With Refugees!

TODAY is World Refugee Day. The plight of refugees connects to all other areas of justice, peace, and the care of creation.  There are populations of refugees known as climate refugees who are forced to flee their homes and country due to the impacts of climate change.  There are refugees who are fleeing poverty and violence in their native countries – a poverty and violence often caused and/or supported by other world powers.  We know that refugees are at greater risk for becoming victims of human trafficking due to their vulnerable and desperate situations.  

Refugees seeking asylum in the United States and other countries are being locked up, separated from their families, and denied their basic human rights.  The reality of refugees helps us to see how all life on this planet is connected, and how we all have a responsibility to alleviate the conditions that cause people to flee from their homes, and also offer hospitality and welcome to those who come to our countries seeking safety and a better life for their families.     

We hope that everyone finds at least one way commemorate World Refugee Day by raising awareness, joining in prayer, and/or taking action to defend the rights of refugees.  Our faith calls us to welcome the foreigner and offer hospitality to those in need, “for just as you did it for one of the least of these, you did it for me [Jesus, the Incarnate Word]” (Mt 25, 40).  

Action ideas: goo.gl/j13cXf