Profiles in Catholicism

Jul 30, 202420 min read

Jesuit Refugee Service

Updated: Aug 1, 2024

A Message from the Editor

There are essentially two commandants- Love God and Love your neighbor. Most of us consider a neighbor as someone we know. However, the biblical definition of neighbor is different. In Luke's Gospel (Luke 10:29-37), this parable is Jesus' way of teaching us that our neighbor is anyone, anywhere who is in need of help.

One of the organizations that correctly practices this commandments is the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) an international Catholic organization with a mission to accompany, serve, and advocate on behalf of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons, that they may heal, learn, and determine their own future.

Unfortunately immigration challenges have become a politicized issue in several countries including the United States, Donald Trump is a hate monger of immigrants and hate often results in violence. If trump is reelected President, thousands of refugees will be evicted and experts have predicted that some of these will die. We may have to add a blindfold to the US Statue of Liberty who asks us "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”

This is why this month we have focused on the Jesuit Refugee Service and hope that our readers will follow this commandment by making a donation to support those in need and Donate to Jesuit Refugee Service.

A hate monger is Father Coughlin in Detrout who must steo down as pastor of his church since he is teaching visitors about his antisemitism. He should be removed from ministry.

Pope Francis has asked everyone to “Welcome, promote, accompany, and integrate’ refugees”. We have a book project designed to realise up to $300.000.00 for immigrants. You could help by editing a two- page article for the project. For more information contact gnary@catholicprofiles.org

A Quote to Remember

“Blessed are you when people hate you, exclude you, revile you. Woe to you when all speak well of you. Refugees are people whose choices have been taken:” by Jesuit Refugee Service

Prayers

A Prayer for the Current, Past and Volunteer Members of the Jesuit Relief Service

“Branching Ever-New”

Lord, you planted the Tree of Life from the beginning, or was it

Transplanted from the soil of eternity, taking temporal root and

First flourishing in the Garden of Eden, persisting through the Corruption that came with sin – but not wholly so and the infection, Like a black spot that appears on the leaves of roses is pulled off but

Then begins again, rising with the sap and although the sap is drawn Wholesome, yet the tendency to die is always in need of new life.

Oh Lord, then you watered the Tree of Life with your unfolding Being, in time, building on the history of salvation, scrapping Nothing and drawing on everything, from the earth to every kind

Of good culture which had arisen through your ever moving andMothering gift of your Holy Spirit, transforming your Passion into An everlasting offering of undying love, ever watering afresh from The ground soaked from the falling of your blood, water, and work.

Dear Lord, even as you died and rose, so the Tree of Life wilts,

Withers, needs pruning, strips down as if dying but then with the

Ever-greening of new leaves, councils, reforms and small, unusual

Growths, almost estranged from the trunk, turn out to be the life-

Saving branching-out in new directions, brightening the wintering

Look, burst alight with welcomed developments of the stable wise,

Itinerant travellers, telling of the Gospel of Love from poor to all.

Oh Lord, how many and how unusual are your golden, gilded gifts,

Like the mosaics that adorn the sky-ceilings of cathedrals, decorate The sanctuary, glisten with design and skill, taking up all that art And craft can offer back to God, drawing on what has been given From the beginning and ever mixed afresh with new talents and Inspirations from multi-cultural roots throughout the world, moving

As people move, bringing and over spilling with fresh adornments.

How great, Lord, is the mysterious flowering of the Tree of Life, so Weak and yet so strong, so wretched and so noble, as the impulse of Life, Like a melody running through the root and trunk, limbs and Leaves, like the many-eyes of the heart of God seeing through all The human misery, the cut and dirt of dreadful wounds of fleeing

Peoples, children dragging what they can, trailing goods, carts and Few bundles of possessions that may yet be left and plot their path.

Oh Lord, how many are the ways your outreach stretches through The land, like a network, drawing from so many sources, sustained

By so many small gifts but, like drop of water, each with a grain of Soil, adding grain to grain, drop to drop and stretching to bursting as

The hand of help of multiplies, hand to hand, so many people Holding hands, to pass what can be passed, touching each as it goes

And embracing, as only love can, the eye and heart of the wrecked.

