Showing posts with label Gospel. Show all posts
Homelessness and Hospitality... ‘At Home’ Prayer Pack Is Ready!
Just in time for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees this Sunday, 18th January 2015, Jesuit Refugee Service UK, together with Christian Life Community, has prepared the JRS reflection guide on homelessness and hospitality: ‘At Home’ Prayer Pack!
With so much material wealth in modern societies, there are still many people whose livelihoods are not secured and thus have to worry about day-to-day survival, as you can find out in the prayer pack:
“It is not known how many asylum seekers are living destitute in our cities. Being ‘destitute’ means that you are not permitted to work or claim statutory benefits and so you become reliant on friends or charities to survive. This can happen while an asylum claim is being processed or has been refused.
We know that many rely on a hostel place, often short-term, or ‘sofa-surfing’ with friends or wider family members. Some sleep on the night buses, unable to lie down to sleep, or in doorways, fearful of violence or abuse. Daytimes can be a circuit of visits to day centres for hand-outs, meetings with lawyers and often waiting in libraries or other ‘anonymous’ public spaces.” - From the Prayer Pack
Along with practical help such as volunteering and giving donations, prayer is an excellent way of showing our genuine concern and solidarity for the destitute. Louise Zanré, Director of JRS UK says:
“Many of the people we accompany at JRS derive a great deal of strength and hope from their faith. They are always pleased when I tell them of church services or community prayers I know to be taking place during which refugees are prayed for. Praying for refugees is one way in which solidarity and care can be shown. What I hope you will be able to experience from using this prayer pack, either in a group or as an individual, is being able to enter at least a little into the experience of the people we accompany and those who host them in their homes. That prayerful encounter will provide solidarity, but will help deepen your awareness of some of the problems our refugee friends might have in their lives.”
We invite you to use this prayer pack and remember our brothers and sisters who need our acts of hospitality. These acts can take place in various ways and prayer is certainly one of them!
Packs are available to download as a pdf here.
An on-line version with spoken reflections and music is available at: www.pray-as-you-go.org.
To order a pack, please contact uk@jrs.net or call 020 7488 7310.
You can see the related news on JRS UK website at http://www.jrsuk.net/news/news2/index.php
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Let Us Pray on 18 January for Migrants and Refugees!
Louise Zanré, Director of JRS UK, invites us to dedicate time this New Year to pray in solidarity with refugees who face the year ahead with uncertainty. This reflection first appeared in the Catholic Universe newspaper.
For the people we accompany at Jesuit Refugee Service, a new year can be a time for dejection and tiredness, rather than filled with promise. A new year marks the passage of another year of waiting for a decision in an asylum claim; another year with no answer or certainty for the future. And they have already waited for a very long time, with no leave to remain, no permission to work and no access to benefits.
They put on a brave face, but the mood in our day centre is normally much quieter and much lower in January. The weather and the short days do not help; but the bravery is there and is for us so that we, the staff and volunteers at JRS, don't feel too bad.
For 101 years the Catholic Church has celebrated migrants and refugees with a special day of prayer, standing in solidarity with them and offering support and hope (on 18 January in the UK is year).
The message given by the Pope for the day of prayer for migrants and refugees is challenging. This year Pope Francis takes as his theme "Church without frontiers, Mother to all". He reminds us that the Church has no frontiers, but "a heart open to all". And he issues us with a challenge:
"The Church without frontiers, Mother to all, spreads throughout the world a culture of acceptance and solidarity, in which no one is seen as useless, out of place or disposable. When living out this motherhood effectively, the Christian community nourishes, guides and indicates the way, accompanying all with patience, and drawing close to them through prayer and works of mercy."
In order to be effective, this accompaniment has to be based on encounter:
"Migration movements, in fact, call us to deepen and strengthen the values needed to guarantee peaceful coexistence between persons and cultures. Achieving mere tolerance that respects diversity and ways of sharing between different backgrounds and cultures is not sufficient. This is precisely where the Church contributes to overcoming frontiers and encouraging the “moving away from attitudes of defensiveness and fear, indifference and marginalization … towards attitudes based on a culture of encounter, the only culture capable of building a better, more just and fraternal world” (Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2014)."
Many of the people attending our day centre derive a great deal of resilience from their faith and hope from the support offered to them by day centres, charities and people of good will they meet in their lives. The practical support, care and attention offered by these groups and individuals stand as a direct contrast to the anti-migrant messages we can see or hear in the media or from politicians. Without this practical support and kindness, lives would be more difficult, obstacles more insurmountable.
It is particularly important for us to show practical support and kindness, to demonstrate tolerance and acceptance, to be counter-cultural at the beginning of the year, when those we welcome find things more difficult. A good starting place is to say a prayer for migrants and refugees on 18 January, to spare a kind thought or another prayer for migrants and refugees whenever we see or hear anti-migrant stories. If we can we might also support with our time or financially a local project welcoming refugees and migrants. In this way we can shine as a beacon of hope and hospitality to those who may feel unwelcome and tired of waiting.
For more information about the work of JRS please phone 020-74887310 or go to www.jrsuk.net
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Advent, Christmas 2014
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| Photo by lednichenkoolga from foter.com |
Sister Marguerite, a
volunteer with JRS, reflects on joy and suffering at this special time of
Christmas.
