Knock knock
“Who’s there?”
This is a familiar format for a children’s riddle. You knock, I ask, you reply.
It’s based on a simple action– someone knocks on my door and I ask, “Who is it?”
Is this a stranger? A friend? A criminal? Who is knocking?
We’re right to be curious. And it’s ok to ask questions. But should we automatically be suspicious? What if this is a friend, or someone who needs my help?
This February, Pope Francis asks us to hear the cries of migrants. After all, we shouldn’t bolt the door until we know who is knocking, right? He writes, “Every stranger who knocks at our door is an opportunity for an encounter with Jesus Christ, who identifies with the welcomed and rejected strangers of every age” (Pope Francis, Message for the 2018 World Day of Migrants and Refugees).
After the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph fled to Egypt with their child. They escape from King Herod who searches for the child “to destroy him” [Matt 2:13]. After this danger passes, the Holy Family returns to their homeland. They were refugees only temporarily. Perhaps they knocked on an unfamiliar door seeking shelter. Imagine Joseph offering to work in exchange for food and housing. Knock knock. “Who’s there?
Modern migration is a complex issue. A humane response requires compassion, wisdom, and cooperation from citizens, churches, police, and government leaders. If we shut our ears and lock the doors of our hearts, then we will never hear the cries of the poor seeking protection and opportunity. Jesus says, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”
Who is knocking at our door? How will we respond?
A prayer— for migrants, and to open hearts to migrants:
Lord Jesus, you traveled a hard and lonely road with Mary and Joseph.
As a child, they carried you to a foreign land to escape the wrath of Herod.
Lord, may we see you present in the migrants and refugees who knock at the doors of our nation.
Open our ears to hear the cry of the poor, the weak, the weary and wounded, the children and newborns and tiny babies still in the womb!
Open our hearts! Give us hearts like Your Sacred Heart– large, and warm and welcoming.
Lord, even if we cannot welcome everyone, help us to welcome someone– even one child, one family in need.
Holy Family, help us to pray and work for justice and mercy in a broken world.
Amen.
originally posted here:
http://popesprayerusa.net/2020/01/27/february-reflection-fr-joseph-laramie-listen-migrants-cries/
http://popesprayerusa.net/2020/01/30/prayer-month-february-2020/