Dear All
One word in this weekend’s Gospel is the word, “Shelter.” It’s from the parable of the Mustard Seed.
It needs to be explored and examined. We are all reading this email in a place that gives us shelter. Without it, our life would be so much more difficult.
When we go out somewhere, we choose to leave our shelter. When we are in our shelter it provides us safety, protection from the elements and a place to life with others, with whom we may share a network of relationships. We choose to let others into our shelter because we trust they will not be taking that shelter away from us.
This weekend is Migrant and Refugee Week. Pope Francis has told us amazing statistics about migrants and refugees: In 2023, there were 281 million migrants. One in eight migrants is a minor. There were 110 million people forcefully displaced. That is a total of 391 million people!
Shelter is so fundamental to being human. How can we make the Jesus difference to migrants and refugees near us?
Take care
Fr. Patrick