Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
“‘Who is my neighbor?’” Our country finds itself in the midst of a great debate on this very issue. Jesus’ own parable throws society on its head by making the Samaritan–the foreigner and heretic, as Samaritans were a mixed race of Assyrians and former Jews who had abandoned the faith for a mix of Judaism and other near-Eastern religions–the hero. The scholar of the Law rightly knows, from the Books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus, that those who follow God and want to go to heaven are called to love God with all of who they are and love their neighbor as themselves. But the question, then as now, as to who constitutes my neighbor whom I must love, beguiles the scholar.
The struggle our country endures right now finds its root in the competition of two goods: the human person and law. Of course, the human person is the greatest good, after God, and all laws have to be exercised in a way that supports the dignity and thriving of the human person. At the same time, a country has the right to defend itself and create rules for people who want to enter the country, so that those human persons can contribute to society rather than endanger it.
When we look at those who enter the United States illegally, there are different types of people with different motives. Some are fleeing, especially from Central America, violence from drug cartels. Some are looking for better economic opportunities. Some have family in the US who are here legally. Some come to this country because they want to sell drugs here. Some come to the country to engage in human trafficking, which is a more antiseptic way of saying sexual slavery. No doubt, some are terrorists who want to destroy this country. Not all who enter this country illegally are bad; not all who enter this country illegally are good. All have broken some sort of law, of varying levels, to enter this country without the proper permission.
Who is my neighbor? Is it the illegal immigrant, each likely having a different motive? Is it my fellow citizen who overdoses on fentanyl brought into this country illegally by illegal immigrants? Is it the child who was born here in the US from parents who entered the country illegally and who, at least in current jurisprudence, enjoys citizenship, though the parents do not? Is it the member of MS-13 or Tren de Aragua who has made the evil choice to dedicate his or her life to violence, sexual assault, and the trafficking of drugs? The answer to all of these questions is “yes.” They are all my neighbors, and God calls me to love them as I love myself.
So how do I love everyone I just listed? If love of God and love of neighbor are how I inherit eternal life, how can I get to heaven with such a vast array of people in very different circumstances and who are interconnected so that their lives, directly or indirectly, impact each other?
At the end of the day, each of us have to stand before God at our judgement and answer the question: did you treat the other as a neighbor. I will not judge you. The Democratic and/or Republican Parties will not judge you. Neither President Trump nor Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez will judge you. Only God. And only you will know in your heart if you loved the other as a neighbor.
Can love include amnesty or a path to citizenship? Can love include securing the borders to ensure that only legal immigrants are allowed in based on a fair and accessible immigration process? Can love include incarcerating those who have broken US laws, of varying levels, in a facility that treats them like humans but also encourages people not to break the law? The answer to all of these questions is “yes.” Love of neighbor includes people of any status and includes both the people I don’t know and the people around me and closest to me.
Here’s the secret: the government doesn’t want you to consider love of neighbor. Political parties don’t operate on the great commandment. Whatever party you caucus with, they would rather have you get angry and throw verbal darts towards each other than actually solve the issue. Part of the reasoning is that any answer which include love of neighbor is going to be complex and treat people individually, which bureaucracies are not generally able to do. Part of the reasoning is that when you don’t solve the issue, you can use it in a campaign video for the next election and encourage people to vote for you.
I have known outstanding and legal immigrants who lived in a state of grave sin because they were applying for citizenship and wanted to get married, but if they got married they would be forced to go to the back of the long line hoping to become citizens. I imagine I have interacted with illegal immigrants, some of whom came here because the other choice was living in a city controlled by the cartels and risking violence or death if they did not cooperate in the drug trade in their native country and who legitimately feared for their life if they did not flee. I know families personally whose lives have been turned upside down because of fentanyl which was brought into the country illegally. I work with the Michigan State Police to protect society and make those who break our laws suffer the legal consequences, including incarceration, for breaking various levels of laws, State and Federal. I can see many sides of the arguments that are made because I have encountered my neighbor in all of those groups and more.
At the end of the day, though, whatever action we choose, whatever politician we support, we will have to defend our actions based upon two questions: did I recognize my neighbor? Did I love my neighbor? And woe to us if we, like the scholar of the law ask, “‘Who is my neighbor?’”
