But because he wished to justify himself
When I’m not assigned the noon Mass, or have some other pastoral responsibility, I go to the Don Bosco Community Center (DBCC) to help at the soup kitchen. It’s less than a ten minute walk from the parish offices. On an average day we serve about 200 meals. During the pandemic it was all take out (not to boast, but during the lock downs we were the only soup kitchen in the area to remain open). Now that we’re serving in the dining room again, I’d guess it’s about a third sit down and two thirds to go.
The numbers usually go down over the summer, then ramp up again when the weather gets cold. I wasn't around much over July and August, but I'm told the numbers stayed high, surpassing 300 meals a day. The last few weeks have been closer to normal, but there is still anxiety over what the winter will bring.
We get food donated, but mainly buy the food we use. Prices are going up. Cash donations are down. There's already been talk in the news of food shortages in the coming months. There is real anxiety over how we're going to make it.
It's no secret that Port Chester has a large Latino community, and is also a destination for migrants flying into Westchester Airport. The latest news is that the flights into Westchester are tapering off while arrivals into Orange County are ramping up. We have more people coming to us for food, clothing and housing (we don't house people, but give leads on where they might be able to find housing).
The Gospel reading the Mass today is the story of the Good Samaritan. As a friend of mine pointed out, it is used by many now as a call to help the "foreigner and victim." We forget that the one helping the man fell victim to robbers was the hated foreigner and the one receiving the help was a fellow countryman. It was members of his own community who refused to help, using their religious obligations an excuse. The story is meant to remind us that we don't have a corner on morality. The person we disagree with over this issue or another isn't necessarily a cold hearted so and so. Conversely, we are not necessarily on the side of the angels just because we think we are right.
What does this have to do with our needs at the Center? My time working with the homeless and migrants, not just here but in other parishes, has led me to believe that we think that as Catholics we are responding to these issues with Gospel based solutions, when in reality we too often parrot political talking points. In order to justify ourselves we cherry pick lines from the Scriptures, Catechism and Magisterial documents looking for the right "proof test" that supports our point of view. We fail to see that the answers aren't easy, and don't fit a neat party platform, much less lawn sign bromides.
I have a homeless man in front of me. What should I do? Give him money? I know many who say yes, even knowing the risk he may use it on drugs or alcohol. But what if he's found dead the next morning not too far from your door? I'm not speaking hypothetically here. I'm not saying don't give him the money. Maybe he really will buy a sandwich this time. What I am saying is that you shouldn't necessarily judge the person who choses not to.
We have migrant families who need food, shelter and clothes. Of course we care for them. I don't ask how they got here. I'm not an immigration agent. I know young people, here since they were toddlers. They've never been to their birth country since leaving. They are American in every way except they don't have legal status. Some even served in the U.S. military, but still don't have citizenship. Can't we do something for them? Is the solution really to deport them? I know families where some siblings have status, others do not, or one spouse has status the other does not. Is it just separate families?
Some will say they came illegally, therefor they should be deported. Unpopular opinion: Our country can control the boarder if it wants to. For various reasons these people, in most cases, were allowed in, and are treated like political and economic pawns. It's hypocritical to treat them like criminals by the same government that encouraged them to break the law to begin with.
At the same, are open boarders really the answer? I lived three years in Mexico. I know how protective that government is of their boarder. Is human and drug trafficking more or less likely to grow when boarder enforcement is relaxed? Are migrants more or less exploited where there are no controls?
Yes, we need to help the foreigner and victim. Yes, we should welcome the stranger. Yes, the system needs to be reformed. But maybe we need to understand the deeper meaning of the parable of the Good Samaritan; that none of us has all the answers, and a sense unearned moral superiority is in truth a form of moral blindness.
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