ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Dear Friends,

Jesus is the voice of life.  Sunday after Sunday, as we listen to the Gospels, we hear the voice of Jesus:  He summons us to repentance.  He heals the sick.  He calls the Apostles.  He teaches through parables.  He proclaims the Kingdom of God.  Yet, today, the Fifth Sunday of Lent, as we make final preparation to celebrate the mysteries of Our Lord’s suffering, death and Resurrection in Holy Week and the Easter Triduum, we hear the voice of Jesus in a unique way, in a distinctive key.  The voice of Jesus calls His friend Lazarus to come forth from death.  The voice of Jesus reaches beyond the pain and suffering of death.  His voice reaches across the terrible border of death and summons Lazarus to life.  This is why St. Athanasius tells us that Jesus is the voice of life. 

How fitting that today, the day when the voice of Jesus changes death to life and sorrow to joy, we celebrate National Migration Week.  The Church’s teaching on justice for immigrants does not begin with political positions or partisan discussion.  Our teaching on justice for immigrants begins with the voice of God and is thoroughly biblical.  The Church has honored the dignity of immigrants since the day God first summoned Abraham, and said to him, "Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father's house to a land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing” (Gn 12:1-2).  In today’s Gospel, we learn in a vivid manner that Jesus, in every instance, honors this promise.  Jesus, the voice of life, approaches the tomb of His friend and orders that the stone be removed.  Every day, forced migrants and refugees, asylees,  immigrants and victims of human trafficking meet the cold and seemingly immovable stone of violence and death.  They meet the hard and coarse stone of fences and detention centers, of misperception and prejudice, of traffickers and harsh oppressors, of violence and injustice, of harsh treatment and suspicion, of exploitation and exile.  The voice of the Church, like the voice of her Lord, proclaims that the stone must be taken away.

St. Maximus the Confessor emphasizes that, in the gospel passage we just heard proclaimed, Jesus calls Lazarus by name: “Lazarus, come out” (Jn 11:43).  St. Maximus tells us that the voice of Jesus, the Son of God, is so powerful that if Jesus had not called Lazarus by name, the great power of Jesus would have summoned all of those in their graves to rise.  Notice also that the Gospel of St. John tells us that Jesus cried out “in a loud voice” (Jn 11:43).  Jesus cries out in a loud voice because His words must cross over into the world of the dead.  His voice also penetrates the chasm of sin.  Jesus, the voice of life, calls us today.  We hear the loud voice of Jesus, not simply its echo, but His voice, the voice of life.  He summons us forth from our own complacency.  The voice of Jesus is not a whisper; it is loud and full of confidence.  Jesus calls us to welcome the stranger (cf. Mt 24:35), and as such, we must provide adequate medical care, nutrition, education and resettlement to refugees and those in flight.  The Church must protect vulnerable men, women and children from the horrors of human trafficking.  We will not rest until the terrible affront to human dignity that is human trafficking is eliminated from every corner of the globe.  The voice of Jesus insists on it.

As Jesus does not abandon Lazarus, so too the Church does not abandon her own sons and daughters who seek freedom from oppression and persecution.  Jesus does not abandon those whom He loves.  The Church cannot either.  Pope Benedict XVI, in his message earlier this year for the 97th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, reminded us that the international community has “precise commitments” to those who flee from violence and persecution.  The voice of Jesus tells us that human dignity is inviolable, and that we must offer haven and protection, safe passage, respect and opportunities to those seeking asylum.  When we welcome our brothers and sisters, we welcome Jesus.

Jesus Himself was a stranger in a foreign land. He came from heaven to save us. As an infant he fled into Egypt in the arms of the Blessed Mother, under the guidance of St. Joseph, so as to escape the brutality of Herod (Mt 2:14). Jesus proclaimed during His public ministry that He had no place to lay his head (cf. Mt 8:20). And soon we will experience again the ultimate victory of love: The Lord Jesus suffered, died and was buried. Soon we will celebrate the fact that He has not simply called out to the dead. He went down among the dead to seek out the lost, and he rose again victorious in His glorious resurrection. This is the good news that we preach. This is the core of the Church’s commitment to evangelization.

Pope Benedict XVI, in his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini on the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church, emphasizes the intimate connection between the Word of God and migration. The Holy Father says, “Large numbers of people who know nothing of Christ, or who have an inadequate understanding of him, are settling in countries of Christian tradition. At the same time, persons from nations deeply marked by Christian faith are emigrating to countries where Christ needs to be proclaimed and a new evangelization is demanded. These situations offer new possibilities for the spread of God’s word” (Verbum Domini, 105). Today, in the words of our Holy Father, the voice of the Church, the voice of Christ summons us anew.

The voice of Jesus is the voice of life. He gives us Our Lady of Guadalupe as the patroness of the Americas so that under the protection of her mantle her sons and daughters may flee oppression and seek new life. On the basis of our common bond of faith in Jesus Christ we welcome and stand in solidarity with the migrants and refugees in our parishes and communities. The Church is deeply grateful for the contribution of the faithful from so many diverse communities of ethnic origin. The Church is honored to serve these our brothers and sisters who approach us for spiritual consolation and pastoral care. I am grateful for the good work of the Archdiocesan Office for Pastoral Care for Migrants and Refugees. Together, we listen to the voice of Jesus, the voice of life, the voice that crosses into even the most hardened heart and summons us anew to reach out with love to our brothers and sisters May we listen attentively to this voice so that together we may be faithful to the life of charity and so be ready to celebrate again the victorious triumph of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.   Amen.