In God All is One

Greetings from Little Rock, AR where I'm spending two weeks preaching missions in English, then in Spanish. I have been enriched over the past few weeks by receiving daily meditations from Richar Rohr, OFM, a brother friar who lives in Albuquerque, NM.  He reflections are brief, easy to understand, bur profound and thought provoking at the same time. Over the last few days the meditations have been on "Unity" as part of a Franciscan vision of life.  The basic idea is that for Francis of Assisi all things mirrored the creator and even praised the Creator by their very exsistence.  We humans, being creatures, are one with all things in God. This creates a perspective for respecting all creatures and thus caring for our environment as well as for seeking unity with other humans rather that trying to separate ourselves from them.  You can click on to the following link and subscribe to his meditations as well as other resources. Richard Rohr, OFM.

  A practical challenge to living this message came my way the other day  when i was referred to a campaign called. Drop the I Word.  Again you can click to see more of what it is about Drop the I word.  I work regularly with fine Catholic people who happen to be undocumented.  This campaign does not deny that there is a problem to be worked on in our country with immigration, but it realizes that simply calling people "illegals" dehumanizes them and feeds into fear and hatred.  I encourage readers of this blog to consider making the suggested pledge.  I believe that you can do that regardless of your political leanings on this issue.
Going back to Richard Rohr's thought we need to realize that these are human beings, our brothers and sisters, in many cases our fellow Catholics as well.  Treating our immigrants as brothers and sisters, not as "others and outsiders" will do more for leading us to a solution rather than emphasizing what divides us. This is a truly Catholic and Franciscan vision to be sure.   Look to the right side of this blog to see the US bishops Immigration Reform link as well as the Franciscan Action network.  It is under the banner of "Links to my World"  I look forward to your comments.