For the past few months I have been reflecting more and more on ‘The Stranger’ and how I-You-We are responding to and reacting to ‘The Stranger.’ As long as there have been humans there have been strangers at our door. Today, more than ever before, there are more and more strangers appearing – or striving to appear – at our door.
This morning I am going to quote extensively from a Homily (think: Sermon) that Pope Francis delivered on Monday, 8 July 2013. His Homily was delivered at the ‘Arena’ sports camp, Salina Quarter Lampedusa, Italy. If you search on Google you will find the entire Homily. You might also want to search for Lampedusa, Italy and learn about its history; this will help you put into context the Pope’s message. I also refer you, Gentle Reader, to a speech he delivered at Vatican City on 15 August, 2017: ‘Welcoming, protecting, promoting and integrating migrants and refugees’ [A ‘Google’ search will also produce this speech in its entirety].
As I have previously noted, I am a follower of Jesus-The-Christ; I am a Christian. For me, Pope Francis is one of the very few public figures (think: Faith-Based, Philosophic-Based and Humanistic-Based) to alert us, over and over again, to the dangers of following Pontius Pilate’s gesture of washing our hands of the consequences of the current trials and tribulations, of which we are all, simultaneously, victims and culprits.
Victims and Culprits: I am thinking of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s admonition-reminder: Few are guilty, but all are responsible.
Pope Francis speaks to us of the vice and sin of indifference. He had this to say in his Homily at Lampedusa (coming to grips with what Lampedusa is and what it symbolizes and what it is a metaphor for is, in itself disturbing for any who have an active conscience).
Among other ‘identities’ Lampedusa is a symbol of when and where the current ‘moral panic’ and the ensuing moral debacle started.
Pope Francis: How many of us, myself included, have lost our bearings; we are no longer attentive to the world in which we live; we don’t care; we don’t protect what God created for everyone, and we end up unable even to care for one another!
And when humanity as a whole loses its bearings, it results in tragedies like the one we have witnessed. . .
The question has to be asked: Who is responsible for the blood of these brothers and sisters of ours?
Nobody!
That is our answer: It isn’t me; I don’t have anything to do with it; it must be someone else, but certainly not me. . .
Today no one in our world feels responsible; we have lost a sense of responsibility for our brothers and sisters. . .
The culture of comfort, which makes us think only of ourselves, makes us insensitive to the cries of other people, makes us live in soap bubbles which, however lovely, are insubstantial; they offer a fleeting and empty illusion which results in indifference to others.
Indeed, it even leads us to the globalization of indifference. In this globalized world, we have fallen into globalized indifference.
We have become used to the sufferings of others. It doesn’t affect me; it doesn’t concern me; it’s none of my business!
Pope Francis called on us ‘to remove the part of Herod that lurks in our hearts; let us ask the Lord for the grace to weep over our indifference, to weep over the cruelty of our world, of our own hearts, and of all those who in anonymity make social and economic decisions which open the door to tragic situations like this.’
Having said this, Pope Francis asks: ‘Has anyone wept? Today, has anyone wept in our world?’
As the Christian Bible reminds us, over and over: ‘Let he who has ears listen!’
Searcher-Seeker 