Updates

Migrants in US programs highly vulnerable to mass deportation push

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By Kimberley Heatherington
(OSV News) – Since President-elect Donald Trump’s Nov. 5 victory, most Americans expect him to tackle the issue of immigration within the first 100 days of reoccupying the Oval Office.

But will immigrants who registered with the federal government – hoping for a path to citizenship through programs such as Keeping Families Together (KFT), Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) – actually be the most vulnerable to deportation?

The answer may hinge both on whether the information provided to the Department of Homeland Security will be used for deportation purposes – and how quickly the Trump administration wants to deliver results on its mass deportation pledge.

When it comes to migrants’ information with DHS, in the past, “there has been a firewall between those who might have provided information because of a benefit they were seeking, and that information being used for enforcement purposes,” explained J. Kevin Appleby, senior director of International Migration Policy at the Center for Migration Studies of New York and former migration policy director for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

People in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, wave flags during a binational mass held November 9, 2024, in memory of migrants who died during their journey to the U.S. near the U.S.-Mexico border. (Photo OSV News/Jose Luis Gonzalez, Reuters)

This time, he said, “all bets are off. They’ll have access to that information, so they could use it to track potential beneficiaries.”

On Nov. 7, U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker of the Eastern District of Texas struck down the KFT program – rolled out in June – arguing the Biden administration exceeded its authority. KFT allowed U.S. citizens’ spouses and stepchildren, who lacked legal immigration status but lived in the U.S. for 10 years or more, to apply for permanent residency without first having to leave the country.

Approximately 500,000 spouses of U.S. citizens and 50,000 noncitizen children under 21 with a parent married to a U.S. citizen were eligible for the program.

DACA allows approximately 535,000 young immigrants brought to the U.S. without authorization as children, to seek temporary protection from deportation. The program, which began in 2012 under the Obama administration, also allows them to work legally. Trump attempted to end DACA in 2017, but the Supreme Court upheld the program in 2020.

TPS is a program for people from countries experiencing such extreme internal disruption that their deportation would be considered unsafe, or even life-threatening. TPS recipients have legal authorization to work and remain in the U.S. while their countries of origin retain that designation. The program garnered widespread media attention this fall after false reports of immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, exploded on social media during the U.S. presidential campaign. However, there was underlying friction between some of the town’s native residents and thousands of Haitian recipients of TPS legally living and working there.

Those migrants with legal immigration status are not necessarily safe, said Appleby.
“It’s basically an executive authority that provided them that legal status. So the new executive, he can revoke it,” Appleby said.

Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance both strongly suggested on the campaign trail that TPS, which currently protects 1 million people, will be curtailed in their administration. Trump himself pledged in October to revoke TPS for the Haitians living in Springfield and who are credited with fueling the Rust Belt city’s economic revitalization.

Erin Corcoran, executive director of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and a faculty fellow at the Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights at the University of Notre Dame, shared Appleby’s concerns regarding Trump’s mass deportation plans for an estimated 11 million people.

During his first term, President Trump deported 1.5 million people – a number President Joe Biden matched in 2024 – compared to 4.8 million during President Barack Obama’s two terms, according to data tracked by the Migration Policy Institute.

“If they want to do it really quickly – if they want to effectuate it immediately – the people that are going to be the most at risk,” Corcoran said, “are the people that actually have come in contact already with the authorities. The people who don’t have actual status – but who have come in contact with DHS in some way – I think are at risk of deportation.”

Which perhaps seems contradictory, Corcoran said.

“Those are in some ways the most sympathetic groups of people. From a moral perspective, from a humanitarian perspective, those are people who actually have done what they’re supposed to do,” she said. “They’ve come forward, they’ve given information; they’re in the system.”

And unlike most unauthorized immigrants, they’re easily located by authorities.

“These people who have registered – families – they have names; they have addresses,” Corcoran said.
Trump’s new “border czar” Tom Homan, who was named to the role Nov. 10 and will not require Senate confirmation, has repeatedly addressed the question of mass deportation’s effects on families. Homan was Trump’s acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the 2017-2018 “zero tolerance” era that witnessed children taken from their parents in the midst of illegal border crossings.
In response to whether mass deportation can be conducted without separating families, Homan told CBS’ “60 Minutes” in October, “Of course there is – families can be deported together.”

