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A Stranger and You Welcomed Me December 28th, 2015

National Migration Week 2016

“A Stranger and You Welcomed Me”

National Migration Week will be observed January 3 to 9. The theme for the 2016 observance is, “A Stranger and You Welcomed Me.” Oblate JPIC is inviting you to use this opportunity to pray, raise awareness and educate your communities on the issue of immigration and Catholic Social Teaching.

Prayer Resource

Leader

We are a community called and gathered by you, God. Your son, Jesus, lived your love in a community of apostles and disciples and invited them to look after one another. We ask you to help us not to forget that we all are called to imitate the example of your Son among ourselves.

Reader

The Church hears the suffering cry of all who are uprooted from their own land, of families forcefully separated, of those who, in the rapid changes of our day, are unable to find a stable home anywhere. She senses the anguish of those without rights, without any security, at the mercy of every kind of exploitation, and she supports them in their unhappiness. [We are called to work] so that every person’s dignity is respected, the immigrant is welcomed as a brother or sister, and all humanity forms a united family, which knows how to appreciate with discernment the different cultures, which comprise it.

(Pope John Paul II Message for World Migration Day 2000)

Prayer (Leader)

Loving God,

We pray that you provide your divine protection to all migrants, particularly those who are driven from their homes due to war or violence, who are uprooted due to environmental degradation and climate change, or whose material poverty pushes them to find opportunities elsewhere.

Show us how we might reach out to these vulnerable populations and help them to begin a new life in a new home. Open our hearts, so that we may provide hospitality for all who come in search of refuge. Give us the courage to welcome every stranger, as Christ in our midst. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

(Prayer from USCCB National Migration Week 2016)

Conclude (All)

God,

We pray for all people. We pray for those who leave their countries of origin in search for a better life for their families. Help us to stand strong in our actions of solidarity and prayers. Give courage to our elected leaders to do the right thing of enacting laws that protects all immigrant families.You always make something new in each one of us.

With your help, let us build a better world for all people.We pray in Jesus name.

Amen.

Specific resources for National Migration Week 2016 can be found here: http://www.usccb.org/about/migration-and-refugee-services/national-migration-week/

De Mazenod Conference – January 22-24, 2016, San Antonio, TX December 28th, 2015

World Day of Peace: January 1, 2016 December 23rd, 2015

January 1, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, and New Year’s Day, has, for many years, been designated by the Church as World Day of Peace. The theme for Pope Francis’ World Day of Peace message for 2016 is “Overcome Indifference and Win Peace.”

In his message the Holy Father states, “God is not indifferent! God cares about mankind! God does not abandon us!” He goes on to note that while, sadly, war and terrorism, accompanied by ethnic and religious persecution and the misuse of power, marked the past year from start to finish, and have become, in some parts of the world, so common as to constitute a “third world war fought piecemeal”, other events are reason for inspiration, demonstrating the human capacity to show solidarity and to rise above self-interest, apathy and indifference in the face of critical situations.

Pope Francis asks us, during the present Jubilee of Mercy “to pray and work so that every Christian will have a humble and compassionate heart, one capable of proclaiming and witnessing to mercy…to ‘forgive and give’, to become more open ‘to those living on the outermost fringes of society’…and to refuse to fall into ‘a humiliating indifference or a monotonous routine which prevents us from discovering what is new! Let us ward off destructive cynicism!’”

Links to the full message, along with other resources are available on the USCCB website.

Join us in praying to overcome indifference(USCCB):

All too often, Lord, we turn away from the world’s many problems,

which seem too big, too complex, or too far away.

Forgive us our indifference.

It is easier, Lord, to see only what is around us:

our lives, our homes, our challenges.

Forgive us our isolation.

Help us to see with your eyes:

eyes which notice one another

and help us understand.

Help us to dream your dream:

of communities that reach out and dialogue

and where diverse people creatively cooperate.

Help us to be people of solidarity and action,

so moved by prayer, encounter, and understanding

that peace can become a reality.

Amen.

Celebrating the Jubilee Year of Mercy December 8th, 2015

Celebrating the Jubilee Year of Mercy,
(2015 – 2016)

Honoring the Mother of Mercy – Immaculate Conception
(December 8)

Thanking God for the grace of Oblate Triennium
(1816 – 2016)

In his letter for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, our Superior General notes, “One of [Mary’s] titles special to the heart of St. Eugene was the Mother of Mercy.” This is especially fitting as the solemnity marks the beginning of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, inaugurated by Pope Francis. In a recent interview with the Italian Catholic magazine Credere, Pope Francis was asked why he chose ‘mercy’ as this Jubilee’s theme. In response the Holy Father notes, “It’s obvious that today’s world is in need of mercy, it is in need of compassion. We are used to bad news…On one hand we see the arms trade, the production of arms that kill, the murder of innocents in the most cruel possible way, the exploitation of persons, minors, children…” The Pope goes on to say that “we must cultivate a revolution of tenderness as the fruit of this Year of Mercy: God’s tenderness towards each one of us. Each one of us must say: “I am an unfortunate man, but God loves me thus, so I must also love others in the same way.”