Who is my sister? Who is my brother?

“A wandering Aramean was my ancestor” Dt 26:5

“Take your child and flee to Egypt” Mt 2:13

“If the immigrant is not your brother/sister then God is not your father.” Bp Scalabrini c. 1887

The Bible is a story of migration. It is a story of home going and safety seeking. In the 1880’s Italian migrants climbed on top of cargo trains to leave Europe and travel to the United States in any way they could. When the Bishop of Rome was asked what responsibility the Church should take in helping the plight of many families, he unwisely declared that such migrancy was a temporary problem.

This anxious and often difficult movement of people has been a part of our story forever and likely always be. Whenever life or death have demanded it we have picked up what we could carry and made the journey for something better.