The refugee boy who didnt drown

... he loves the stranger and gives him bread and clothing. Thou shalt love the stranger, for thou wast a stranger in the land of Egypt. Deuteronomy 10:18-19

The Refugee Crisis
In order to properly assess the refugee crisis, like any other issue, and to avoid the reductionist views to which prejudice and xenophobia lead, there is no way to frame the issue in a broader spatio-temporal context. A historical look of greater geographical breadth tells us that since the human race was born in Africa, in the Rift Valley 5 million years ago, it has never stopped moving.

From there it populated all the continents, and it was in the interaction with the different habitats that peoples with physiological, cultural and linguistic differences emerged. These characteristics were demarcated into three human groups, not races because we all came from a common stock: Negroid, Caucasian and.

Development does not always mean human progress. Nationalisms, and the consolidation of borders between nations in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, made the natural displacement and mixing of peoples more difficult, increasing racism and xenophobia. In the ancient world, peoples moved with relative ease, there were no well-defined boundaries or guarding of them. That is why we can say that there are no races, no pure races, all the people are made up of other peoples.

We tend to mark differences between the Portuguese people and other peoples, and yet we too are a people made up of various ethnic groups, of other peoples: Iberians, Celts, Greeks, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Jews, Alans, Suevi, Vandals, Visigoths and Moors.

Situation in Syria
Ruled since the 1960s by the Al-Assad family, Syria belongs to the group of Muslim countries that have resisted Sharia rule. The current President Bashar Al-Assad was neither overthrown by America, like Saldam Hussein, nor by the Arab Spring and America like Gaddafi.

But by abusing force against the Arab Spring to stay in power, it has created a complex civil war between different ethnicities and religious groups that are fighting, not only against the dictator, but also among themselves, in coalitions that change every day. Taking advantage of this confusion is the Islamic State, in uncontrolled areas of Iraq and Syria. This time, Syrians found themselves trapped between the regime, rebel groups and the religious extremism of the Islamic State.

It's not hard to understand why they flee their country. The regime of Bashar al-Assad mercilessly kills civilians with chemical weapons and drum bombs; The so-called Islamic State commits all kinds of atrocities as we know, murders all who are not with them, tortures, crucifies, rapes and subjects women and girls to sexual slavery; other groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra do the same.  

Syrians flee back and forth within their own country; in fact, one third of Syria's population is now a refugee in their own country; another 4 million have left the country, of which 95% live in neighbouring countries such as Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan. The richest states of the Persian Gulf did not accept any refugees, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Baharain, Kuwait, Iran.

The world was not prepared for a refugee crisis on this scale, so many of the camps do not have sufficient resources so these populations are subject to hunger, cold and disease. Losing hope, some have decided to seek asylum in Europe, after a journey by land and sea exploited by traffickers, they arrive on the shores of a Europe that turns its back on them and erects walls to prevent them from entering. They have been debating how to divide them among themselves for months and have not yet reached an agreement.

Conspiracy theories, prejudices, clichés, xenophobia and Islamophobia
Opinions for all tastes are circulating on social networks; Generally negative, full of cliché prejudices and racism. For the most part, these opinions say nothing about the subject; They shed more light on the personality of those who create them and sustain them than on the subject of refugees. I collected some of them to exhibit them.

It is true that the richer Arab countries, those of the Persian Golf, have not helped them, but as stated above, the overwhelming majority of refugees live in the Arab countries neighboring Syria.

On the other hand, the Middle East is not a stable area where everyone wants to live; If they are Shiites they fear Sunnis or vice versa, if they are Christians they fear both, if they are atheists all three. The fact that some of them do not help should motivate us to help more.

 "First are our homeless!!" the unemployed, fighting child poverty, etc.  - You will always have poor people with you, Jesus says, inequalities and problems will always exist, if we wait to solve these first, and then dedicate ourselves to others, we will do nothing for one or the other. "First the bread that is in the oven", this is an urgent problem that requires a solution now; There are men, women and children exhausted after a long journey living in camps, in subhuman conditions, who will not survive this winter.

"If they are refugees, why are most of them men?!" There are women and children, whole families among the refugees, but it is easy to understand the fact that many of them are men. In our immigration, men also went first. The men go in search of a better place and conditions, so that they can then bring their families, without having to subject them to a journey that could lead to death.

"Refugees are a Trojan horse of the Islamic State!" The current refugee crisis is a direct consequence of the civil war in Syria. What is commonly understood as the Islamization of Europe is a phenomenon that has been going on for a long time and is largely more of an Islamophobic myth, or a conspiracy theory, than anything else.

Even if the EU were to accept the 4 million refugees, and all of them were Muslims, the total number of Muslims would only increase by 1 percent, from the current 4 percent to 5 percent. The conspiracy theory also says that Muslims grow more than Christians; The fact is that once here the growth rate is the same as that of other Europeans. In Syria, the population was declining before the civil war.

They also say that crime increases. Experience tells us that when they get a job they start to pay into the system and Europe really needs them. By accepting them, and integrating them into our society, we have more to gain than to lose.

Faced with the so-called "potential" Islamization of Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel believes that the best response is not to close the doors, or to fight those who have already entered, but to return to the Church, have the courage to be Christians, foster dialogue, and deepen the Bible anew. This is what the undisputed leader of the European Community, the daughter of a Protestant pastor, who was nominated for the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize for her adequate response to the refugee crisis, even though she has lost popularity in her own country, tells us.

The refugee boy who did not drown was, as we all know, the baby Jesus. To avoid the wrath of Herod, who wanted to kill the boy, the Holy Family fled to Egypt. Fortunately, Egypt at that time was not like Europe today, and the baby Jesus was able to grow "in wisdom and grace" in Egypt until the death of the dictator.

"Deja vue"
When Germany wanted to get rid of 5 million Jews, there were several solutions on the table to the problem, before the final solution that we all know. One of these solutions was to put the Jews on convoys to Spain and from there on boats to America. The American nations refused to receive them and from Canada came the answer, none are too many.

One may find these comparisons an exaggeration or just the fact that he mentioned this episode of the Second World War. But the news says that this is the main refugee crisis after the Second World War and not long ago, at a demonstration against refugees in Eastern Europe, one of the slogans lamented that the concentration camps were not open.

Braking with the wheels or braking with the engine
When on motorways we encounter slopes of more than 6%, it is advisable to brake with the engine and not with the wheels. By braking with the engine, we reduce the speed at its origin, overcoming inertia and the force of gravity, in an efficient and safe way; On the contrary, when we do not act on the origin of the movement, but on its manifestation in the wheels, we destabilize the car and can cause an accident, because one wheel can brake more than the other and because we do nothing about the inertia and force of gravity, which continue to push the car forward.

It is true that we must stop the movement of refugees, but we must stop it at its source, not when they are already on our doorstep. When the European Union had an agreement with Gaddafi's Libya to prevent refugees from crossing the Mediterranean, it was braking with its wheels. Britain wants them to stay in France, the French want them to stay in Italy, the Italians want them to stay in Greece, and the Greeks, like the rest of the Europeans, want them to stay in Turkey. The same is now being done with the agreement with Turkey to prevent them from moving over to Europe; Or what some countries do that let them pass so that the problem has the next country. While this is happening, some Eastern European countries are already building walls on their borders.

It would be trying to resolve the conflict in Syria, which is difficult; the Syrians alone have already proven over 4 years that they can't; the world powers are as biased as the factions inside Syria. The last peace conference, held in Vienna, revealed that the world in relation to Syria is also divided in a kind of "cold civil war"; I fear that as long as it does not end, that is, as long as the United States, Russia and Iran do not come to an agreement, hostilities in Syria and the flow of refugees will not end.

The Refugee Boy Who Didn't Drown
It's been a few months since the body of a refugee boy washed ashore, unleashing a wave of solidarity. Let us remember this Christmas that the child Jesus, fleeing from the wrath of Herod who wanted to kill him, also had to seek refuge in another country. As it was for the good of humanity that the escape of the Holy Family succeeded, so are all escapes and so are all escapes.

Fr. Jorge ours, IMC

Consecrated for the Mission

Fr. Jorge with blind kids in Shashemane, Ethiopia

Who I am, Where I came from, Where I am going
I want to conclude this reflection on consecrated life with my own testimony as a priest belonging to a Missionary Religious Order. I am originally from Loriga, a village in the municipality of Seia, nestled in the Serra da Estrela mountain range in Portugal. For the past 30 years I have been living in various countries at the service of the Mission: Ethiopia, Spain, England, Canada, United States and now Portugal.

Since I knew at the age of six that I wanted to be what I am today, it is very difficult for me to understand and help young adults in their vocational discernment; for this same reason, it is also hard for me to comprehend why so many priests have given up the missionary religious orders to become diocesan priests. They have ceased to be fishers of men, like Jesus wanted his disciples to be, to become instead, shepherds of a flock that despite their efforts is getting increasingly smaller.

It is true, however, that the reason which led me to choose this life is not the same reason that keeps me in it now. My vocation emerged one day when a missionary came to my school and spoke of his adventures in Africa with so much enthusiasm that it soon awakened in my young heart the eagerness to one day become as adventurous as him. Later, of course, I discovered that the taste for adventure was only the bait that God had used to catch for Himself my boyish heart. Like a fish, I was caught by God so He could transform me later on, just like the apostles, into a fisher of men.

Childhood dreams are compelling; after elementary school, at the age of ten, I felt so strongly in my resolve to become a missionary that I stood up to my parish priest when he wanted to send me to a diocesan seminary. At that time, it was not the priesthood that appealed to me the most, nor is it even now, but rather the life of a missionary. After failed attempts to enter the Missionaries of the Divine Word in Tortosendo and the Comboni Fathers of Viseu, I joined the Consolata Missionaries, in Vila Nova of Poiares at the suggestion of the very same parish priest who, faced with my persistence, finally gave in.

“To leave life in pieces scattered throughout the world”
Belonging to the same Catholic Church, the Religious Orders exist somewhat outside the structure of the Church divided into dioceses and parishes. Of these religious orders some are contemplative following the rule of St. Benedict of “Ora et Labora” which consists of a life completely dedicated to prayer and to contemplation on the mysteries of God.

Today this way of living is much discredited by the craze of modern times, where human life seems to be justified by works and by the ‘busyness’ of a person. Faced with this frenzy of activity, the contemplative life reminds us well that what is most important in life is the being rather than the doing. Since we are predestined for heaven where we will be spending the whole of eternity praising God, why not do it already in the few years we have left before eternity?

Other religious orders are active and so the members dedicate themselves according to their charisms to many different activities in the fields of education, physical and mental health, the promotion of human dignity etc. My charism, I say it with the conviction of my founder the Blessed Joseph Allamano, is the most perfect charism of the Church, the Mission. It is in fact the very reason by which and for which the Church exists: to take the Gospel to every creature, to take Christ to all the peoples and/or to bring all peoples to the knowledge of Him.

There are those who live their lives always in the same place, surrounded by the same people, and always doing the same thing. There are priests in Portugal who have been at the service of the same community for more than 50 years. As for myself, I knew very early on that my life would not be lived in this way. In fact, since I was 10 years old when I joined the Order, I have never been in one place for more than 3 to 4 years.

I compare my life to a puzzle with pieces scattered in distant places, among people of different ethnicities, languages, groups and nations. When I come to the end of my life and all the pieces have been gathered and put together, I hope that as a whole, they will form an image that is pleasing to God. A missionary is a person without limit and without border, a pilgrim ever seeking the way where no sunrise finds him where the sunset left him, quoting Kalil Gibran from his book, “The Prophet”.

To be consecrated means to be set apart, reserved for an extraordinary service which requires, from the part of the candidate, to put aside what sets and forms the lives of most people. The vows of poverty, chastity and obedience are common to all the consecrated. They do not possess material goods in order to dedicate themselves exclusively to the cultivation of spiritual goods; they love universally with a love that does not exclude anyone, therefore their embrace is open; they do not seek power, or possessions, or fame so they can submit themselves to the designs that God has for them, obeying Him through the superiors and the signs of times.

The ones who have been consecrated for the Mission still echo within them today those words of the Master “to go to all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature”. Just like a cellphone tower, a missionary receives the signal, in this case the signal of faith, magnifies it and broadcasts it within its range to the next tower so in this same manner faith is transmitted from generation to generation, from people to people, from nation to nation.

Missionary yesterday, today and tomorrow
If I had known at six years old what I know today, thirty years since my ordination, I would still have chosen the missionary life. I can identify so well with the intuition that I had at six and the choice that I made at ten that it could not have been only of human origin; it was a true calling from God. I could never identify myself with the flightless birds but rather with the eagles soaring without limits of frontiers and languages, without prejudices against other peoples and without disproportionate and paralyzing attachments to my family, my country, my parents and my culture.

I recall one day while I was on vacation and on the eve of returning to Ethiopia, my father tried to convince me not to return, saying that the years I’ve already spent in Ethiopia were enough and that here in Portugal I could also find mission work and etc. My mother overheard and shouted at him saying, “Be quiet, man, for God can punish you”, and my father immediately quieted down. God, who already has my mother with Him, must be very pleased with her because she was not a mother hen; she was a mother who knew how to suppress her maternal instincts, something that many parents nowadays do not seem to manage.

How many vocations to the religious life and to the priesthood have been lost because of parents who cling so tightly to their children, depriving them of the “freedom to be children of God” and many of these parents are even practicing Catholics! I’ve always wondered to myself with what face will they appear before God, when they did everything to destroy the vocation to the consecrated life of their sons and daughters.

The mission is at its beginning
I will never be unemployed; it was Pope John Paul II who said that the mission is at its beginning. The larger continents are still under-evangelized so there will be no shortage of work. Furthermore, many countries that were once Christian have abandoned the faith and now live in a sort of modern paganism, worshiping or paying homage to a variety of gods. They no longer baptize their children nor send them to Sunday school; for this reason, a possible encounter with the Gospel for them can be seen to be as much of a first evangelization as that of a person in the Far East who hears about Christ for the first time.

Fr. Jorge Amaro, IMC