National Migration Week – Jan. 7-13, 2018

For nearly 50 years the US Catholic Church has celebrated National Migration Week.  This year’s theme is: “Many Journeys, One Family”. It reminds us that each family has a migration story.  And it calls us to live in solidarity with one another.

Take a few minutes and remember your family’s migration story. 

Immigrants look for safety or better lives for their families.  They face challenges, rejections, and warm welcomes too.    

Are there immigrants in your neighborhood?  Have you met them?

Last fall our Bishops urged Congress ‘to find a durable and permanent solution on behalf of DACA youth’.  Read about it online: USCCB statement on DACA.

In the past our Bishops offered these 4 principles to guide immigration policies:

1.      People have a right to find opportunities in their homelands…

2.      People have a right to migrate to sustain their lives…

3.      A country has the right to regulate its borders and control immigration…

4.      A country should regulate its borders with justice and mercy.

A longstanding Catholic moral teaching calls us to work for the common good of everyone. How hard is it for you/me to fully embrace that teaching?