杏MAP导航

By Robin Gomes

杏MAP导航 Francis on Friday mourned the refugees and migrants lost at sea and reminded the world that their blood cries out to the conscience of each one of us.  The response to the Lord鈥檚 appeal, 鈥淲here is your brother? His blood cries out to me鈥�, 鈥渆ven if at times generous, has not been enough, and we continue to grieve thousands of deaths,鈥� the 杏MAP导航 said in his during the July 6 Mass in Rome鈥檚 St. Peter鈥檚 Basilica to commemorate the 5^th anniversary of his July 8, 2013 visit to the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa.

The Holy Father had dedicated his first pastoral visit outside Rome to the tiny island off Sicily, one of the main entry points into Europe for poor and desperate refugees and migrants from North Africa who risk their lives to cross the Mediterranean in overcrowded and unsafe vessels and small boats.

Closed doors

Recalling the warning of the Prophet Amos in the first reading, the 杏MAP导航 lamented  that the many poor trampled upon and brought to ruin  are 鈥渧ictims of that culture of waste that has been denounced time and time again.鈥�  Among them, he said, are 鈥渕igrants and refugees who continue to knock at the door of nations that enjoy greater prosperity.鈥�

The Lord鈥檚 eyes, hands and voice

The 杏MAP导航 said that in Jesus鈥� invitation, 鈥�Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest鈥�, the Lord promises refreshment and freedom to all the oppressed of our world, but in this task, the Lord needs our eyes and our hands to 鈥渇ulfil his promise鈥�.   

Condemning the complicit silence of many, the 杏MAP导航 said Lord needs our voice to protest the injustices committed.   Above all, he said, 鈥渢he Lord needs our hearts to show his merciful love towards the least, the outcast, the abandoned, the marginalized.鈥�

Mercy, not sacrifice

Referring to the Gospel episode of the call of Matthews where the Pharisees murmur against Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners, the 杏MAP导航 recalled the Lord鈥檚 rebuke, 鈥淕o and learn what this means, 鈥業 desire mercy, and not sacrifice鈥欌��.   The 杏MAP导航  said it is a finger pointed at the sterile hypocrisy of those who do not want to 鈥�dirty the hands鈥�, like the priest or the Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan.鈥�  He condemned this powerful temptation that takes the 鈥渇orm of closing our hearts to those who have the right, just as we do, to security and dignified living conditions.鈥�  鈥淚t builds walls, real or virtual, rather than bridges,鈥� the 杏MAP导航 warned.

In the face of today鈥檚 phenomenon of migration, the response that is needed, he said, is one of solidarity and mercy, and less of calculations.

The 杏MAP导航 thanked rescuers of refugees and migrants for embodying the parable of the Good Samaritan,  who, he said, stopped to save the life of the poor man beaten by bandits, without asking where he was from, his reasons for travelling or his documents.  The Holy Father also urged refugees and migrants to continue to be witnesses of hope in a world, which he said is increasingly concerned about the present, with little vision for the future and averse to sharing.