Befriend the Alien
“So you too must befriend the alien,
for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.”Deuteronomy 10:19
Befriend the alien. What was Moses talking about? What am I talking about? Are we saying if we see green Martians coming out of disc-shaped aircrafts we should welcome them and be nice to them? No (but if that were the case, I guess we should too…!) Moses was reminding the Israelites who they were and where they were from. We must always remember how we got to where we are today. Who are those people that have helped us along the way? We must never forget them. In the same way, we must do the same for others.
Usually the term alien is used to refer to foreigners, to those who are not citizens of a particular country. When my parents immigrated to the United States from Hong Kong they were referred to as aliens before they became U.S. citizens. Several decades later when my aunts, uncles, and cousins came over they too were called aliens and had alien registration numbers. We are called to extend our hospitality towards aliens. We are called to be Christian to them. After all, as Catholic Christians to do otherwise would be contrary to our name for “catholic” means universal. Our Christian charity is to be extended to all peoples.
Who were the people in our lives that helped us get on our feet? Who were those who encouraged us and supported us along the way? Let us thank them today, and let us honor them by doing the same for those around us. We do not need to look far to help an “alien.” Do our neighbors need help? Is there someone at work with whom I have not been getting along that maybe I should try to say hello to? Is there someone in our family with whom we had an argument and are not on speaking terms? Is a friend struggling with something that maybe checking in and letting them know we are here might help? Let us never forget that we too are aliens in this land for we do not belong to the world because our true citizenship is in heaven. But since we are living in this land, let us do our best to let Christ and His love be known to all.
