August 3.  SEE. Migration.  The boat people, young men, women and children crammed together in the boat sat quietly at times, slept, children cried and sometimes Jeremiah prayed that their journey would be worthwhile, that their future life would be better for them and their families.  He hoped and believed that this journey must be good for them all.  As he looked out over the ocean, sometimes calm and sometime stormy he thought how Jesus came to his disciples walking over the water of the sea of Galilee and how Peter’s faith failed him.  He prayed silently, “Jesus, be with us and bless us on this difficult journey. May our faith in our future be justified.”   How many times has this scenario been repeated in the last 10 years. It is reported that 35000 people have been lost at sea including a least 3500 children. How many people have attempted the crossing?

JUDGE. Reflect, share, act. Scripture:   After Jesus had come to them walking on the water and Peter had been afraid and begun to sink, Jesus said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”.  Matt 14:22-36.    Pope Francis. Forced migration of families, resulting from situations of war, persecution, poverty and injustice and marked by the vicissitudes of a journey that often put lives at risk, traumatizes people and destabilises families.   AL 46. Pope Leo:    62. It is the pursuit of the common good that gives life to a people, understood not as a mere collection of individuals, but as a living reality in which people learn to recognize that they themselves are interconnected and jointly responsible for the res publica. In this sense, every person contributes to the building up of one’s people through “a slow and arduous effort calling for a desire for integration and a willingness to achieve this through the growth of a peaceful and multifaceted culture of encounter.  

ACT AND PRAY.  Act and pray for a just and compassionate resolution to the migration problem worldwide Pray St Francis Peace Prayer and pray: Mary, Queen Assumed into Heaven, Patroness of South Africa, pray for us.