Remember, O America!
by Fr. Roger Landry - March 16, 2007
After God had liberated the Jews from Pharoah's clutches, he reminded them repeatedly, "Remember, O Israel, that you were once slaves in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. Therefore, I command you you shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien for you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt." He ordered them, moreover, not just not to harm them, but to do good to them, like leaving food for their survival (see. Exod 22:21, 23:19, Deut 24:17-21). God never wanted the Israelites, once they had crossed into the Promised Land, to forget what it felt like to be a stranger in a foreign country with no rights, no stability, even at times no food, clothing or housing. He wanted them to treat others with the same care for which they once longed.
Now is the time when our country needs to hear God thunder, "Remember, O America!" We need to recall our own history and that most of our families were once indigent in other lands — due to famine, plagues, religious persecution or poverty — and that God blessed our families with the opportunity to come to this land full of promise. We should "not wrong or oppress a resident alien," because all of us are immigrants or descendents of immigrants and all of us should therefore have the "heart of an alien." If we would not have wanted our families ripped apart and hardworking members of them treated as criminals and deported for no other reason than a lack of proper paperwork and a colored card, then neither should we stand aside when that is being done to the newest wave of those who have come to our hallowed shores seeking a better life.
Jesus declared in no uncertain terms that when he comes to judge the living and the dead, he will separate us into two groups. To those saved on his right, he will say, "I was a stranger and you welcomed me." Those condemned on his left will hear, "I was a stranger and you gave me no welcome." Both groups will ask him when they encountered him as a stranger; he will reply that whatever we did, or failed to do, to the least of his brothers and sisters, we did, or failed to do, to him (Mt 25:31-46).
Today, in New Bedford and elsewhere, Christ is disguised as a Guatamalan, Salvadoran, Mexican, Portuguese or Brazilian "stranger" waiting for welcome, sympathy and concrete assistance. Jesus promised to take our response personally. May our response be worthy of him and worthy of our nation's history.
Father Roger J. Landry is pastor of St. Anthony of Padua in New Bedford, MA and Executive Editor of The Anchor, the weekly newspaper of the Diocese of Fall River.
