Focus on human person - made in God's Image

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today we come to a topic that has changed drastically and become far more complicated over the years since 2009. Still the focus for Pope Benedict in his encyclical, "Charity in Truth" is simply the human person:

…62. Another aspect of integral human development that is worthy of attention is the phenomenon of migration. This is a striking phenomenon because of the sheer numbers of people involved, the social, economic, political, cultural and religious problems it raises, and the dramatic challenges it poses to nations and the international community. We can say that we are facing a social phenomenon of epoch-making proportions that requires bold, forward-looking policies of international cooperation if it is to be handled effectively. Such policies should set out from close collaboration between the migrants’ countries of origin and their countries of destination; it should be accompanied by adequate international norms able to coordinate different legislative systems with a view to safeguarding the needs and rights of individual migrants and their families, and at the same time, those of the host countries. No country can be expected to address today’s problems of migration by itself. We are all witnesses of the burden of suffering, the dislocation and the aspirations that accompany the flow of migrants. The phenomenon, as everyone knows, is difficult to manage; but there is no doubt that foreign workers, despite any difficulties concerning integration, make a significant contribution to the economic development of the host country through their labour, besides that which they make to their country of origin through the money they send home. Obviously, these labourers cannot be considered as a commodity or a mere workforce. They must not, therefore, be treated like any other factor of production. Every migrant is a human person who, as such, possesses fundamental, inalienable rights that must be respected by everyone and in every circumstance…

My country, the USA, as so many other countries in the world are facing the difficulties of migration. Which human persons are truly seeking to make a “significant contribution to the host country through their labor”??? Without getting into any political discussions here, let us simply acknowledge the degree of terrorism the world has increasingly experienced since this encyclical was written. The human person is created by God in His Image and Likeness, yet we see how sin can mar that image. Let us pray and offer sacrifices for our sins and the sins of all the world.

Our Lady of Fatima has asked us to pray the Rosary for Peace. Let us heed that call from her message of Fatima.