On Dec. 26, Homan told multiple media outlets that the incoming Trump administration is considering open-air family detention centers for holding and deporting families. He said parents facing deportation will have to decide whether their U.S.-born children will come with them, or remain in the U.S. with a relative. He offered the following justification: “You knew you were in the country illegally and chose to have a child. So you put your family in that position.”

Pedro Alemán Perfecto, a policy advocate at the Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc., also known as CLINIC, acknowledged Homan’s pledge to come after migrants with greater force. But he kept a measured outlook, noting that migrant advocates have also been preparing.

“It’s not about panicking the community or individuals. It’s being cautious – but vigilant – about this,” he said. “That’s what our community and vulnerable immigrant communities are feeling right now: They’re looking at who can be leading us; who can be working with us. And it’s knowing what’s going to happen in the next four years for them.”

Advocacy tactics, said Alemán, will likely need to adapt.

“At CLINIC, we strive to put a lot of information out there in the community, to combat misinformation and disinformation,” he said. “For us, it’s doing our research; doing our advocacy; knowing who we can trust with different partners – and then reaching out to impacted individuals on the ground.”

The destination of mass deportees also remains an open question. They may not even end up in their countries of origin.

NBC News reported Dec. 5 the incoming Trump administration is assembling a list of potential countries to ship migrants to if their home nations refuse to accept them. The Bahamas stated it had “reviewed and firmly rejected” the Trump plan, while NBC’s sources said other countries under consideration include Turks and Caicos, Panama, and Grenada.

In an NBC “Meet the Press” interview broadcast Dec. 8, Trump echoed many of Homan’s comments, noting his deportation agenda will focus on those with criminal histories – while also vaguely referring to “other people outside of criminals.”

He also reinforced his pledge to end birthright citizenship, while saying he was open to working with Democrats to devise a plan concerning “the Dreamers,” or DACA recipients.

At the U.S. bishops’ general meeting in November, Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, the bishops’ migration committee chair, said the bishops are “waiting to see just exactly what takes shape.” But he promised they will “raise our voice loudly,” if Trump’s deportation rhetoric becomes a reality.

Reports indicate not only that the incoming Trump administration’s mass deportation policy will be ready to launch Day 1 – it will run headlong into the life of the church.

On Dec. 11, NBC News reported Trump’s incoming administration plans to rescind a long-standing “sensitive locations policy” previously prohibiting the arrest of unauthorized migrants – except under certain circumstances – at churches, schools, and hospitals.

Appleby said the U.S. bishops are facing a critical moment that will “test the resolve of the church.” While statements of solidarity are helpful, Appleby said plans for direct action – including direct support and legal assistance to immigrant families – are required.

“If Trump fully implements this,” Appleby predicted, “it’s going to impact the life of the church. You’re going to have ICE agents outside the Mass door. You certainly will see some immigrants seek sanctuary in their parishes. And it will put the bishops in a difficult position with the government.”

“We have a pope who is a strong defender of migrants,” Appleby said. “And hopefully, the U.S. church will reflect that in their response to this massive deportation plan.”

(Kimberley Heatherington writes for OSV News from Virginia.)

What does the church teach about immigration and deportation?

What is Catholic spirituality?

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THINGS OLD AND NEW
By Ruth Powers
The new year is the traditional time for taking stock and making resolutions for positive change. In addition to the usual things like lose weight, get more exercise, and the like, some of us may have made a decision to try to focus on improving the spiritual aspect of our lives. In this era when so many people say that they are “spiritual but not religious,” we may begin to wonder exactly what “spirituality” is, and furthermore, is there a specifically Catholic spirituality.

Ruth Powers

In its broadest definition spirituality is the combination of praying and living. It is the way in which our relationship with God plays out in our day to day lives and informs our life choices. Most people think of spirituality in terms of one’s private relationship with God, a view strongly influenced by Protestant ideas of spirituality. However, in Catholicism it also includes our acts of public group worship specifically the Mass and the Divine Office (Liturgy of Hours), both of which are meant to unite us in the worship of God.

Another thing to understand is that it isn’t correct to refer to spirituality as if it is a single approach to the Catholic relationship with God and prayer. Instead, it is more appropriate to speak of “spiritualities” – ways of relating to God that grew out of different communities at different periods of the church’s history. Some faded away or developed into other forms. Others have stood the test of time and continue to be important today. (More on this below.) They do all have one very important thing in common: Christ is the center and model of any true approach to spirituality.

Jesus is the focus of all true Christian Spirituality. Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son and second person of the Trinity, took on our humanity in order to redeem us from our fallen state caused by the disobedience of our first parents. As a result of this disobedience, we are born “good but wounded” (different from Protestant viewpoint that we are born depraved) and Jesus came to make it possible for us to be healed of this wound by God’s grace.

Throughout his ministry Jesus spoke about his mission being to accomplish the will of the Father. That was his sole focus. (John 5:19,30 and John 6:38) Since authentic Catholic spirituality also asks us to imitate Jesus, it centers on the process of surrendering one’s own will to the will of God, and daily seeking to know and accomplish God’s will rather than our own. In knowing and accomplishing God’s will, we find the ultimate source of purpose and life. (Matthew 7:21 and John 6:40) Any form of prayer or spiritual devotion that does not ultimately lead us to Christ, whether it be Marian devotion, devotion to one of the Saints, or whatever, is a false spirituality.

There are many approaches to spirituality accepted by the church. Different people may respond better to one approach or the other, or some combination of approaches. Below is an overview of just three examples of well-known spiritual schools within the broader range of Catholic spirituality.

Monastic/Ascetic Spirituality – This approach is most often associated with St. Benedict, but its roots actually go back into the early days of the church when the Desert Fathers removed themselves from the temptations of society in order to concentrate their whole lives on prayer, study of scripture and union with God. Some characteristics of monastic/ascetic spirituality include an emphasis on “getting away” from everyday life to spend time in quiet prayer and spiritual reading; contemplative prayer seeking union with God (strong in all Catholic spiritual traditions, “centering prayer” is a modern form of this); and disciplining the body through things like fasting and other forms of self-denial to focus on eliminating sinful impulses.

Incarnational Spirituality – This approach to spirituality is most often associated with St. Francis of Assisi and the great Franciscan scholars St. Bonaventure and Blessed John Duns Scotus, although aspects of it are part of other spiritual traditions as well. In Incarnational Spirituality the incarnation of Christ is not a “Plan B” which occurred in response to sin. Instead, the Incarnation was the plan for the beginning and represents the pinnacle of Creation, where God freely and out of supreme love takes on human nature: “the universe is for Christ and not Christ for the universe” and “He is the beginning, middle, and end of creation.” Love is the center of this spirituality. Duns Scotus and Bonaventure taught that the reason for the incarnation is love – Christ would still have come as the supreme manifestation of God’s love for the creation he freely brought about. Love is the center, not sin. Franciscans do not reject the theology of the atonement or the Cross. Rather, we seek to emphasize the aspect of the nature of God being love, but not to the point that we reject any theological teachings that are firmly rooted in the church, like the atonement. Our focus does not take away the role that the Cross played in redemption; rather, we focus on God’s love, rather than man’s sin. In addition, by seeing Christ as the center of all creation, Christ can be experienced in all of creation.

Spirituality of the Cross – This is the approach to spirituality that most Catholics probably know best. It says that the Cross is where we find the ultimate source of meaning and the explanation of God’s saving that “through suffering and death we come to new life.” The spirituality of the Cross centers on the reality of the redemptive value of suffering and the realization that moments of pain and death have been given meaning and transformed by the death of Christ into the means of our salvation. Out of this approach have come some of the greatest and best-known spiritual writers in the history of the church – Thomas Aquinas, Theresa of Avila, John of the Cross and Ignatius of Loyola.

(Ruth Powers is the program coordinator for The Basilica of St. Mary in Natchez.)

Go where Jesus is not

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FROM THE HERMITAGE
By sister alies therese
Have you ever considered joining the Peace Corps, Teach for America, or the Jesuit Volunteer Corps? Maybe you are an alum of one of these and have a few stories to tell? Maybe your service changed your life or the lives of others. Maybe your participation fulfilled a dream … a dream you’d had to serve others? Just perhaps.

We have turned into a new year, a Holy Year of Hope, where we have been asked to become intentional pilgrims. “Not all people are blessed with true vision. Some may spend a lifetime searching, building dream upon dream.” (Ellen Raskin, Figgs & Phantoms). There is a certain hopefulness in the notion of dreaming. Our Scriptures are full of dreamers. Some of them were also big actors and I suspect that is what the Holy Father is calling us to … not just dreaming, but acting.

sister alies therese

Having said that: go where Jesus is not. Go and fill a void where the aches and pains of humanity cry out as loudly as John the Baptist. “dreaming of eating will not satisfy the hungry.” (African proverb) Voids are seeable and action is doable. Folks are often convinced if it is not big … then it is not worthy. Ugh, no. If it is for others in the Lord, it is hopeful. That is our goal to discover hope, to dispense hope, and to be transformed into a holy and hopeful people for God.

In searching out the void, the places where Jesus is not, we are on our long journey. There are some poor reasons to stop dreaming or to linger by the wayside, but we are called to press on both in our dreams and actions. For some, however, dangers and fears seem to block our journey. “Trying to find her way home was like a nightmare, where there is no possible way home and time stretches into infinity.” (Eleanor Cameron, The Court of the Stone Children)

Where is this void? Where is Jesus not? We say God is everywhere. True. But the absence of God, of Jesus in the lives of so many is undeniable. Let’s think about jails, prisons and death rows. Some individuals might be persons of faith for whom bad decisions landed them in an extreme situation and they can survive their incarceration based upon that. Others, however, are devoid of counsel, hope, indeed Jesus unless someone goes there, and cries out … Jesus can be here, even in this darkness. Letters, emails, phone calls break the void’s grip and open a new world of hope. And something, no, Someone replaces some of the anguish and some of the despair. Or consider your local nursing home/rehab center/mental health clinic. Often there are persons of faith who long to be back with their worshipping communities … alas they are now in a void, a place of darkness for them. Well, visits, letters, cards, calls, surprise packages … all break into that void and say, Jesus can be here, if you go. We can list many others … visiting the housebound, the deaf, children with cancer and their parents, homeless adolescents. Yes, we can also go overseas to pockets of poverty and injustice.

The call is to go where Jesus is not. In our own country, the dreams of various peoples were squelched for decades and still impact many. Hunger and poverty is disgustingly abundant in our nation. What dream do you have where hope can bring something bigger and better to millions? Or to that one family down the block, or those school kids in your district, or by national legislation? Some folks have lost their dream, and the reality of hope is slim. “I have lost my dream! And it was such a beautiful dream! It sang, and shouted, and glittered, and sparkled – and I’ve lost it! Somebody pulled it away, out of reach, just as I woke up.” (Joan Aiken, The Last Slice of Rainbow) To lose one’s dream, the dream of food for breakfast, or the dream of serving, is demoralizing. That people will dream for generations of freedom, equality and justice only to have these and other virtues slashed from their reach is wicked.

On the other hand, every generation seems to have a person or two who rises and challenges the void, challenges the anguish, and goes where Jesus is not so that the dreams of others might grow in hope. When you go where Jesus is not, you can be sure of criticism, ridicule and even danger.

Besides the Lord, Jesus, Himself, in our recent history I thought of these two: Langston Hughes, an African American poet, who in Dreams, wrote, “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, Life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” And it does not just not fly for others, it will not fly for you either. Secondly, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who as a civil rights leader and pastor spoke in his famous ‘Dream Speech’, “…I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons/daughters of former slaves and former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.” Both these men went where Jesus was not more than once and deposited the gift of hope into the hearts of many.

Where will your pilgrimage take you this year? Where will hope and the fulfillment of dreams take place, for you and others? How will you more deeply root your prayer in hope, deepening your trust that if you go to where Jesus is not, He will arrive through you?
Blessings.

(Sister alies therese is a canonically vowed hermit with days formed around prayer and writing.)

Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children: January 22

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Information and graphic from USCCB.

The over 60 million abortions since the 1973 decisions of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton reflect with heartbreaking magnitude what Pope Francis means by a “throwaway culture.” However, we have great trust in God’s providence. We are reminded time and again in Scripture to seek the Lord’s help, and as people of faith, we believe that our prayers are heard.

And while, on June 24, 2022, the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturned Roe v. Wade, right now state and federal laws, in many instances, are still hostile to preborn children. So, great prayer and advocacy is still very needed.

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, no. 373, designates January 22 as a particular day of prayer and penance, called the “Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children”: “In all the Dioceses of the United States of America, January 22 (or January 23, when January 22 falls on a Sunday) shall be observed as a particular day of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life and of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion.”

