Beyond the Clouds by Fr. Jacob Nampudakam, S.A.C. | Page 63

earth. It is even worse when such a reaction comes from the son of a migrant
who is blessed with good fortunes at the moment. How quickly we forget our
past! It is for this reason that Pope Francis’ first pastoral visit was to
Lampedusa: a tiny island off of Italy’s coast, which serves as a major
destination amongst migrants.
He gave a speech in which he called to mind the consciousness of others, a
speech to concretely change the hearts of humanity by reminding us of the two
questions God posed: “Adam, where are you?" and “Cain, where is your
brother?” Both answers symbolize the false illusion of being all- powerful and
immortal.
The Pope continued, “God’s two questions echo even today, as forcefully as
ever! These brothers and sisters of ours were trying to escape difficult
situations to find some serenity and peace, but instead they found death. Who
is responsible for the blood of these brothers and sisters of ours? Nobody! That
is our answer: It isn’t me; I don’t have anything to do with it. Yet God is
asking each of us: "Where is the blood of your brother which cries out to me?"
Today no one in our world feels responsible; we have lost a sense of
responsibility for our brothers and sisters. It’s not our responsibility, and with
that we feel reassured, assuaged. The culture of comfort, which makes us think
only of ourselves, makes us insensitive to the cries of other people, makes us
live in soap bubbles which, however lovely, are insubstantial; they offer a
fleeting and empty illusion which results in indifference to others. In this
globalized world, we have fallen into a world of globalized indifference.”
Of course, this is not to justify uncontrolled migration or promote countries
without borders. This is just to remind ourselves that we are all migrants on
this earth. Every person has a right to the blessings that God has bestowed on
us. Some are more privileged and more fortunate; let us thank God for that.
But let us not be blind to the plight of the less fortunate ones. That would be
really cruel and will merit divine punishment.
This is the sense of World Day of the Poor. Paradoxically, the poor are rich,
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