Friday, August 29, 2025
Feast of the Passion of John the Baptist
My sisters and brothers in the Lord,
Happy Labor Day Weekend! And welcome to week thirty-five of BMW, Be My Witnesses. OK, now grab your co-disciple and prepare to engage in a corporal work of mercy. Many may ask how this advances the Kingdom of God. At some point, in our “good works,” others will know that we do all that we do because we see Jesus in others and because we see Jesus in ourselves.
Mission: Shelter Travelers or Welcome Strangers
Isaiah (58:7) saw that bringing “the homeless into your house” was a way to receive blessings from the Lord. We have had many examples of folks opening their doors to their neighbors. Countries at war have seen their citizens welcomed warmly into adjacent countries. Victims of natural disasters have found generous hosts to take them in and assist in rebuilding their own properties.
But there is something about what Jesus says in Matthew 25 that catches my ear. The word, “stranger,” in Greek usually implies an alien or a foreigner, that is, someone not of our community, and even more someone who most likely will not be able to repay us for our kindness. This kind of welcoming of a stranger is a leap of faith, because the aim is not merely to provide a roof over someone’s head, but ultimately to seek the brother or sister of the Lord in that person.
Pope Francis frequently spoke of the need to be welcomers: “Migrants trust that they will encounter acceptance, solidarity, and help, that they will meet people who will sympathize with the distress and tragedy experienced by others…and are open to sharing humanly and materially with the needy and disadvantaged” (October 12, 2012). His concern is that differences do not block our ability to see Christ, to see another self, to see someone who has a right to the Common Good and who can contribute to the Common Good.
As we have moved from the Year of the Eucharist, it would be easy to focus on those who are not part of our Eucharistic Table and Feast. Yet, Jesus would have us look to a deeper connection that we all have as human sisters and brothers even if we have religious or other differences. Those differences are not eliminated in this welcoming of the stranger into our house. But a human link is celebrated every time we open our doors. And who knows, as Hebrews (13:2) tells us: “Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels.” In addition, when we welcome the stranger, we are ourselves blessed, as was Jesus when he responded to the deep faith of the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:21-28).
This week's challenge
For our challenge this week, you and your co-disciple might choose one of the following: reach out to a neighbor whom we have not talked with in a long time. Even those next door can seem at times to be strangers. Or, work with or contribute to your Catholic Charities, or some other organization, especially if they work with migrants. Perhaps, you and your missionary partner will come up with a different task.
Until next week, may God Bless you.
+ Earl Boyea
Bishop of Lansing