Who is my neighbor?

Mary DeTurris Poust (Courtesy photo of CINDY SCHULTZ)

If you spend any serious amount of time with Scripture, you can’t help but take to heart that there are some absolutes when it comes to our call and responsibility as Christians. While there are many things that are not specifically addressed by Scripture, there are others that are undeniable and irrefutable: loving our neighbor, welcoming the “stranger” and caring for the poor. No matter how you slice it, there is no way to avoid these requirements of human decency and Christian mission.

Of course, if you look around the world at the moment, you might think otherwise. “Stranger” has become a dirty word, along with migrant, alien, foreigner. Words used by Jesus when instructing his followers how to live and love. He didn’t say deport the stranger or withhold medical care from the alien. Instead, when asked, “Who is my neighbor?,” he gave us the parable of the Good Samaritan, reminding us that the “other” is often the one acting with more compassion and care than the publicly recognized religious followers and leaders. It’s not an easy teaching, but that doesn’t mean we can set it aside.

Social media is filled with horrifying images of immigrant families — often while at court hearings required to maintain their legal status in this country — being ripped apart, children and wives screaming as fathers and husbands are dragged away, women tackled and clothes ripped off on a street, babies taken from their beds and zip-tied as they are rushed into the night by armed and masked agents. If we can watch those videos or read those stories and still think those actions are in keeping with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and our calling as Catholics, we have lost our way.

Pope Leo XIV, speaking about migrants who flee violence, said, “Those boats which hope to catch sight of a safe port, and those eyes filled with anguish and hope seeking to reach the shore, cannot and must not find the coldness of indifference or the stigma of discrimination!”

“No one should be forced to flee, nor exploited or mistreated because of their situation as foreigners or people in need! Human dignity must always come first!” he said at a Jubilee Mass Oct. 5.

Not all of us are called to be missionaries or even to work directly with the migrant community, be we are all called to welcome the stranger and to do whatever we can to ease their way into their new homeland, whether it’s collecting clothing and food, writing to our representatives, or simply offering a smile to those who are forced to move through this world in fear.

My grandfather came to this country from Italy as a child. I have been to his hometown, and I have stood on the deck of a boat in the Bay of Naples, imagining how awful their lives must have been to leave behind such stunning natural beauty for an unknown world where they would be seen as “other” and discriminated against. It’s a point of pride that I am a grandchild of a direct immigrant, and I have always found great joy and hope in the diversity of our country.

Whenever I’m feeling the strain of the current climate, a quick trip to New York City does the trick. There on the subway, riding under busy city streets, we are all one. Our skin color and religion, jobs and homes don’t matter. We stand side by side with one goal, getting to our stop so we can carry on with our day. It’s a reminder that we really are more alike than we are different. Jesus tried to tell us that. It’s time to refocus on his actual words and teachings over a nationalist rallying cry determined to amass power in the name of a distorted Jesus rather than build community according to the literal teachings of the One who came to show us a better, if more challenging, way.  

Mary DeTurris Poust’s new­est book is “Waiting in Joyful Hope: Daily Reflections for Advent & Christmas 2025-2026” from Litur­gical Press. For more information, visit www.NotStrictlySpiritual.com.