“The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to all the … people of Israel and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy … When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.’” – Lev 19:1-2, 33 (NRSV Catholic Edition)
“You shall not deprive a resident alien or orphan of justice … Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore, I command you to do this.” – Dt 24:17-18
In these Scriptural passages, as in numerous others (Ex 22:9, 21-24; Lv 19:10; Dt 10:19, 24: 17-22; Zech 7:10; Jer 7:5-7; Mal 3:5; Hb 13:2), God consistently speaks to contemporary generations by reminding them of God’s own actions in their history. In so doing, God calls a people to holiness and reminds them of how God’s own action amid their previous sufferings demonstrates the holiness they must now emulate.
Most significantly, Jesus, who is the culmination of God’s revelatory and salvific work, invokes this long-running thread of moral exhortation, not only reiterating its applicability for his followers, but also reminding the reader that God is a God who remembers:
“Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world … For I was a stranger and you welcomed me … Then the righteous will answer him and say: ‘Lord, when did we see you a stranger and welcome you? ... Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Mt 25: 34-35, 38, 40)
Through his ministry of mercy to the Roman centurion, the Syrophoenician woman, the Samaritan woman and the Samaritan leper, Jesus modeled this welcome. Here, he not only instructs his followers to do the same but also goes beyond the Old Testament exhortations to holiness. Recognizing that we ourselves have been welcomed by Christ working through others, Jesus warns us that failure to welcome the stranger, the foreigner, the refugee and the resident alien is a rejection of Jesus himself.
For the historically immigrant church of the U.S., Jesus’ invocation and expansion of this moral exhortation has particular relevance. Even as some bishops like my own issue pastoral messages and launch initiatives to address the increased suffering and targeting of already vulnerable immigrants, such messages and initiatives are received along ideological divisions.
Such mixed reception surfaces the temptation to forget and the need to remember. As I detail in a forthcoming article, Euro-immigrant Catholics of prior generations faced both religious and racial discrimination not only as foreigners but also in the view of that time, as non-white foreigners. In response, Euro-immigrant Catholics relied on the church, which provided low cost education, subsidized home loans and implemented social safety nets. More than abstract history, these stories of vulnerability, discrimination and God’s work through the U.S. church belong to grandparents and great-grandparents of fellow Catholics.
Yet, these are stories many parishioners have forgotten. It is tempting and, to some degree, understandable to focus on successes, victories and triumphs. In contrast to the experiences of suffering and failure that are both unpleasant to dwell on and sometimes embarrassing to pass on, the stories that magnify one’s strengths, talents and tenacity are told more easily. But forgetting the prejudice and oppression of one’s grandparents and great-grandparents occludes the way that God worked in their lives (and by extension ours) when they were most in need. As Scripture reminds us, God is a God who remembers even if we would prefer to forget. The mixed and lukewarm response to the exigent suffering and targeting of immigrants is not only a scandal to the historically immigrant American church but also an impediment to communion with God. Applying Deuteronomy 24 to the U.S. context, one might reread the verse: “You shall not deprive a foreigner of justice. Remember the prejudice you faced as a foreigner and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore, I command you to do this.”
How can parishes respond?
One strategy is for parishes to create processes for families to recall generational experiences of prejudice and suffering and recognize God’s work in this familial history. To this end, parishes can facilitate structured intergenerational conversations first within families and then across families. In so doing, parishes should think creatively about how they might incorporate those who Pope Francis called “memory keepers”—grandparents, great-grandparents and elderly parishioners. As this recovery of memory progresses, parishes could invite historians and theologians to help parishioners connect their family stories to church history. Such processes would have multiple benefits, but in this case, such recollection would provide a basis for Bible studies, lectio divina and catechesis to bear greater fruit. By refusing to forget our own stories and remembering God’s saving action in our own familial narratives, we know the holiness we are called to emulate. When faced with the suffering and vulnerability of the immigrant, we can avoid the tepid responses that are currently so scandalous.
Deepan Rajaratnam is the Director of Ministerial Formation at St. John’s University School of Theology & Seminary.