Daily Devotion for Saturday 12th October 2024

Then the Lord said to Abram, ‘Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs, and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years;

Leviticus 19:34

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.

Reflection

In 2019 I went to Sicily to explore how various sections of the Italian Church were responding to the migration crisis.  Along with other participants, I was invited to craft prayers which were later published.  We saw impounded, hardly seaworthy, boats which desperate people had used to travel; we saw many graves too.  We met people funded by the Waldensian Church who help migrants establish new lives.  We saw glimpses of a reaction against this too: a Mussolini themed wall calendar, a growing right wing seeking to change policy, naval vessels pushing sinking ships outside territorial waters, and unjust deals with north African governments.  I was reminded of these things last week when Mr Starmer held talks with the Italian premier to discuss what he could learn.
  
A Catholic priest told of reactions to his ministry with migrants.  Whilst younger congregants were hostile, older members were entirely supportive as they remembered the hostility and racism they encountered as migrant workers in the aftermath of the Second World War.   They understood how a ruined economy means people move to survive and encapsulated today’s ancient commandments about dealing well with the “aliens in a land that is not theirs”.  

Biblical authors remembered that their people had been migrants and strangers seeking sanctuary just as those old Italians remembered the hardship of their youth.  That memory led to the commandment in Leviticus to treat the migrants well.

America, with a high proportion of church goers, imprisoned migrants deliberately separating them from their children who, in the ensuing chaos, have still not been returned to their parents.  Hungary, with a Reformed president and prime minister,  has barred asylum seekers.  The Pope has spoken out, again and again, about inhumane policies at play in Italy.  Yet the Church also helps and cares for these “aliens” despite being accused of abetting illegal migration. 

Pray today for those on the move, and those who follow these ancient laws to love.  

Prayer

You who shepherd the lost and comfort the afflicted,
guide our hands to touch the untouchable,
our ears to listen to the hopeless,
our eyes to see the misery of others,
and our hearts to feel the pain of prisoners.
Empower us to take risks 
to be channels of healing and mercy,
so that this world might be a better place.
Amen.