By Shane Bennett<\/p>\n
If your head\u2019s spinning and your stomach hurts a little when you look around these days, you are not alone. There\u2019s enough craziness afoot to make the most stoic among us reach for the antacid. If it were just the wacky run up to the U.S. presidential election, that would be enough (for those of us living in the States). But big issues on many fronts lobby for worry space in our brains. The Bible says not to be afraid, so there must be a better way.<\/p>\n
In addition to prayers and tears (which might be among the best responses), I\u2019d like to pass on a huge, but eminently doable challenge. It will not be easy, but the payoff could be fantastic.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve probably heard what Pope Francis asked of Europe recently<\/a>: \u201cMay every parish, every religious community, every monastery, and every sanctuary in Europe host a family, starting with my diocese of Rome.\u201d<\/p>\n He went on to say, \u201cBefore the tragedy of tens of thousands of refugees fleeing death in conflict and hunger and are on a journey of hope, the gospel calls us to be close to the smallest and to those who have been abandoned.\u201d<\/p>\n He also underlined his challenge by saying his diocese in Rome would be first in line!<\/p>\n Putting the question of papal authority aside for a moment, let\u2019s ask: What about you and me? What about your stream of the faith? Your church? Your town? What if this challenge caught hold throughout the church in our country or even the global church? It\u2019s more of a hassle than the ice bucket challenge (see our article on the power of slacktivism<\/a>). Imagine, though, what could happen as a result!<\/p>\n I currently live in a little mountain town of a few hundred people. As part of our church\u2019s facility, we have six RV sites for campers. My pastor and I are scheming about finding an RV, putting it on one of the sites, and using it to house a refugee family for their first six months in the U.S.<\/p>\n What about your church? Do you have the faith, creativity, and energy to catalyze this among your people? Can you forward this to your denominational or association leaders?<\/p>\n In all honesty, when I raise my hand and say, \u201cOur church will take a family,\u201d I don\u2019t know who to say that to. I\u2019m pretty sure the Pope\u2019s not counting, although I can\u2019t wait until he lays this challenge on U.S. Catholics during his visit here in a couple of weeks. For starters, at least, go to We Welcome Refugees<\/a> (World Relief) and ask for more info.<\/p>\n Refugees will have difficulties, some will do bad things, and all have walked down paths most of us cannot begin to imagine. Our example is Jesus, who set his face toward Jerusalem, knowing at least in part the pain that awaited him there. Who defied social taboos by touching lepers, hanging with tax collectors, and extending grace to the guilty. Who for the joy set before him endured the cross.<\/p>\n \u00bb Please comment on this article on our website<\/a> or Facebook page<\/a> and share relevant information and updates. This is a complex and fluid situation. We can all benefit from all our wisdom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Shane Bennett If your head\u2019s spinning and your stomach hurts a little when you look around these days, you are not alone. There\u2019s enough craziness afoot to make the most stoic among us reach for the antacid. If it were just the wacky run up to the U.S. presidential election, that would be enough … Continue reading Say \u201cYes\u201d to the Pope: Could You or Your Church Host a Refugee Family?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-practical-mobilization"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5852"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6082,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5852\/revisions\/6082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The First Six Months<\/h3>\n
Yes, There Will Be Problems<\/h3>\n
Three Ways to Respond<\/h3>\n
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