Saturday, December 28, 2019

God’s Bond is Love, and Peace By Beth DeCristofaro


"God’s Bond is Love, and Peace" by Beth DeCristofaro


Piety
My son, take care of your father when he is old; kindness to a father will not be forgotten, firmly planted against the debt of your sins — a house raised in justice to you. (Sirach 3:14)

Brothers and sisters: Put on, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body.
(Colossians 3:12-15)

When the magi had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him." Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
and departed for Egypt.
(Matthew 2:13-14)

Study
“O Little Town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie…” starts the beautiful hymn.  How infrequently are the still nights in places like Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Tegucigalpa (Honduras), Escuintla (Guatemala), Chibok (Nigeria), Mogadishu (Somalia), Aleppo (Syria), Rakhine (Myanmar), Asmara (Eritrea), Jalalabad (Afghanistan)? Here live families who desire to be productive, to be good and kind to each other, to be holy, to be graced through loving relationships.  Here live families loved by God.  Here live families desperate to live!  And so they move (sometimes at significant risk) to another country as did Joseph, Mary and their wee babe who was totally dependent on them for his life as only a God with overreaching, substantial love and lavish mercy might allow himself to be.

We are a right to life people of God. Are national rules and regulations which keep people apart more important than our commitment to God’s sons and daughters?  We welcome strangers from the womb.  Let us welcome the stranger who crosses deserts, seas, barb wire, and human-made borders to safety especially during National Migration Week January 5-11, 2020.

Action
Listen to the reflection and consider how I welcome the stranger in my personal life, my community, and my political activities.


No comments: