From indifference to encounter: A lesson from Lazarus

Just one day after returning from the week-long Plenary Assembly of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop William T. McGrattan presided at the World Day of Migrants and Refugees Mass on Saturday, September 27, 2025, at St. Mary’s Cathedral. The liturgy, organized with Calgary Catholic Immigration Society, Couples for Christ, and St. Mary’s Cathedral, drew together migrants, refugees, and parishioners to pray in solidarity with people who have been forced to leave their homelands.

Pope Leo XIV, in his apostolic message for the 111th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, frames migrants as “missionaries of hope” whose courage and perseverance bear witness to God’s promise of new life. He links this hope to the virtue described in the Catechism (n. 1818),  a longing for the ultimate happiness that God has placed in every heart.

In his 2025 message for the day, Pope Leo XIV reflected on the witness of migrants and refugees themselves. Migrants, through their courage and perseverance, become missionaries of hope, teaching us that even in the midst of loss and suffering, God’s promise of new life endures.

Preaching on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus from the Gospel of Luke 16:19-31, Bishop McGrattan spoke of how indifference can blind us to the suffering of others. He noted how the rich man, though surrounded by abundance, remained nameless in the parable, while the poor man Lazarus is named.

​“Sometimes when we are filled with a sense that we have enough, we can fall into complacency, even blindness, and not see those who are in need of our help and our assistance,” the Bishop reflected. “Things that are insignificant can receive more of our attention than the human needs right in front of us.”

He recalled his visits to St. Peter’s Square in Rome, where the monument “Angels Unawares” by Canadian artist Timothy Schmalz depicts more than 140 migrants and refugees crowded together on a boat. “You see children, mothers, the elderly, priests, those of different nationalities. Each time I go to that sculpture, I notice parts that are warped. It might be the child, or the elderly. It’s a reminder that people are moved to pray and to touch this statue because of the condition and situation they find themselves in.”

Angels Unawares, by Timothy Schmalz. Photo: stock.adobe.com

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it." ~ Heb 13:2

​The Bishop reminded the congregation that this parable is not just a story of the past but a living call to examine our own attitudes toward those on the margins. In Calgary, the Church’s response has taken root for decades. The Diocese established the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society in the 1980s, initially to serve Vietnamese refugees, and it continues to welcome people from Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and beyond today. "The need keeps growing for us as a Church to open our doors, and to welcome the stranger."

“Our world sometimes needs much more of a witness of welcome and hospitality,” Bishop McGrattan said, “especially to the refugees and the migrants.”

As the homily came to a close, Bishop McGrattan left the faithful with a challenge: to take the parable of Lazarus to heart by looking honestly at their own attitudes. “Are we hospitable? Are we open to receiving those who are most in need, those who are fleeing their countries for safety, stability, or to ensure that their families are kept intact? Many continue to be persecuted. We, as a Church of Christians, must continually respond.”

The World Day of Migrants and Refugees reminds us that faith calls us to welcome and solidarity. As Bishop McGrattan urged, may we not take the attitude of the rich man, "​but take the attitude of Abraham, who is known as the symbol of hospitality, the image of that who welcomed the strangers in his midst, and was blessed to be in the presence of angels.”

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Photography: Bandi Szakony.