Jesus was walking with his disciples and people who followed him. They were near Jericho. Bartimaeus, a blind man, heard the noise of the crowd and asked what was happening. He was told it was Jesus. Bartimaeus, in an act of faith, cried out loudly to Jesus to have mercy on him.

Let us change the scenario a bit and, instead of Jericho around AD32, move to somewhere in Europe, for instance Malta, in 2015.

Jesus was walking with a group of close friends and a number of followers. A traumatised refugee, in total darkness about his future, saw the group and asked what was happening. He was told that it was Jesus. The refugee sprang to his feet. He sought to ask Jesus to insist on tangible and effective solidarity with victims, like him, of persecution and wars.

Although 2,000 years apart, a common factor in the two situations is that both groups of people react according to their own individual personality and their own way of seeing life.

There are those who don’t even bother about the blind man’s or the refugee’s cries and remain indifferent; those who hear the men’s cries, but want to silence them or turn them away; those who guage their approach according to their hidden personal agenda of being with Jesus to project themselves and/or promote some veiled interest; those who by word of mouth support what Jesus represents, but when it comes to realistically helping the destitute they turn into experts at telling others what to do without rolling up their sleeves themselves.

In contrast, there are also those who, upon hearing the blind man’s and the refugee’s cries, quickly seek to genuinely, materially, effectively and noiselessly help them as best they can, because in them they see Jesus himself.

It is a combination of Christians in name only and Christians who would do everything in their power to help those in need according to Jesus’ model of the Good Samaritan.

The first group comprises people who do not truly bear the Christian witness: Christians in name, showroom Christians, with their inner life blurred or worldly, not truly Christian.

A Christian needs to have the capability of sharing what he has with those who are less fortunate

The second group is composed of Christians who have coherence between what they believe and what they live. It is a group of Christians who truly help people without distinction, not least uprooted people, and do so without seeking any form of promotion or gain for themselves.

In the case of the shattered refugee, Christians in the second group keep very much in their mind a particular fact: at the very beginning of the Gospel of Matthew, we find Mary and Joseph fleeing to Egypt because Herod wants to kill their newborn son, Jesus.

Throughout his ministry, Jesus is portrayed both as a migrant and as someone who welcomes strangers. He himself says that “He has nowhere to lay his head” (Mt.8:20; Lk.9:50). On the other hand he regularly goes out of his way to reach out, to welcome, to include and to heal the strangers of his time and culture – Samaritans, the Syro-phoenican woman.

Occasions like World Refugee Day, celebrated yesterday, offer Christians an opportunity to reflect and examine their conscience regarding the group of Christians they really belong to.

Do I belong to the first group, with those who don’t hear the many cries of people asking for help? Am I one of those whose ego is bigger than them? Do I belong with those who lack coherence and testimony in life, whatever the reason? Or do I belong with those who hear the cry of so many people and reach out to them in line with the example of Jesus?

These are questions each person can answer in his or her heart.

Pope Francis, whose general prayer intention for this month is for immigrants and refugees, that they may find welcome and respect in the countries where they seek shelter, says a Christian needs to have the capability of sharing what he has with those who are less fortunate.

cphbuttigieg@gmail.com

Charles Buttigieg was Malta’s first refugee commissioner.