Genesis 12: 1-9
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
...so that you will be a blessing.
As people of faith, migration is foundational to who we are. The seminal migration story of Abram and Sarai is first among many that are told throughout the generations of Scripture. To be reminded of this in the current geo-socio-political milieu offers us an opportunity to consider how we hold the tension between discipleship and citizenship.
The story also marks the beginning of God’s covenant with Abraham and Sarah and their descendants – they will go from their country, their kindred, and their father’s house…and they will be a blessing. The story affords us an opportunity to situate ourselves in our ongoing journey of faith as we respond to the signs of the times. In light of the brokenness of our world, how am I being called to be a blessing?
—Ann Holmquist serves as the Vice President for Mission at Loyola High School of Los Angeles.
Prayer
Inspire us, as nations, communities and individuals, to see that those who come to our shores are our brothers and sisters.
May we share with them the blessings we have received from your hand, and recognize that together, as one human family, we are all migrants, journeying in hope to you, our true home, where every tear will be wiped away, where we will be at peace and safe in your embrace.
—Excerpted from A Pope's Prayer for Immigrants by Pope Francis
Pray with the Pope
Pray with the monthly prayer intentions of the pope.