This month’s Word of Life comes from the Book of Exodus, which recounts the increasingly desperate situation of the Israelites in Egypt. Oppressed and enslaved, they cry out to God for help, and their cry reaches His heart. God intervenes through Moses, leading the people to freedom and establishing a new relationship with them. After their liberation, God gives them the “Code of the Covenant,”[1] a collection of teachings and laws — including the Ten Commandments — that flow directly from the extraordinary experience of being rescued. This code, formally accepted by the entire people,[2] offered concrete guidance for how they were to live in fidelity to the God who saved them. Among these instructions is the command: “You shall not oppress or afflict a resident alien, for you were once aliens residing in the land of Egypt.” This reminder roots their moral life in memory: the people are called to treat others with the same compassion and justice that God showed them. “You shall not oppress or afflict a resident alien, for you were once aliens residing in the land of Egypt.” (Ex 22:21) The stranger belongs to the categories favored and protected by God because they are among the most vulnerable, along with the poor, the orphan, and the widow. The rationale behind this rule appeals, first and foremost, to the memory of what was experienced during slavery in Egypt. God’s mighty intervention in the Exodus is constantly repeated in the Old Testament. It is an event that the people must always keep in mind as something that continues to repeat itself, in different ways, in every generation. Origen’s statement, in his commentary on the Book of Exodus, is significant: “Whoever oppresses the stranger shows that he has not yet left Egypt.”[3] This commandment also calls for empathy because putting ourselves in the shoes of another helps us understand them and grasp what they need. Those who have gone through a difficult experience should find it easier to empathize with the pain of others. But in the Old Testament, this is not merely a human experience. The first to set an example of what it means to enter into the situation of others is God himself. “You shall not oppress or afflict a resident alien, for you were once aliens residing in the land of Egypt.” (Ex 22:21) How can we put this Word of Life into practice? It might be helpful to ask ourselves a few questions: Have I ever experienced being a stranger? Have I ever felt unaccepted, unwelcome, misunderstood, or out of place? What have I learned from these experiences? Who is the stranger to me? Who is the stranger to God? How can I welcome them without reservation, just as the Lord does with us? What concrete steps can I take? Chiara Lubich once wrote: “With a God who makes no distinction between people, how can we not take universal brotherhood to heart? As children of the same Father, we can discover that we are brothers and sisters to every man and woman we encounter. If, therefore, we are all brothers and sisters, we must love everyone, beginning with those closest to us, without stopping. Our love will not then be a theoretic, abstract love, but a concrete one, made of service. A love capable of reaching out to the other person, initiating a dialogue, empathizing with their distress, taking on their burdens and worries, all the way to the point that the other one feels understood and welcomed in their diversity and free to express all the richness they carry within themselves.”[4] This is the experience of Maryam, a young Pakistani woman: “In a café, I saw the owner refuse to serve tea to an elderly woman. I had only a few rupees (the local currency) in my pocket, but I felt I had to help her, so I approached the owner and offered to pay for her. At first, he hesitated. Then, after a pause, he smiled and said, ‘No, that’s not right. If you, a customer, are willing to use what little you have to take care of her, how much more generous should I, the owner, be? It’s easier for me to give her a free cup of tea than to charge you.’ It was a powerful experience. By trying to show love, first to the woman and then to the owner, I saw how a simple gesture of kindness can open another person’s heart.” Prepared by Augusto Parody Reyes and the Word of Life team [1] Ex 20:22-26. [2] See Ex 24. [3] Origen, Early Christian scholar, (185-254 AD), “Homily on the Exodus,” verse 5. [4] Chiara Lubich, Commentary on the Word of Life of May 2006.