I beg you Lord, to take these branches, transplant them further, let Them grow from the great tree, take shape and bloom, bear great

Burdens and be taken up, even as broken, on the fire of love’s rising,

Witnessing beyond themselves to the rush of need-driven help as

People sail, swim, are swamped by their sufferings and the tragic

Unscrupulous stealing of wealth, only to die, cheated, as the boats

Sink and safety, long lost, left behind by the desperate to land safe.

Oh God, who see all, love all, seek to save all, what can we do but Act and water, cut and plant, and beg around the world to cry out,

Wail, trumpet, announce, shout and sing the prayer that has to pierce

The human heart through and through to the heart of Christ, His Mother and St. Joseph, imploring upon us all that generosity that

Sews heart to heart, showing forth the abundant mercy of God that

Alone answers all human needs, now and to everlasting eternal life.

by Frances Etheredge Catholic married layman, father of 11, 3 of whom are in heaven, and an author. Just published: “The Word in Your Heart: Mary, Youth, and Mental Health”:

Prayer for Deceased Migrants

God of mercy and life,

receive the souls of the forty migrants who perished off the coast of Haiti.

Stir up within us a sense of connection with desperate people throughout the world.

Enable us to do what we can to alleviate suffering.

Bless those who bring help to those in need. Amen

by Father Louis Cameli Profiles in Catholicism

A Prayer to Prevent Antisemitism

Lord God, through the covenant you established with the Jewish People, we Christians have been grafted into this covenantal tradition according to St. Paul. But very often throughout history, we have shown ourselves ungrateful for this gift given us through Jesus who imbued in his teachings this Jewish covenantal tradition through acts of antisemitism. We join with Popes St. John Paul II and Francis in confessing our sins of antisemitism past and present. Through this prayer, we commit ourselves to the elimination of any remaining anti-Semitic teachings in the Catholic community and pledge to add our public voice in denouncing any manifestations of antisemitism in contemporary society. We ask your blessing so that we may have the strength to fulfill this pledge we make in your presence

by John T. Pawlikowski, OSM, Profiles in Catholicism

A Prayer to End the War in Ethiopia

Good and gracious God,

As members of our universal Church, we reach out to all those struggling, suffering or in need. We know that the Pope encouraged the Ethiopian Church, a small minority of 2%, to continue its outreach efforts for the poor and most vulnerable in Ethiopia, including children who cannot go to school, mothers who cannot go to hospital and the elderly who have been displaced by war: “The Pope reminded us that we must always be with the people and insisted that fraternity and paternal presence are most important.” Lord, we plea for your help as the small number are in dire need of all of our help.

Dear Lord. regarding the ongoing armed conflicts in Ethiopia, Cardinal Souraphiel reiterated that the Catholic Church does not take any side but is only on the side of the people who suffer and works for reconciliation. You know Lord this is done not only at the level of the local Church but also with the support of the universal Church, including that of the many missionaries from across the world who work with us. Please help them with the graces and blessings they need and assist them in helping this group to be true followers of Jesus Christ. We ask this through Jesus and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit.by Eileen Quinn Knight, Ph.D. Profiles in Catholicism

Prayer for Gaza

May ten million voices cry for peace to end the violence and the hate,|| Let goodness over come the evil, let the senseless violence now abate. The innocent of Gaza suffer wounds, hunger, thirst, countless met their death, Missiles, bombs rain down, the world looks away without a care or second breath. Women, children many thousands dead, “Not a stone will be left upon a stone” you truly said. Lord, we see countless murders and massacres profound Once again on the once holy sacred ground. Justice, peace so far away, let your power and words |bring the evil to an end, Let truth and love change people’s hearts and turn them from enemy to be a friend.

Amen

by Father Shay Cullen Profiles in Catholicism

Jesuit Refugee Service Members and Former Members Interviews