Examining the ways that the liturgy transforms us into people who care for the sick and dying; who go forth with the Gospel to those on the margins and peripheries of society; and who uphold the dignity of all races and ethnicities, we also reflect upon the ways that the liturgy prepares us to be people who gladly receive migrants, refugees, and the poor.
Theology
Persons who migrate, seek refuge, or lack life’s necessities are each created in the image of God. While each person bears this image in a particular national, ethnic, and social identity, the image of God is the ultimate one, and every human being equally and fully bears it. The facts of migration, seeking refuge, or lacking life’s necessities – these do not compromise God’s image but rather manifest it in unique ways. Indeed, as Pope Francis reminded us: “The poor are a sacrament of Christ; they represent his person and point to him” (Message, Fifth World Day of the Poor, June 13, 2021). Christ dwells within the “least ones” (cf. Mt 25:31-46), and he reveals himself through them in a special way. This concept of human dignity is the foundation for the care which must be given to migrants, refugees, and the poor as well as the foundation of economic and migration policy.
It is also important to recognize that the human person is a member of a family, the “fundamental cell of society […] where we learn to live with others despite our differences” (Pope Francis, Evangelii gaudium, no. 66). Thus, care is to be given to both individuals and families, and policies or practices that harm families must be evaluated in light of their inherent rights to remain together.
Additionally, the human realities of migration and poverty reveal something about God and ourselves. In creating the world, God goes outside of himself in love, and, in restoring it, he calls people to migrate to him (e.g., the call of Abraham). In the fullness of time, Christ came forth from the Father, emptying himself and becoming poor for our sake (Jn 16:28; Phil 2:7; 2 Cor 8:9). The call to discipleship is a call to become poor (Mt 5:3) and to journey from one way of life to another (Lk 9:57-62). At the Great Commission, Christ commands the apostles to migrate (Mt 28:19) and to proclaim God “who is rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4).
Liturgy
Every fall, the universal Church observes days dedicated to migrants, refugees, and the poor. The World Day of Migrants and Refugees takes place on the last Sunday of September, with National Migration Week celebrated in the United States in the last full week of the same month. The World Day of the Poor occurs in November on the Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, a day when the annual collection for the U.S. bishops’ Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) also takes place. In addition, the feast days of Saint Josephine Bakhita (February 8) and Our Lady of Guadalupe (December 12) are frequently observed as days of prayer for migrants and refugees, and other prayers for migrants may be found at JusticeForImmigrants.org/engage/prayer.
Among its Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions, the Roman Missal contains a Mass “For Refugees and Exiles” (no. 32). Eucharistic Prayer for Use in Masses for Various Needs IV, titled “Jesus, Who Went About Doing Good,” is appropriately used with this Mass formulary.
Additionally, there are Mass formularies which are connected to the realities of poverty as well as the causes of migration:
- “For Persecuted Christians” (no. 19)
- “For the Progress of Peoples” (no. 29)
- “For the Preservation of Peace and Justice” (no. 30)
- “In Time of War or Civil Disturbance” (no. 31)
- “In Time of Famine or for Those Suffering Hunger” (no. 33)
Action
A good place to start is the joint pastoral letter of the Bishops’ Conferences of the United States and Mexico, “Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope,” available in both English and Spanish at USCCB.org/migration. Individuals and communities may take action by offering hospitality to migrants, refugees, and the poor: welcoming them into church parishes, meeting their material and spiritual needs, and inviting them to share their experience. The members of these communities are not only recipients of care but persons who mutually enrich those from whom they receive.
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