Migrants walk in small groups to protect themselves as they journey through the wild roads of the Darien Gap, with some acting as lookouts while others protect the most vulnerable people. (Manuel Rueda / Global Sisters Report / OSV News)
OFFICE FOR SOCIAL MINISTRY
“God not only walks with his people, but also within them, in the sense that he identifies himself with men and women on their journey through history, particularly with the least, the poor and the marginalized.” (Pope Francis’ message to the 110th World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2024)
“God walks with his people” is the theme of this year’s World Day of Migrants and Refugees, or WDMR, which will take place on Sept. 29. Ten days later the 2024 session of the worldwide Synod of the Catholic Church will begin in Rome on Oct. 10.
In his message for WDMR, Pope Francis states: “Emphasizing the synodal dimension allows the church to rediscover its itinerant nature, as the people of God journeying through history on pilgrimage, ‘migrating,’ we could say, toward the kingdom of heaven. Likewise, it is possible to see in the migrants of our time, as in those of every age, a living image of God’s people on their way to the eternal homeland.”
Pope Francis focuses on how the images of the biblical exodus and of migrants share several similarities.
“Like the people of Israel in the time of Moses, migrants often flee from oppression, abuse, insecurity, discrimination and lack of opportunities for development. Similar to the Jews in the desert, migrants encounter many obstacles in their path: They are tried by thirst and hunger; they are exhausted by toil and disease; they are tempted by despair. Yet the fundamental reality of the Exodus, of every exodus, is that God precedes and accompanies his people and all his children in every time and place. God’s presence amidst the people is a certainty of salvation history.”
Our Holy Father reminds us all of God’s constant compassionate presence. “Many migrants experience God as their traveling companion, guide and anchor of salvation. They entrust themselves to him before setting out and seek him in times of need. In him, they find consolation in moments of discouragement. Thanks to him, there are good Samaritans along the way.”
The pope’s WDMR message this year calls all Christians to recognize that any encounter with a migrant, as with every brother and sister in need, “is also an encounter with Christ” because in the Gospel, “Jesus himself said so … It is he who knocks on our door, hungry, thirsty, an outsider, naked, sick and imprisoned, asking to be met and assisted because Jesus is present in the sister or brother in need of our help.
“In this sense, the poor save us, because they enable us to encounter the face of the Lord.”
Some bishops in the Americas had the opportunity to experience such an “encounter” this month. From Aug. 19-23 there was a special meeting in Panama called the X Encuentro de Obispos y Agentes de Pastoral Migratoria of Central America, the Caribbean and North America (Mexico, U.S. and Canada).
This “encuentro” or encounter began with a delegation from the meeting visiting the nearby Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama, where this past year more than 500,000 migrants from all over the world made the difficult trek through a dangerous jungle. The X Encuentro’s delegation to the Darien Gap included two cardinals and five bishops.
In the Darien they encountered hundreds of families such as Emyra and Rafael from Venezuela with their 5-year-old son Esteban and 1-year-old baby Jesus. The family was fleeing violence in their country and had just emerged exhausted from their journey through the deadly jungle. But with less than a day’s rest and some new used clothes, this young family was already on their way north to hopefully build a better future.
All the bishops were personally impacted by the encounter with the “migrant faces of Christ” and God walking with and within his people. This experience deepened their commitment to complete the work of the X Encuentro with a dozen other bishops from this region of the Americas gathered to develop a coordinated plan for pastoral ministry to welcome, protect, promote and integrate migrants in the corridor of countries from Panama to Canada.
For more on the X Encuentro in Panama, and the 2024 World Day of Migrants and Refugees, please go to www.humandevelopment.va which includes the following inspiring, prayerful words of Pope Francis: “Dear brothers and sisters, let us unite in prayer for all those who have had to leave their land in search of dignified living conditions. May we journey together with them, be ‘synodal’ together, and entrust them, as well as the forthcoming Synod Assembly, to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a sign of sure hope and consolation to the faithful people of God as they continue their journey. Open our eyes and our hearts so that every encounter with those in need becomes an encounter with Jesus, your Son and our Lord. Amen.”
Mahalo,
Your friends at the Office for Social Ministry
