7th Sunday Year C - Homily 2

 Homily 2 - 2019

How do we maintain our humanity over time in the face of constant pressure otherwise from the media and, sadly, from so many politicians? What I have in mind is the heartless way we have treated asylum-seekers, specifically boat-people, in recent years. Why have they been singled out while we hear absolutely nothing about those who arrive by air? How is it that boat-arrivals are made out to be security risks, possible terrorists, drug-dealers or bearers of exotic diseases while their counterparts who arrive by other means of transport arouse no such suspicions? It is hard not to suspect political reasons other than simple border protection. Give us voters some easily identifiable scapegoats, demonise them enough, kindle our fears and innate hostility, and we predictably fall into line behind whoever present themselves as the strong and fearless leaders.

What distresses me is that we so easily forget our legendary decency, our sensitivity for the underdog, our beautiful capacity to pull together and come to the aid of those in distress. Surely this is one of the great “Aussie values” that often the same politicians dutifully exhort us to protect and to cultivate? It also happens to be one instance of the key touchstone of all genuine Christian morality. It was Jesus, after all, who said, “Be compassionate as your heavenly Father is compassionate”.

I rejoice that here in the local district there are many people dedicating their time, energy and financial support to make refugees welcome; and so many others ready to support them. I have been around long enough to remember how Malcolm Fraser opened Australia’s borders to refugees fleeing for their lives from Vietnam. Here in our diocese we recently welcomed five recently ordained priests, all of them from overseas, some of whom are refugees, one who escaped from Vietnam to Indonesia by boat. They have come to our diocese for practical pastoral experience. Their time here, we hope, will not only be beneficial for them but for the rest of us as well. They join with the wonderful influx of migrants and refugees who enrich our Australian landscape with their skills, their enthusiasm and their uniqueness.

Certainly we need to take reasonable care that those who seek to settle here are not security threats, at least no more than those of us already here. I don’t doubt that our Border Force is up to the task, just as our police force manages to keep the rest of us in reasonable safety.

I wonder at times how it is in our modern age that, with the myriad labour-saving and time-saving devices at our disposal, most of us find we have less and less time to do all we want to do, with the consequence that many become more and more stressed and even fearful, particularly of strangers. Likewise, I also wonder why it is that, as communication has become easier with Facebook, etc., we tend to interact with ever more hostility. What is going on? Something seems obviously happening to society, and it is worrying.

Whatever about those who do not share our faith, are we disciples of Jesus losing focus? Have we lost our joy and our enthusiasm? Do we need consciously and deliberately to centre ourselves on Christ and take his message of love seriously? Do we need to rekindle a nourishing personal relationship with him, and allow his peace and his joy to saturate us once more? Welcoming the stranger is a far greater source of delight and fulfillment than excluding ever could be.