Family Separation

The USCCB's Justice for Immigrants website provides a wealth of information about family separation at the US border -- What are the facts? What can we do to help?  What about legislation and the Executive Order?  Click here to access the site, which includes the following "Prayer for Immigrant Children":

Loving Father, 

in your infinite compassion,

we seek your divine protection for refugee children

who are so often alone and afraid.

Provide solace to those who have been witnesses to

violence and destruction,

who have lost parents, family, friends, home, and all they cherish

due to war or persecution.

Comfort them in their sorrow,

and bring help in their time of need.

Show mercy to unaccompanied migrant children, too, Lord.

Reunite them with their families and loved ones.

Guide those children who are strangers in a foreign land

to a place of peace and safety.

Comfort them in their sorrow,

and bring help in their time of need.

Show us how we might reach out to these precious and 

vulnerable children.

Open our hearts to migrant and refugee children in need,

so that we might see in them your own migrant Son.

Give us courage to stand up in their defense

against those who would do them harm.

For this we pray through our Lord Jesus Christ,

who lives and reigns with you

in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

On the Call to Holiness in Today's World

We continue to share excerpts of Gaudete et Exsultate:
". . . Your personal mission is inseparable from the building of the kingdom. . . . You cannot grow in holiness without committing yourself, body and soul, to giving your best to this endeavor" (n. 25).

"Everything can be accepted and integrated into our life in this world, and become a part of our path to holiness" (n. 26).

"There are times when we are tempted to relegate pastoral engagement or commitment in the world to second place, as if these were 'distractions' along the path to growth in holiness and interior peace.  We can forget that 'life does not have a mission, but is a mission'" (n. 27).

"Anything done out of anxiety, pride or the need to impress others will not lead to holiness" (n. 28).

"The presence of constantly new gadgets, the excitement of travel and an endless array of consumer goods at times leave no room for God's voice to be heard.  We are overwhelmed by words, by superficial pleasures and by an increasing din, filled not by joy but rather by the discontent of those whose lives have lost meaning.  How can we fail to realize the need to stop this rat race and to recover the personal space needed to carry on a heartfelt dialogue with God?  Finding that space may prove painful but it is always fruitful.  Sooner or later, we have to face our true selves and let the Lord enter.  This may not happen unless 'we see ourselves staring into the abyss of a frightful temptation, or have the dizzying sensation of standing on the precipice of utter despair, or find ourselves completely alone or abandoned'" (n. 29).

" . . . [We] tend to absolutize our free time, so that we can give ourselves over completely to the devices that provide us with entertainment or ephemeral pleasures.  As a result, we come to resent our mission, our commitment grows slack and our generous and ready spirit of service begins to flag. . . . We need a spirit of holiness capable of filling both our solitude and our service, our personal life and our evangelizing efforts, so that every moment can be an expression of self-sacrificing love in the Lord's eyes.  In this way, every minute of our lives can be a step along the path to growth in holiness" (n. 30-31).

For your July calendar

Here are some dates you might want to remember in July:

• July 4 - Independence Day
• July 14 - Feast of St. Kateri Tekakwitha
• July 22 - Feast of St. Mary Magdalene
• July 30 - World Day Against Trafficking in Persons
• July 31 - Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola

Summer Reading Recommendations

As we have done in previous years, we will provide occasional summer reading recommendations with social justice themes.

Our first recommendation is Rutilio Grande: A Table for All by Rhina Guidos (copyright 2018).  According to the Education for Justice description:  "This new biography looks deeply into the life of [Servant of God] Fr. Rutilio Grande, SJ, whose passion for justice for those in poverty shaped Blessed Oscar Romero and many others during the long oppression and conflict in El Salvador."  A reading guide for this book is available here.

This book is a timely addition to our knowledge of the life and work of Oscar Romero, whose canonization will happen in the fall.

On the Call to Holiness in Today's World

We continue to share excerpts from Gaudete et Exsultate:

"At its core, holiness is experiencing, in union with Christ, the mysteries of his life.  It consists in uniting ourselves to the Lord's death and resurrection in a unique and personal way, constantly dying and rising anew with him.  But it can also entail reproducing in our own lives various aspects of Jesus' earthly life: his hidden life, his life in community, his closeness to the outcast, his poverty and other ways in which he showed his self-sacrificing love" (n. 20).

"In the end, it is Christ who loves in us, for 'holiness is nothing other than charity lived to the full'" (n. 21).

"What we need to contemplate is the totality of [the lives of the saints], their entire journey of growth in holiness, the reflection of Jesus Christ that emerges when we grasp their overall meaning as a person" (22).

"This is a powerful summons to all of us.  You too need to see the entirety of your life as a mission.  Try to do so by listening to God in prayer and recognizing the signs that he gives you.  Always ask the Spirit what Jesus expects from you at every moment of your life and in every decision you must make, so as to discern its place in the mission you have received.  Allow the Spirit to forge in you the personal mystery that can reflect Jesus Christ in today's world" (n. 23). 

"Let yourself be transformed.  Let yourself be renewed by the Spirit, so that this can happen, lest you fail in your precious mission.  The Lord will bring it to fulfillment despite your mistakes and missteps, provided that you do not abandon the path of love but remain ever open to his supernatural grace, which purifies and enlightens" (n. 24).  

Day 1: Religious Freedom Week

You will recall from our previous post that Religious Freedom Week begins today.  The daily resources from the USCCB are available here.  Today's reflection is:

"On this feast of Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher, we remember these saints who were martyred in 1535 for standing up for the sanctity of marriage and the freedom of the Church in opposition to England's King Henry VIII.  In our country today, the Church faces challenges to her freedom to serve in healthcare, child welfare services and education.  While we seek to be faithful to Christ by serving our neighbors, ignoring conscience cannot be the condition placed on people of faith for service in the public square.  Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher show us what faithful service looks like.  They loved and served their country.  Yet they rightly recognized that they were being forced to choose between the Church and the king.  They were faithful to the Church.  May their example continue to illuminate the path for us, as we seek to faithfully serve our Church and country."

Prayer: St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher, pray for us, and for the protection of religious freedom in America and around the world.

June 20: World Refugee Day

"New Together" is a Public Service Announcement for World Refugee Day 2018.  At only 1:15 long, it is a very simple, moving message to help us recommit to our prayers and actions for refugees.  (The video is embedded below.  Email subscribers who do not see a video below, please click here to view it on YouTube.)

Today, and every day, let us pray for refugees:

Sheltering God,
You were born in flight,
Your parents anxious and given no rest.
The manner of your birth calls me to
Open-heartedness and sensitivity to the strangers in our midst.
Help me not to flee your challenge.
The violence of the present time teaches me fear of the stranger,
Reluctant to reach out to those who are different.
Grace me this day as I seek
To see you in the faces of those uprooted,
Weary, as they seek refuge and peace.  Amen.
(Copyright, Education for Justice)