Comments on: Thursday 3/16/2017 Beware the Strangers at Your Door!

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 16 Mar 2017 20:29:48 +0000

Hey Mary,

Would you flee from adversity or fight for what you thought was right? By leaving are you solving the problem?
That being said, today’s Gospel was about ignoring a problem. The Rich Man and Lazarus represent a problem with the Jewish religion at that time. Both of the characters were choosen for a specific reason. Dig a little deeper and find out why.

Mark

By: Mary Ortwein

Mary Ortwein — Thu, 16 Mar 2017 16:16:30 +0000

Today’s reflection has sparked some wonderful comments. For clarification, I did not mean to imply that tending to the stranger includes welcoming those who have a track record of violence or connection with terrorist or other extreme organizations. However, in reference to Syrians, those who come are not extremists, they have always been carefully screened, and, for the most part, they have suffered at the hands of the extremists, too.

Maureen’s comments give me much pause. I have several friends from Nigeria. It is a land embattled in many ways. The risks I take to live my faith are nothing compared to the lived risks and frequent dangers in parts of Nigeria. When I say I do not want to be a martyr because I do not trust that I could be in those circumstances without bitterness, anger, and maybe vengeance, I am thinking of Nigeria and similar parts of the world. I have not been tried at that level. You, Maureen, and others in your situations deserve our prayers, because you are on the firing lines of faith.

I think the stirrings and questionings in several of us today (including me) are like the stirrings and questionings that swirled around Jesus. He said, “Love your neighbor” and told the story of the Good Samaritan. On the cross he said, “Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing,” but out in the streets he debated and questioned the scribes and Pharisees. He asked people to THINK about their faith and apply principles of faith to real life situations. That is what we all are doing today! THANKS to all who have contributed to the discussion!
Mary

By: John

John — Thu, 16 Mar 2017 14:03:05 +0000

Mary, thank you for sharing your experiences. But I have to disagree to a point. While I agree that we are called to love the stranger in our midst as individuals, this is very different than asking our nation to be blind to the risks of open admission of all strangers who come to our borders. While we as individuals can make choices as to those risks we are willing to take, I would not expect the nation to make those choices for us by practicing open admission.
I think about how a refugee to the country would feel if, after having fled the violence of their homeland, our country does not take the steps to minimize the risk of bringing the very people these refugees are fleeing from back into their lives here in the US.
As individuals we must welcome the stranger. As a nation we must take care to protect those within its borders.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Thu, 16 Mar 2017 12:35:36 +0000

Beautiful reflection, Mary. Thank you for everything you do to help every Lazarus you encounter through your work. You’re an inspiration.

By: MAUREEN

MAUREEN — Thu, 16 Mar 2017 10:26:25 +0000

Thank you Mary for this uplifting reflection and i cant agree with you less.
I have always been a Catholic all of my life but left and I was brought back to the fold renewed. As I wake up everyday trusting God for new revelations in small things, my eyes and thoughts have always been opened to see.

On “loving your neighbor as yourself”, I have wondered why children of the bondwoman will sneak into a community and wipe the entire locality to the extent that the nation is being threatened with famine and our dear leaders aren’t envisioning the repercussion for selfish reasons.
I have heard about series of mass killings in my community by ‘strangers’ who have been hosted and accommodated in the spirit of loving your neighbor as yourself, I am embittered that the insurgency is getting out of hand. A documentary i watched at the early hours of one morning revealed that even my own ancestral origin could not be definite as the presenter guessed that my race must have originated from either of the two localities she mentioned and my peace was restored at that point in time, knowing that we also migrated from some place. My drift is that haven’t heard of my people being callous or murdering for others to live…
I also do not pray to be martyred but the sights of murders we see makes one to wonder where ‘these’ dare murderers would find any person in this part of the world (Nigeria) except to invite everyone to continue praying for the persecuted Christians, homeless, the needy and and peace all over the whole world.
Thanks for sharing!

By: Tommy.

Tommy. — Thu, 16 Mar 2017 09:54:22 +0000

Thursday 3/16 2017.
Mary thank you for your reflection on ‘ Strangers at my door ‘

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Mar 2017 08:43:37 +0000

Sometime back, my brother died suddenly from a heart attack. He had a few possessions here and there but when he went, my siblings and i realised that his possessions where nothing. They coud not talk to us like our brother did or care for us! Its then that i learnt that there was nothing in this world so important like a human being. And my prayer everyday when i get out of the house is that i learn to love God and my neighbour.

Thanks Mary for sharing

By: Aloysius Ugwu

Aloysius Ugwu — Thu, 16 Mar 2017 06:20:22 +0000

Yours is quit touching. We need to pray for discernment to know true strangers and the strangers in Wolves’ skin. Truly, there are many Lazarus in our midst, but one needs the guidance of the Holy Spirit to know them because a particular religion wouldn’t want those outside it to live. If not for the problems they are facing, truly they hate Christians with passion. Nevertheless LOVE of God conquers all.

Thanks Mary.