Calendar of Events

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SPIRITUAL ENRICHMENT
GLUCKSTADT – St. Joseph, Millions of Monicas – Praying with confidence for our children, each Tuesday from 6:30-7:30 p.m. in the church. Join with other mothers and grandmothers as we pray for our children’s faithful return to the church. Details: email millionsofmonicas@stjosephgluckstadt.com.
Knights of Columbus – Grow in your faith with five short videos produced by the Knights of Columbus called the “Mission of The Family.” The Mission of the Family” videos can be found at https://www.kofc.org/en/campaigns/into-the-breach.html. Videos are less than 14 minutes in length.

OFFICE OF CATHOLIC EDUCATION – The OCE hosts a Zoom Rosary the first Wednesday of each month during the school year at 7 p.m. On Feb. 5, Sacred Heart Catholic School will lead us in prayer. Join early and place your intentions in the chat. Details: Join the rosary via zoom at https://bit.ly/zoomrosary2024.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – School Sisters of Notre Dame invite single women to a discernment retreat Feb. 21-23, 2025, at their Sancta Maria in Ripa campus. Details: Pre-registration by Feb. 7, is requested. There is no cost for participation. Private rooms with restroom provided; all meals included. Some assistance with transportation costs is available if needed. Details: email sisters@ssnd.org or call (314) 633-7026.

PILGRIMAGE – Pilgrimage to Marian Shrines (Fatima, Spain and Lourdes) with Father Lincoln Dall and Deacon John McGregor, Sept, 15-24, 2025. Details: for more information visit www.206tours.com/frlincoln.

PILGRIMAGE – Pilgrimage to Rome, Assisi, Lisbon and Fatima with Father Carlisle Beggerly, Oct. 4-15, 2025. Cost: $5,799 per person (includes airfare from anywhere in the U.S.) Details: contact Pat Nause at (601) 604-0412; Proximo Travel at (855) 842-8001 or proximotravel.com. Mention trip #1181.

PARISH, FAMILY & SCHOOL EVENTS
COLUMBUS – Annunciation School, Mardi Gras Masquerade – Draw Down and Art Auction, Friday, Feb. 28 from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Details: school office (662) 328-4479.

FLOWOOD – St. Paul, Annual Drawdown, Saturday, Feb. 15 at The Ivy. Theme is “The Roaring Twenties.” Details: church office (601) 992-9547.

GREENWOOD – St. Francis of Assisi, Mardi Gras Ball 2025, Saturday, Feb. 15, at the Civic Center. Details: church office (662) 453-0623 or email sfgwparish@gmail.com.

JACKSON – St. Richard, Krewe de Cardinal, Saturday, Feb. 15 at the Westin Jackson. At this Mardi Gras inspired event, our parents, friends and supporters Laizzez le bon temps rouler in grand fashion! The food and drinks are second to none. The entertainment is top notch, and the auction items are out of this world! This is one party you definitely do not want to miss! Details: visit https://bit.ly/3E1y9Mr for more information and register for the silent auction at https://one.bidpal.net/krewe/welcome.

MADISON – St. Joseph School, $10,000 Draw Down, Saturday, Jan. 25 from 6-10 p.m. at Reunion Golf Club. Details: visit www.stjoebruins.com/drawdown.

MERIDIAN – St. Patrick, Dinner and Dancing, Saturday, Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. in the Family Life Center. Tickets $30. Dress in your Sunday best for a Valentine’s weekend intimate night of fine dining and romantic melodies. Ages 21+. Details: church office (601) 693-1321.

DIOCESE
STARKVILLE – Campus Ministry Winter Retreat, Saturday, Feb. 1 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at St. Joseph Starkville. Join college students from across the diocese for a day of fellowship, games, prayer, song, scripture, Mass and more. Cost: $20. Details: register at https://bit.ly/3OoES58.

WORLD MARRIAGE DAY – Event recognizes couples celebrating anniversaries in 2025 – 25th, 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th+. Celebrations held in Jackson at the Cathedral of St. Peter on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 1 p.m. and in Tupelo at St. James on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 5 p.m. Details: debbie.tubertini@jacksondiocese.org.

YOUTH – DCYC, March 21-23, 2025 at the Vicksburg Convention Center. Theme is “Here I am Lord Work in Me.” Register by Feb. 21, contact your parish to register. Details: contact your individual parish offices or contact Abbey at (601) 949-6934 or abbey.schuhmann@jacksondiocese.org.

