“God not only walks with his people, but also in his people, in the sense that he identifies himself with the men and women walking through history – in particular with the last, the poor, the marginalized –, as if prolonging the mystery of the Incarnation”.
He writes it Pope, in the message for the 110th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, which will be celebrated on 29 September, on the theme: “God walks with his people”. “For this reason, the encounter with the migrant, as with every brother and sister who is in need, is also an encounter with Christ”, explains Francis: “He told us so himself. It is he who knocks on our door hungry, thirsty, foreigner, naked, sick, imprisoned, asking to be met and assisted.”
“In this sense, the poor save us, because they allow us to encounter the face of the Lord“, comments the Pope, who concludes his message with a prayer “for all those who have had to abandon their land in search of dignified living conditions”: “God, almighty Father, we are your pilgrim Church on the journey towards the Kingdom of Heaven. We each live in our own homeland, but as if we were foreigners. Every foreign region is our homeland, yet every homeland is a foreign land for us. We live on earth, but we have our citizenship in heaven. Do not allow us to become masters of that portion of the world that you have given us as a temporary home. Help us to never stop walking, together with our migrant brothers and sisters, towards the eternal home that you have prepared for us. Open our eyes and our hearts so that every encounter with those in need becomes an encounter with Jesus, your Son and our Lord.”
