To Remember What It’s Like

Our hearts are disturbed by all the displaced persons in our world—those who have fled Ukraine, persons crossing rivers and seas to reach a shore in hope of freedom and safety, people in our town whose homes have burned. We are empathetic, yet many of us cannot remember what it’s like, for we have never experienced these things. Pope Francis has given us the phase “globalization of indifference,” a malady that so easily can characterize ourselves. We don’t want to be indifferent, but the experience of destitution or endangered lives is beyond our comprehension. How can we whose lives are so dissimilar remember what it’s like for such suffering people? We can’t, except for comparisons that pale when compared. We have all perhaps experienced feeling alone, that no one cares, that help will not be coming, that life is unfair. By reflecting upon our own needs at those times, we may be able to become more empathetic and compassionate. And in the process, we may be more open to contributing our service and aid. We may become more aware of the need for prayer and become the person the Gospel calls us to be. We become more open to the Holy Spirit, who is the Memory of the Church. With God we remember.