask the family to wait till I got back. My reasoning was that if their need is genuine, they will probably wait. Sure enough when I got back around 2:30 they were parked in front of the rectory. I had sure that they were genuinely in need. As soon as I came out of the rectory door, the man came out of the car. When his wife joined him, he made her go back to the car and get the kids as well. There were two adorably cute kids perhaps 5 and 1 1/2 year olds. This made me sad. I felt that the children were being publicly displayed to gain sympathy. These cute kids certainly deserve better. I still decided not to judge them and entered into a conversation with them. They said that they were on the way from New Jersey to California and that they need $200 and some gas money. I do not carry cash with me and offered to help them with food, which the man promptly refused. So I asked a simple question – if you do not have money, why would you go from one end of the country to another with children? I did not get an answer and that was when I decided to request and ID. Honestly, in asking for an ID I had the children’s wellbeing in my mind. The man gave me a Romanian ID and I realized that the family was Romanian. When I asked for a local ID he informed that he did not have a local ID. But then, the family had a car with American license plates. I asked how he drove if he did not have a license. He said that the car was rented. I know better that car rentals do not sign out a car without insurance or a photo ID. At this point, the man got rather upset saying that someone in the parish had said that they should wait for me and that he had waited for two-and-a-half hours and that I was being unhelpful. I offered them food again. He said that he would come to the office on Monday. But that is not what happened. That evening after the 6pm mass I heard that the same couple was outside the church, once again, with their kids. Many people gave then cash and someone even drove them to the gas station and filled their gas tank. After talking to some people, I have figured out that they left our church parking lot with a full tank of gas and over $300. I have mixed emotions when I think of this incident. First, I feel guilty for not giving them the money. Then I feel I did the right thing to ask for the ID because I wanted to make sure the children were safe. Third, I was angry because their entire story was fabricated and I felt lied to and many people were manipulated by then outside the church.
How many times have you stopped at a traffic light or a highway exit and seen somebody soliciting help? And how many times have you debated what the right thing to do is – socially and morally? Perhaps, you will agree with me that even a simple situation like this sometimes turns out to be a complex issue.
The Israelites in the Old Testament also confronted similar complex issues. If today’s scripture readings and especially, Jesus interaction with the Canaanaite woman is any indication, intercultural, interreligious, interracial, international, interclass and caste relationships were confounding issues in Jesus’ time. Today we face such complexities on a personal level (like the case of the couple I encountered), and on a national and international level (like immigration and the issue or unaccompanied children at our borders). However, the response to these situations is as complex as the issues themselves. What criteria should we employ to respond to the complexities around us – moral, political, social, legal or perhaps all of the above? And of course, there is the most crucial question of all – immaterial of our own nationality or political affiliation, is there a Christian response?
1. The issue of Unaccompanied Children – Official Statements. The USCCB website has this to say about the question of unaccompanied children: “Central American children from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras are migrating to the United States alone in record numbers. While not a new phenomenon, the number of children who are making the perilous journey alone has increased exponentially—6,775, on average, arrived between 2003—2011, and upwards of 90,000 are projected to arrive in Fiscal Year 2014. The Catholic Church has taken seriously the humanitarian and policy oriented aspects of this situation and is advocating on behalf of increased protections for migrant children and their families who are arriving in the United States.” In light of this crisis, Pope Francis issued a statement on the occasion of the Mexico/Holy See Colloquium on Human Migration and Development. He said, “Faced with this situation, I repeat what I have affirmed in this year’s Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees: "A change of attitude towards migrants and refugees is needed on the part of everyone, moving away from attitudes of defensiveness and fear, indifference and marginalization – all typical of a throwaway culture – towards attitudes based on a culture of encounter, the only culture capable of building a better, more just and fraternal world".” Archbishop Schnurr perhaps brings out better the complexity of responding to the situation as Americans. He says, “Despite all of the messy, political aspects of this situation, our response as Christians is fairly straight-forward. While the children are here, even if temporarily, we must care for and protect them. Our Holy Father Francis and the U.S. bishops have strongly reinforced this, and the Gospel’s mandate to love the most poor and vulnerable tells us that this is a faithful response, not a political one. The long-term solution to this crisis will require a repaired immigration system, more robust development efforts in the nations South of our border, and a bolder commitment to our relationship with them. Yet, for now, the more urgent matter is opening our hearts to homeless children.”
2. What does the Bible Say? Earlier I asked the question, “Is there a Christian response to the complex problems in our midst? In light of the official response, perhaps, we should first turn to scripture. What do today’s scripture have to say to us? As we heard in today’s first reading, there were strict laws governing the treatment of foreigners in united Israel. The most straightforward of these laws is in Leviticus where Moses says “When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God (Lev 19:34-35). This commandment from Moses’s Law finds a more nuanced mention in the prophetic literature. In today’s first reading, Isaiah reinterprets the same law for the benefit of those strangers who become part of the Israelite people. As long as these foreigners join themselves to the LORD, minister to him, love the name of the LORD, become God’s servants, keep the sabbath free from profanation and hold to the covenant, their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable. God says through Isaiah, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” The universality of God’s love is very evident in the Old Testament. Even though the Old Testament was rather forward looking for its time, intercultural and interreligious biases and prejudices were rather strong in Jesus’ time. Jesus himself may have initially given into some of these. To refer to Canaanites as dogs was a common practice in Jesus’ time. However, this is also the story of prejudices and biases being overcome through sheer determination. In other words, this story is also the story of Jesus breaking through the intercultural and interreligious barriers of his time.
3. How should You and I Respond? If we take Archbishop Schnurr’s statement seriously that our response should stem from our faith rather our politics, then, it is my suggestion that we take scripture and faith in Jesus Christ very seriously as we determine our personal response. Here are three things that I discern.
First, our response must find its origin in the universality of God’s love. The statement in Isaiah, “My house shall be a house of prayer for all peoples,” suggests that God does not reject anybody. The universality of God’s love says that God wishes all people to be saved. The universality of God’s love suggests that we are created equal by God and that the saving power of the cross of Jesus Christ is available to all people. This universality is also what inspired Jesus to allow non-Israelites to share in his healing power.
Second, our response must be inspired by the Christian virtue of compassion. Compassion urges us to move from ideological or political response to a person-centered response. This means that while we have a legal and judicial system that will eventually address the issue, right now there are children dying and we must show compassion. We see this kind of movement in the gospel reading today. Jesus tells the woman that it is not proper to throw what belongs to the children to the dogs. But then, his decision to heal the woman’s daughter is not based on the legality of the situation but the fact that a human life must be saved today.
Third, we must remember that in the context of eternity, we are all immigrants. Jesus himself was born as an immigrant and his parents had to flee to Egypt to save his life from violence. However, there is something else we Americans cannot forget. Most of us are either immigrants or descendants of immigrants. The immigration problem did not end when our families settled down in the United States. Globalization, poverty, violence, war, and insecurity continue to displace people. How we respond to the continuing reality of immigration has eternal implications. Perhaps Christ will say to us, “When I was homeless you gave me shelter. Enter into the home of my Father.” That is why both Pope Francis and Archbishop Schnurr suggest that Catholics must find concrete ways to help the unaccompanied children at our borders.
What does the Eucharist have to do with unaccompanied children at our borders? Perhaps everything! After all we were helpless when Christ came to redeem and save us. Could we have the same mind as Christ?
Fr. Satish Joseph