FEATURE PHOTO: … This Little Light of Mine …

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JACKSON – On Saturday, Dec. 21, the Sister Thea Bowman School choir, with assistance from St. Joe choir members, perform “This Little Light of Mine” at a special Mass at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle with Bishop Joseph Kopacz in honor of the dedication of the new bronze statue of Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman, a gift of the bishops of the Province of Mobile. (Photo by Joanna Puddister King)

La Palabra de Dios: lámpara para nuestros pies y luz para nuestras vidas

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Por Obispo Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
Cada año, el tercer domingo del Tiempo Ordinario, la Iglesia celebra el Domingo de la Palabra de Dios. Esta conmemoración anual comenzó con Aperuit illis, una carta apostólica del Papa Francisco publicada el 30 de septiembre de 2019, fiesta de San Jerónimo, instituyendo esta observancia anual. El Domingo de la Palabra de Dios está dedicado a la elevación de las Sagradas Escrituras en todo el mundo católico, al tiempo que fomenta un amor más generalizado por la Palabra de Dios a diario.

Obispo Joseph R. Kopacz

El primer domingo de la Palabra de Dios ocurrió el 26 de enero de 2020, y la observancia de este año tendrá lugar el 25 y 26 de enero. El Papa dijo que escribió la carta apostólica en respuesta a las peticiones de todo el mundo de celebrar la Palabra de Dios de una manera muy especial. Con el tiempo, es el deseo del Papa Francisco y de muchos en la Iglesia que el Domingo de la Palabra de Dios sea tan central para la cultura y la imaginación católica como lo es la Solemnidad del Santísimo Cuerpo y Sangre de Cristo.

Este ferviente deseo fue expresado hace 60 años en el Concilio Vaticano II. “Los tesoros de la Biblia deben abrirse más generosamente, para que se pueda proporcionar una comida más rica a los fieles en la mesa de la palabra de Dios”. (Sacrosanctum Concilium) Los Padres conciliares han señalado que las Sagradas Escrituras impregnan ya toda la liturgia, a menudo un tesoro escondido a plena vista. “La Sagrada Escritura es de la mayor importancia en la celebración de la liturgia. Porque es de la Escritura que se leen y explican las lecciones en la homilía, y se cantan los salmos; Las oraciones, las colectas y los cantos litúrgicos son bíblicos en su inspiración y su fuerza, y es de las Escrituras de donde derivan su significado las acciones y los signos. Por tanto, es esencial promover el amor cálido y vivo a la Escritura, del que da testimonio la venerable tradición de los ritos orientales y occidentales”. (Sacrosanctum Concilium)

La Palabra de Dios es esencial para el Renacimiento Eucarístico porque, a través de su proclamación se escucha en la asamblea de los fieles, el Espíritu Santo que inspira fe y prepara nuestros corazones y mentes para la comunión con el Cuerpo y la Sangre del Señor y nos capacita en nuestra vida diaria para vivir con la mente y el corazón de Jesucristo. El período de ayuno antes de la Misa y la recepción de la Sagrada Comunión tiene la intención de agudizar nuestra atención y enfoque, y cultivar el hambre y la sed de la Palabra viva de Dios y de la recepción de la Eucaristía.

En efecto, la búsqueda de la renovación de la Iglesia encuentra su fuerza en la Misa: “La Madre Iglesia desea vivamente que todos los fieles sean conducidos a la participación plena y activa en las celebraciones litúrgicas, que exige la naturaleza misma de la liturgia. La participación del pueblo cristiano en la medida en que es su derecho y deber en razón de su bautismo”. Escuchar la Palabra de Dios y ponerla en práctica es el corazón de la participación plena y consciente.

Son sobresalientes las sagradas escrituras que se proclamarán el domingo de la Palabra de Dios. Desde el Libro de Nehemías, la asamblea de Israel se reunió para renovar su Pacto con Dios a través de la proclamación de la ley. La carta de Pablo a los corintios ilustra a la iglesia como un organismo vivo, el cuerpo, compuesto por muchos miembros. A la luz de este pasaje, sabemos que, en cada reunión en nuestras iglesias, proclamamos a los cielos que la iglesia es un cuerpo viviente que da gloria a Dios.

Por último, el Evangelio de san Lucas sita a Jesús en la sinagoga de Nazaret, donde había crecido, anunciando un Año jubilar de esperanza para todo el pueblo con una efusión de buenas nuevas, libertad y vista. Que la Palabra de Dios cumpla su propósito en nuestras vidas como una lámpara para nuestros pies y una luz para los ojos de nuestros corazones y mentes.

Dios no rechaza ni olvida a nadie, dice el Papa en la fiesta de Epifanía

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By Carol Glatz
CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) – Así como la estrella sobre Belén llamó y acogió a todos para que encontraran a Jesús recién nacido, hoy Dios llama a los fieles a acoger a todos, creando espacios seguros y abiertos para encontrar calor y cobijo, dijo el Papa Francisco.

La estrella está en el cielo no para permanecer lejana e inalcanzable, dijo, “sino para que su luz sea visible a todos, para que llegue a cada casa y rompa todas las barreras, llevando esperanza hasta los rincones más remotos y olvidados del planeta”, afirmó.

“Está en el cielo para decir a todos, con su luz generosa, que Dios no se niega a nadie y no olvida a nadie”, dijo el Papa el 6 de enero, al celebrar la Misa de la fiesta de la Epifanía en la Basílica de San Pedro.
“Dios no se revela a círculos exclusivos o a unos pocos privilegiados, Dios ofrece su compañía y su guía a quien lo busca con corazón sincero”, dijo en su homilía. “Dios busca a todos, siempre”.

“Y cuánto bien nos hace hoy meditar sobre esto, en un tiempo donde las personas y las naciones, aunque dotadas de medios de comunicación cada vez más poderosos, parecen estar menos dispuestas a entenderse, aceptarse y encontrarse en su diversidad”, afirmó.

Por eso, muchos belenes representan a los Magos “con características que abarcan todas las edades y todas las razas” para caracterizar a las muchas personas diferentes que hay en la tierra, dijo el Papa Francisco.

El Papa Francisco pronuncia su homilía durante la Misa en la fiesta de la Epifanía en la Basílica de San Pedro en el Vaticano el 6 de enero de 2025. (Foto CNS/Lola Gomez)

Dios “nos llama a poner fin a cualquier forma de preferencia, marginación o rechazo de las personas; y a promover entre nosotros y en los ambientes en que vivimos, una fuerte cultura de la acogida en la que los cerrojos del miedo y del rechazo sean reemplazados por los espacios abiertos del encuentro, de la integración y del compartir: lugares seguros, donde todos puedan encontrar calor y refugio”, dijo.

Dios no rechaza ni olvida a nadie porque “es un Padre cuya alegría más grande es ver a sus hijos que vuelven a casa”, dijo. “Verlos tender puentes, allanar senderos, buscar a los perdidos y cargar sobre sus hombros a los que tienen dificultades para caminar. Para que nadie quede fuera y todos participen en la alegría de su casa”.

“La estrella nos habla del sueño de Dios: que toda la humanidad, en la riqueza de sus diferencias, llegue a formar una sola familia y viva unida en la prosperidad y la paz”, dijo.

La estrella de Belén es la luz del amor de Dios, dijo, y “es la única luz que nos hará felices”.

Esta luz del amor de Dios “con el que también nosotros estamos llamados a entregarnos mutuamente, convirtiéndonos con su ayuda en un signo recíproco de esperanza, incluso en las noches oscuras de la vida”, afirmó.

“Que el Señor nos transforme así en luces que guíen a Él”, dijo.

Hablando del actual Año Santo y de la práctica jubilar de peregrinar, el Papa dijo: “a luz de la estrella nos invita a realizar un viaje interior que, como escribía Juan Pablo II (para el Gran Jubileo del Año 2000), libere nuestro corazón de todo lo que no es caridad, para ‘encontrar plenamente a Cristo, confesando nuestra fe en él y recibiendo la abundancia de su misericordia’”.

Mientras el Papa Francisco y miles de personas asistían a la Misa en la Basílica de San Pedro, otros miles se alineaban en el bulevar principal que conduce a la Plaza de San Pedro para la tradicional y folclórica celebración de la Epifanía. Bandas de música y personas vestidas con trajes renacentistas desfilaron por la calle detrás de los Reyes Magos a caballo.

Antes de rezar el Ángelus a mediodía en la plaza, el Papa dijo: “Pidamos a la Virgen María que nos ayude para que, imitando a los pastores y a los Reyes Magos, seamos capaces de reconocer a Jesús cerca de nosotros, en la Eucaristía, en los pobres, en los abandonados, en nuestros hermanos y hermanas”, dijo.