You shall not molest or oppress an alien

Following is an extract from a reflection on the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time by Steven P Millies

The Gospel from Matthew today (Matthew 22:34-40) presents us with the most concise formulation of our relationships and their implications: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment.  The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  It would be difficult to distill the Christian message more succinctly.  Even the Golden Rule — to love a neighbor as we love ourselves — is not sufficient, because it omits our relationship to God.  We love our neighbor as we love ourselves because God created us both, and because God loves both of us, because we both bear the image of God.  There is a reason why Jesus asserts, “The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”  This is everything in one place.

It is the beginning of this week’s reading from Exodus 22:20-26 that may sound the most important note for today: it is a reminder.  “You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.”  It is no coincidence that reminders like this repeat throughout the first five books of the Bible.  God knows how prone we are to forget.  The covenant is here to help us remember.  We are reminded not only to remember our own bondage, but also that the God of justice knows and sees our deeds.  Justice in the community is found in this remembering and in fidelity to the God who is just and compassionate.

My personal observation and comment on the above is to say that it is surely hypocritical for people who are themselves descended from immigrants and refugees to place restrictions and obstacles in the way of new immigrants and refugees. “You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.”

The 2020 Christmas Program

Due to the pandemic you will see some changes in how we are able to run our programs this year.  We want to continue to bring joy and ease to the many in our community who struggle throughout the year and especially at Christmas, but we must do so with the pandemic restrictions in mind. 

For the Christmas Program that serves our families, your donation will continue to go towards the purchase of grocery gift cards for parents and gift cards from a local store so that parents can purchase a gift for the children in their family.

For the Giving Tree Program we will not be able to distribute stars and accept gifts to be given to the various homes and residences due to the restrictions of the pandemic.  Instead, we will be accepting monetary donations that we will use to purchase gift cards for those living in group homes and to purchase select gifts that will be delivered to the assisted-living homes for them to wrap and distribute. This is both to keep our volunteers safe and especially those more vulnerable people living in the homes. 

You can donate via Canada Helps at www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/42029.

Even under the current pandemic situation, your gift will still make a difference in the lives of those often left out at this special time of year.  A donation of $20.00 might purchase a pair of warm pajamas or some slippers for a senior in need. A $40.00 donation might purchase a special toy for a child that hasn’t had a new toy since last Christmas.   A donation of $60.00 may go towards food in the fridge for a single mother trying to make ends meet. 

Any amount helps spread the joy and magic of Christmas to those in our community who need our help. We thank you for your continued support and prayers.

If you wish to make an online donation towards our Christmas and Giving Tree programs please click the DONATE button below.

Love and Faith Go Together

 Love and faith go together.
- a relection by Deacon Steve Pitre

"Our work to be fruitful and to be all for God, and to be beautiful, has to be built on faith - faith in Christ who has said, “I was hungry, I was naked, I was sick, and I was homeless and you did that to Me.” On these words of His all our work is based…Faith to be true has to be a giving love. Love and faith go together. They complete each other."
- Saint Teresa of Calcutta

This passage (Matt 25) was the basis for St. Teresa of Calcutta’s conviction that Jesus is present in the poor: with absolute faith in His words, she regarded her apostolate as a service done to Jesus Himself. Her faith in His presence in the “least of His brethren” was so real that every encounter with the poor meant a mystical encounter with Jesus Himself: “We are contemplatives in action right in the heart of the world, seeing and loving and serving Jesus twenty-four hours in the distressing disguise of the poorest of the poor.”

“Where There is Love, There is God” Mother Theresa, ed. Brian Kolodiejchuk, M.C. p. 141-142

Deacon Steve Pitre is Spiritual Advisor to the Newmarket Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul