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<\/a><\/div>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Poor little sheep.<\/p>\n
Attracted by greener pastures and cooler waters, the little sheep of the Gospel separated herself from the flock. \u00a0Reaching greener pastures, she filled her belly. \u00a0Reaching cooler waters, she quenched her thirst. \u00a0Suddenly however she looked up and realized terrified that the shepherd and the sheep were gone. \u00a0Far from everything that was familiar, she was lost. \u00a0She was distant from what had anchored her in her very exciting life as a sheep.<\/p>\n
The new pastures were plentiful and the water refreshing, but the sheep was lost. \u00a0She felt uprooted and disoriented. \u00a0What relief and joy she felt when she saw the shepherd! \u00a0Finally she saw someone familiar, someone who cared for her and most especially, someone who brought her back to the flock.<\/p>\n
The experience of the lost sheep is the experience of the immigrant. \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
Immigrants find themselves in different pastures, most of the time due to circumstances beyond their control. \u00a0Lack of opportunity, hunger, oppression, unemployment, persecution, intimidation and so many other situations, convince thousands of men and women every day that it\u2019s necessary to leave behind their flock, to leave behind the culture that roots them as human beings, to leave behind the language they learned from their parents, and the family and societal structures they find familiar and comforting. \u00a0They leave seeking greener pastures.<\/p>\n
The immigrant lives in a pasture that will never become his own, and the longer he lives there, the less he identifies with the pasture he left behind. \u00a0The immigrant belongs to both pastures and to neither.<\/p>\n
Being an immigrant is living an uprooted existence, experiencing displacement like the lost sheep. \u00a0It is living with a blurry identity of who you are and where you belong. \u00a0The immigrant belongs to both pastures, yet at the same time belongs to neither. \u00a0The immigrant struggles to find a solid identity since he lives in between two worlds. \u00a0Resentment, depression and despair can quickly invade the hearts of those caught between two words\u2026 no wonder Hispanic female adolescents have had the highest suicide attempt rate in the United States since 1995.<\/p>\n
For myself, growing up in Augusta, at school I was \u201cthe Peruvian kid\u201d who spoke English a little funny and whenever I visited Peru I was the \u201cgringo cousin\u201d who, as time went by, spoke Spanish a little funny. \u00a0This is the experience of belonging to neither and belonging to both.<\/p>\n
The words of an elderly Mexican parishioner a few years ago have sealed themselves into my memory: \u201cFather, I know they don\u2019t want me here in the United States, but if I return to Mexico my husband will be killed. \u00a0When, Father, will I find a place where they want me?\u201d \u00a0Unfortunately, this is the experience of belonging to neither.<\/p>\n
When a plant is uprooted, soon the plant withers and dies. \u00a0If an immigrant remains with the sense of being uprooted, he or she too will wither and die.<\/p>\n
Where does an immigrant find the best soil for his roots to grow? \u00a0Where does the lost sheep find comfort and joy after realizing she is lost?<\/p>\n
In Jesus Christ. \u00a0Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd who not only finds and roots the immigrant who wanders like a lost sheep, but finds and roots every single human being.<\/p>\n
My own struggle to understand my identity as a teenager and young adult was resolved when I found my identity in Jesus Christ. \u00a0My country of birth is certainly Peru, that\u2019s what my birth certificate states. \u00a0I was born there and without a doubt my roots are there. \u00a0This country, the United States, has helped me to develop as a person, to grow, to study, to work and to be here today as a priest. \u00a0On top of this, I am an Italian citizen with a European Union passport. \u00a0I may have two passports and a greencard, yet no country roots me as person. \u00a0It is Jesus Christ and his Church that root me as a person; as a child of God. \u00a0Only there are my roots firm and my identity clear.<\/p>\n
I take the words of Saint Paul quite literally when he writes, \u201cwe are citizens of heaven.\u201d \u00a0The immigrant, rising from feeling uprooted, lost and displaced, finds his identity in Christ.<\/p>\n
In our Church we have rich soil and green pastures. \u00a0What relief and joy immigrants feel when they see their shepherd, their Church, their priest, someone familiar, caring for them and bringing them back to the flock. \u00a0We pray for the love and zeal necessary to call all of the sheep to an encounter with the Good Shepherd who manifests Himself in the Eucharist. \u00a0The Shepherd who seeks and roots every lost sheep, giving her an identity that cannot be taken away, the joy of being a child of God.<\/p>\n
Pictures are mine, all rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I gave this homily at the Hispanic Ministry Encounter in Warner Robins last week. \u00a0Over one hundred fifty priests, religious sisters, parish staff, diocesan employees and lay people gathered to contemplate and discuss the necessity of reaching out to fellow immigrant Catholic brothers and sisters living in our communities. \u00a0In his remarks, Bishop Hartmayer pointed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2533,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a><\/div>\n