Today
is Gaudete Sunday, a day of rejoicing,
of joy as we await the birth of
Jesus. So many thoughts run through my mind as I write. Pope Francis’ Apostolic
Encyclical, ‘Evangelli Gaudium’, the Joy
of the Gospel, the Joy of the Good News, calls me and challenges us to
be people of joy. But how can there
be joy when there is so much suffering
and conflict in our beautiful but broken world right now? One has only to
turn on the TV or read the newspapers about Syria ,
Iraq
Paradox
of suffering suffused with joy, of joy embracing suffering. It
is just over two years now since I started volunteering with the Jesuit Refugee
Service. Only yesterday the person I had been visiting at the detention center was
deported, the pain of walking with
him in his suffering. But I need to
balance it with the wonderful surprise of a phone call last week from another
who was given permission to stay, her refugee status granted and inviting her
home for a meal to celebrate and share in her joy. Another courageous young man with astounding faith is still
in a detention centre. Paradoxically, instead of draining my energy, visiting
him gives me life. A terrific life example of one suffering intensely but with such faith and courage that brings a
deep joy in embracing his cross.
They,
each one, edify and challenge me and give me much, much more than what I am or
try to do for them. And yet, so many are still smiling amidst their suffering,
some for long years and wow! Their faith and courage are amazing. I would
probably have crumbled if I were in their shoes. ‘I see better now and my eyes hurt.’ (Audre Lorde). To keep believing
that God has become human, He knows, He understands and He is in everything,
both our joys and our sufferings. To learn again the great
paradox that the deeper the pain carved,
the more radiant the joy. In today’s
reading at Mass, the prophet Isaiah is also speaking to me and all of us, ‘He
has sent me to bring good news to the
poor, to bind up hearts that are broken…I
exult for joy in the Lord.’ Meister
Eckhart said, ‘What good is it to me for our Creator to give birth to His Son,
if I do not also give birth to Him in my place, my time, my culture?’
As
Christians prepare to mark Christ’s birth we can find ways to be more aware of
God’s presence in our world and our own lives right here and now! May God grant
us the grace to learn to be more aware of Her/His incarnate presence in
everyone and every experience, in joy and
in suffering. Let us pray earnestly
for peace which our world is in such need of today. May the Prince of Peace
give me, you, all people, peace in our hearts and homes, which will flow out to
our communities and the whole world. A Peace which only God can give, peace in
times of joy and especially in times of suffering. Joy to the world, the Prince
of Peace has come!
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Men for Men: Listen the Word to Pronounce Our Own Words
Gonzague is a French Jesuit studying in London. He is currently accompanying a sharing group for men once a month. Here is his reflection on his experience with the people.
Who are we? Once a month we are around 10 that meet from many different places: Nigeria, Eritrea, Ivory Coast, Angola, Algeria, Tunisia, Iran, Pakistan, France, Korea… but also from many different faiths: evangelical Christians, Catholics, Muslims, Atheists. We have only two common points: we are all foreigners and we are all men.
What are we doing? During around one hour we are trying to listen and to speak. First of all we listen to a text, a Biblical text. We read it three times. After the first reading, each one can pronounce one word from the text, which is important for him, after the second reading, one sentence and after the third reading we are invited to share how this text echoes my experience, my life, my beliefs, my struggles. Finally we do not only listen to the text, but also to the others, and from its words and from their words each one can try to express where he is and what he lives.
For what are we doing that? Why are our meetings so joyful? To be honest it is a bit mysterious. While as men we can quite easily discuss about politics, football; but as asylum seekers experiencing destitution and exclusion we are often silent. In this group, we can speak about the experience of detention, of our struggles to continue to live in the dignity, in the good, but also about our hope to have one day a normal life.
Paradoxically being among men helps us to access for one another the deeper good characteristic of our humanity: the Word and our own words. In this group, we can shout to God and to our brothers, “I know that I will live to see the Lord's goodness in this present life. Trust in the Lord. Have faith, do not despair.”
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One of our bags is missing...
Volunteers and staff took part in the National Justice and
Peace Network Annual Conference 'Breaking Open The Word' in Derbyshire. It was
quite a journey...
We were
invited to run a workshop from JRS and decided to offer one on Gospel Based
Attitudes to Welcoming Refugees. A lot of
advance planning was needed, which helped structure our contributions. The workshop was led by Liliane and Br Joe,
two of our volunteers at the JRS day centre, who were able to share their
personal experience of accompanying refugees and making an asylum application
in the UK.
We were
invited to run a workshop from JRS and decided to offer one on Gospel Based
Attitudes to Welcoming Refugees. A lot of
advance planning was needed, which helped structure our contributions. The workshop was led by Liliane and Br Joe,
two of our volunteers at the JRS day centre, who were able to share their
personal experience of accompanying refugees and making an asylum application
in the UK.
Liliane
was so nervous in advance that she was shaking, but she was happy while
facilitating the workshop. None of the
participants would have known she was so nervous in advance! Most of the
participants were already interested in the topic and were in fact already
accompanying refugees themselves.
"It was very encouraging to see their involvement. They wanted affirmation and hope from the workshop",
says Liliane, who was encouraged herself by their response to her story.
The
workshop was able to share hope, while pointing out how perilous the asylum
process can be for people going through it, and participants left renewed in
their will to act positively; some wanting to engage local parishes in
awareness raising, or wanting to volunteer in local projects.
The
workshop took place in a wider context of the conference which invited those
present to reconsider, through worship and through the input of Megan McKenna,
to hear the Gospel afresh and to live it out every day.
The
conference was a fantastic experience, though we ended on a bittersweet note of
losing the bag full of crafts made by refugees in Kenya at Derby station. We hope whoever has them now enjoys them
fully! Unfortunately the bag lost is the
one we normally use at the day centre to collect sandwiches donated by Pret a
Manger... Oops!
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