Thursday, 8/14/14
In our first reading from 590 B.C. Ezekiel was lugging all
his baggage with him day after day. It was his way of warning the people that if they did
not turn from their sins, in three years time they would be forced to leave
Jerusalem with only what they were wearing, When the terrible day came they
would be carrying nothing but memories
of the homes where they were born but would never see again. On their month
long walk to Babylon they would be forced to let their old and young lie
unburied where they dropped along the way.
For us that grim picture should arouse our sympathy for
exiles.. The world has forty-eight million refuges today. Those people once had
flowerbeds. They had annual neighborhood events. Now they are lying on yellow
earth, unprotected from the sun. Water for drinking is scarce, and there is
none for washing.
Their refugee population swelled with people from Syria, Jordan
now has one refugee for every three Jordanians. America is accommodating one
refugee for every twelve hundred Americans. Do we feel any kinship for our refugees?
The idea of feeling kinship for foreigners puts me in mind
of a skinny old Korean named Domingo. He treasured a Korean translation of “Faith of Our Fathers” written by our
Cardinal Gibbons. Domingo had been skilful at weaving kitchen sieves from the
long hairs in the tails of ponies, but with all the ponies being in North Korea,
Domingo sustained himself with fishing from the surf.
What has me recalling Domingo now was his interest in
American Catholics. I was charmed by the way he spoke of “Our brothers and sisters over
there.”
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