"God walks with his people"
is the title chosen by Pope Francis for his Message for the upcoming World Day of Migrants and Refugees (WDMR), which will be celebrated on Sunday, September 29, 2024.
Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2024
“God walks with His people”, is the title chosen by Pope Francis for his Message for the upcoming World Day of Migrants and Refugees (WDMR), which will be celebrated on Sunday, September 29, 2024.
In this message, the Holy Father reminds us that all of us, God’s people, are migrants on this earth, on our way to the “true homeland”, the Kingdom of Heaven. Migrants are a contemporary icon of this people on a journey, of the Church on a journey, and at the same time, it is in them and in all our vulnerable brothers and sisters that we can encounter the Lord who walks with us.
For this reason, the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (DPIHD) is promoting a communication campaign in preparation for the WDMR2024 in which it invites all people of goodwill to organize initiatives with migrants, refugees, vulnerable people… Here is the new video of the campaign, in which Pope Francis asks all of us to walk TOGETHER, with the most vulnerable, with Jesus:
As Fr. Fabio Baggio, undersecretary of the DPIHD, suggests in the video, the idea is to walk a piece of the road together, with our community, parish, and diocese, also involving all the inhabitants of the “existential peripheries” that Pope Francis encourages us to welcome. To this end, the DPIHD is preparing support material for these initiatives that can take the form of meditative walks, moments of reflection in stages, prayer vigils… the important thing is not to leave anyone behind.
All the material (post charts, step-by-step itinerary aids, WDMR celebration kits…), in several languages, will be available HERE.
God, Almighty Father,
we are your pilgrim Church
journeying towards the Kingdom of heaven.
We live in our homeland,
but as if we were foreigners.
Every foreign place is our home,
yet every native land is foreign to us.
Though we live on earth,
our true citizenship is in heaven.
Do not let us become possessive
of the portion of the world
you have given us as a temporary home.
Help us to keep walking,
together with our migrant brothers and sisters,
toward the eternal dwelling you have prepared for us.
Open our eyes and our hearts
so that every encounter with those in need
becomes an encounter with Jesus, your Son and our Lord.
Amen.
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Dear brothers and sisters, on this day dedicated to migrants and refugees, let us unite in prayer for all those who have had to leave their land in search of dignified living conditions. May we journey together with them, be “synodal” together, and entrust them, as well as the forthcoming Synod Assembly, “to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a sign of sure hope and consolation to the faithful People of God as they continue their journey”