Sunday, 19 June 2011

QUINTE INTERFAITH REFUGEE SPONSORSHIP COMMITTEE REFLECTION

Many people will remember the late 70's and the boat people of Vietnam. That's the time I became active with sponsorship of refugees. It was a clear opportunity to live my faith. I am grateful that I have had this opportunity. In the 1980's I was the priest founder of a Spanish language Mass in Scarborough serving Salvadoran and Nicaraguan refugees. I give thanks for that.

Long before I came to live in Belleville I had heard about the work of the Quinte Interfaith Refugee Sponsorship Committee (QIRSC) from my friends Mieke and Tom Thorne. The committee has a history of well over a decade of work and has sponsored five families in that time. For the past 8 months I have been a member of the committee myself. I have been impressed by the care they take with raising funds and making every effort to support their current sponsored family in all aspects of entrance into life here in Belleville.

Welcoming others has its evident rewards. Mieke and Tom had a history of opening their home to welcome others. Their generousity has blessed them with friends from all over the world.

Why do we welcome refugees? We welcome refugees because it makes sense to do so. I am not thinking here merely of a rational pro and con type of sense. Rather, to welcome refugees makes deep religious and cultural sense. The newcomers to this land of harsh winters only survived because native peoples opened up their tribal circles to the French and the British. With John Ralston Saul I have come to see Canada as founded in the pattern of the native Talking Circle.

Let us face the fact that we are all refugees. Our ancestors were all refugees. We are descended from those who left Africa. We are spiritual descendents of the people of Israel who were refugees out of Egypt: "You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 19:34).

We are descended from the Loyalists fleeing threat in the newly independent American states. We are descended from the boat people fleeing famine in Ireland. We are descended from those escaping Bismark's armies, Stalin's purges, Hitler's genocidal aggression and the devestation and scarcities of post-war Europe.



Each Christmas we re-live the story of Joseph and Mary seeking a place where the couple can pass the night and where Mary can give birth to Jesus. We want to be among those who would welcome the holy family. In a globalized world of many traditions we want to be people of the Golden Rule -- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Those working with the Quinte Interfaith Refugee Sponsorship Committee give thanks for the opportunity they have had to welcome refugees. Thank you Rednersville-Albury United Church for supporting the work of this committee.

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