NEIGHBORS!
NEIGHBORS! Who are they? How do we relate to them? How should we respond?
Statistics from the US Census Bureau revealed that, on January 1, 2018, the US Population was 327-million people. That is just 4.4% of the world’s population. So what should be our perspective? Our communities are increasingly a microcosm of international influences and our neighborhoods bring diversity of our world’s population to our doorsteps.
Jesus instructs to be salt and light in the world:
“Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works,
And glorify your Father which is in heaven.” –Matthew 5:16
Our conduct toward those around us matters – to God and to them. Our care for our neighbors is an expression of our love for God.
Pedro Arrupe was a Jesuit priest with medical training. Born in the Basque region of Spain, he obeyed the call of God to serve others – and go wherever he was needed. In 1946, he was stationed as a novice master outside of Hiroshima, Japan. He used his medical background as a first responder to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima – without any consideration for the personal cost or physical danger. He was motivated by the love of God for his neighbors and applied his gifts and skills to demonstrate his faith. In 1979, deeply affected by the plight of the Vietnamese boat people, he began the Jesuit Refugee Service. As the leader of the Society of Jesus for nearly 20 years, he inspired many to work for justice for everyone, including those facing poverty and persecution whom he called “the voiceless and the powerless.”
Arrupe explained their mission from God as “called to go anywhere where we are most needed for the greater of good of God. The spiritual as well as the material need of more than 16 million neighbors who are refugees throughout the world today could scarcely be greater. God is calling us through these helpless people to be neighbors.” By 2017, the ministry he began in a crisis estimated that it had served more than40 million refugees. Truly Pedro Arrupe is an exemplar of sharing the light of Christ to our neighbors – whether next door, or in needy places around the world. God calls us to shine – to be loving as Christ would to our neighbors!
Arrupe said, “Nothing is more practical than finding God. That is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything.” His love for God brought a deep love for others and expanded his neighborhood to be those who were in deep need.
“The whole law is made complete in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Showing His love through our actions elevates His mission for our lives more than our agenda.
Think about it!
