September 2024
Articles from Mercy:
God walks with his people: National Migration Week, September 23–29
Rose Marie Tresp, RSM; Institute Justice Team
Humans have been migrating since we walked out of Africa. Migration probably occurred then for the same reasons that people migrate today: conflict, violence, and war; climate change; natural disasters; lack of opportunity; and scarcity of food and the basic needs of life. In the book of Exodus, the Israelites leave Egypt to migrate to the promised land. The journey to the promised land, from slavery to freedom, from oppression to liberation, is also both a journey of hope and celebration and a journey of hunger, despair, and exhaustion.
The Catholic Church celebrates National Migration Week September 23–29, which ends in the 110th World Day of Migrants and Refugees on Sunday, September 29. The technical definition of a refugee is one who has fled their own country because they are at risk of serious human rights violations and persecution there. Some migrants are asylum seekers who are seeking and applying for legal protection as refugees. Migrants may have left their country for work, study, or family reasons. But other migrants have left their country because of poverty, political unrest, gang violence, and natural disasters. The journey of today’s migrants, like that of the Israelites, is one of hope but also of struggles and even exhaustion.
Migration is a worldwide phenomenon, with about 286.6 million people (including refugees) living outside their country of nationality. In the United States, 46.2 million residents were born outside the United States (13% of the U.S. population). Of that number, 49% are naturalized citizens and 23% are unauthorized immigrants. The unauthorized immigrants include asylum seekers, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
In the United States, the focus is usually on immigration, ignoring the root causes of migration and the push and pull factors causing immigration to the U.S. The U.S. also exhibits and has exhibited xenophobia since the earliest days of the country with prejudice against the various waves of immigrants. Prior to 1965, immigration laws favored white Europeans. The change in the immigration laws in 1965 allowed more immigrants from countries in Asia, Africa, and South America so that the immigration population became increasingly non-white. The inbuilt racism in the U.S. increased the prejudice and scapegoating of immigrants, especially during times of unrest.
What does this mean for Catholics in the United States? National Migration Week and the World Day of Migrants and Refugees is an opportunity for Catholics to engage in prayer, reflection, and action on behalf of our immigrant brothers and sisters. Pope Francis says,
God not only walks with his people, but also within them, in the sense that he identifies himself with men and women on their journey through history, particularly with the least, the poor and the marginalized. In this we see an extension of the mystery of the Incarnation. For this reason, the encounter with the migrant, as with every brother and sister in need, “is also an encounter with Christ. He himself said so. It is he who knocks on our door, hungry, thirsty, an outsider, naked, sick and imprisoned, asking to be met and assisted.” … Every encounter along the way represents an opportunity to meet the Lord; it is an occasion charged with salvation, because Jesus is present in the sister or brother in need of our help. (Message for 2024 World Day of Migrants and Refugees)
Catholics in the United States can first learn more about the reality of immigration and the immigrants. Catholics can work against the racism encountered by immigrants and work to dispel the myths about immigration. Catholics can work with their local Catholic Charities and other organizations supporting immigrants, especially newly arrived immigrants. We can find ways to accompany immigrants. Accompaniment involves providing emotional, physical, and spiritual support to people in need and walking in their shoes, recognizing the human dignity and experience of every person.
Take time to explore the information and stories on immigration in the Sisters of Mercy website. Support our sisters and ministries who work with immigrants.
Visit these web sites to get accurate information regarding the latest myths about immigrants and immigration:
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Critical Considerations
What does CEO compensation say about corporate priorities?
Karen Donahue, RSM
During our current presidential campaign, both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are making it a point to reach out to workers, appearing at factories and other work sites. Last year, after a six-week strike, auto workers succeeded in negotiating a new contract with Detroit’s Big Three. At other large firms, workers continue to struggle for better wages and working conditions. However, these struggles are often very difficult as workers are up against powerful corporations with massive resources.
A recent study released by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) provides some context that is helpful for understanding the issues at stake. In its annual Executive Excess report for 2024, IPS looked at the 100 S&P 500 companies with the lowest median worker pay. They found that many of these companies spend far more on stock buybacks than they do on capital improvements or contributions to employee retirement plans.
Stock buybacks, which were illegal prior to 1982, increase the value of the stock and enrich CEOs and top management, often at the expense of workers and the long-term health of the company itself. In 2003, the ratio of CEO pay to median worker pay was 538 to 1. Between 2019 and 2023, Lowe’s spent more on stock buybacks ($42.6 billion) than any of the other companies on the Low Wage 100 list. This was enough to give each of its 285,000 employees a bonus of $29,865 each year for five years. Lowe’s median annual worker pay: $32,626.
The report discusses some areas for policy reform that are attracting attention. These include taxing and restricting stock buybacks, subjecting corporations with excessive levels of CEO pay to higher tax levies, and using federal contracts and subsidies to discourage wide corporate pay gaps.
The issues discussed in this report highlight the growing wealth and income gap in the United States today, a reality that has serious political consequences. We are seeing the rise of a billionaire class that has inordinate and unprecedented political influence, which does not bode well for most Americans, nor for democracy itself.
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Anxiety – Election Season can heighten it!
Sue Gallagher, RSM; Institute Justice Team
I suppose anxiety is a part of most of our lives. Maybe there is a spike in anxiety during a particular time as we accompany a loved one in illness or the dying process. Perhaps anxiety rises when a person loses a job or a sibling experiences difficulty with a partner or child. You could be feeling anxiety right now due to any myriad of conditions within our world connected to racism, war, climate destruction, immigration, suffering, or effects of sexism.
Studies have shown that there has been an increase of people in the U.S. experiencing anxiety, stress, nervousness, and anger, emotions brought on during the election season. According to the American Psychological Association, “research now shows the distress we feel around politics can harm our physical and mental health—and it’s only getting worse”. This increase is borne out in my own experience with folks in my various bubbles. Some insist they don’t engage in politics, while others feel upset and express fear at the thoughts of election day approaching and its aftermath.
Lots of folks are talking hold of the situation and offering suggestions. I will pose only a few:
Responses from our sisters on how they handle anxiety at election time and maintain a peaceful heart:
- I pray daily for the grace of a peaceful heart
- Trying to pay more attention to simple, everyday things like a smile, a handshake
- Savoring being in a community praying for peace
- Being judicious about my consumption of news, realizing news organizations are trying to pull me into the discourse, which is often unsettling
- Cultivating my experience of grounding, especially outdoors
- Touching a tree’s trunk, admiring a flower or plant
- Become aware of my feelings. When I sense disturbance rising up, I remind myself that the disturbance is not of God
- Breathing in and out. This little practice is similar to the practice of centering prayer; applied it to everyday situations
- I pray for the individuals who irk me, by placing them in God’s tender Mercy
- Maintain my regular prayer time with the intention of always letting God’s love, not mine, be the focus
- I’m learning that sometimes when I get upset, I need to verbalize what comes up in me so that I can hear myself and the other in a very respectful way
- Very simple practice: respond to any petitions that indicate ending the wars going on, not sending arms, etc., then I pray daily and often use breath prayer for a peaceful mode
- I do not read every email or text message… I just delete and let them go
Let us pray for each other!
Triune God, wondrous community of infinite love, teach us to contemplate you in the beauty of the universe for all things speak of you. Awaken our praise and thankfulness for every being that you have made. Give us the grace to feel profoundly joined to everything that is.
~Laudato Si` Prayer
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