Mystic Mantra: It takes a parish...

The one headline that is almost constant on all the TV channels, radios and newspapers in Europe for the last two months is that of the issue of refugees who have escaped Syria and Iraq and are entering Europe on a daily basis.

Pope Francis has appealed to people: “Faced with the tragedy of tens of thousands of refugees who are fleeing death by war and by hunger, and who are on a path toward a hope for life, the Gospel calls us to be neighbours to the smallest and most abandoned, to give them concrete hope.”

In the Gospel, Jesus tells that whatsoever they would to the least of their brothers and sisters they would do unto him. The long passage where Jesus explains to people what would assure their entry into heaven, paraphrased it would amount to, “When you give food, water, clothes, shelter to strangers and when you visit the sick or prisoners in my name that you actually do for me”.

In other words, service to God and worship of God is best expressed in one’s concrete service to the needy.  Such a service is on display in present day Europe, and has its roots in the Christian culture of service.

Father Dominic Emmanuel, a founder-member of Parliament of Religion, can be contacted at frdominic@gmail.com