"Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgement.” - 1 Cor. 1:10.

God’s instructions to a liberated Israel after 400 years of slavery in Egypt were not to intermingle with and slay all the inhabitants of the Promised Land. This was for a specific people for a specific time, season and purpose. It has always been the heart beat and will of God that all of creation would be united under the shadow of the Almighty who begat us and loves us with an everlasting love.

 At the very onset of their conquest of the land, Rahab, a prostitute of Jericho and her family, were adopted into the nation of Israel. She married a Hebrew, became an ancestor of David and ultimately of Jesus Christ.

Ditto for Ruth, the Moabite refugee, who returned with Naomi, her distressed mother-in-law, to the land of Judah.

Daniel, a Hebrew slave, became prime minister of Babylon, and Esther, another Hebrew captive, became queen of Persia.

Historically, Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans, whom they regarded as infidels and mixed race dogs. Yet Jesus recounted a parable to a Jewish young lawyer about a Good Samaritan which, at the end of the telling, the young man had to reluctantly admit was his good neighbor.

Another time he specifically mentioned to his disciples, “I must needs go through Samaria.” Furthermore, no respectable Jew would consider passing through Samaria. It was a place to be avoided at all costs. It was here that he encountered the woman at the well where he exposed all of her secrets, and explained to her about the “living water” so she would never “thirst” again. The amazed disciples, standing afar off, were understandably flabbergasted because this act was culturally wrong on so many levels.

All the above validates Pope Francis’ assertion that mercy and forgiveness should always be in the forefront of our interactions with our fellow man.

In the book of Acts, it is recorded, “And hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.” - Acts 14:26.

With that as a backdrop, I would like you to read excerpts from a Pat Buchanan commentary, entitled, “Pope’s world and the real world.” It was an opinion piece on the Pope’s recent visit to America.

Before continuing I want to make you aware that, ironically, Mr. Buchanan is of Irish ancestry. Many Irish people fled to America during the 19th century to escape the great potato famine in Ireland.

They were severely disliked, disdained and discriminated against. Many job vacancies clearly stated, “Irish need not apply.” The only sure employment opportunities for them could be found in the Police force and fire departments- jobs that nobody wanted, were extremely dangerous and  sorely underpaid. Hence the reason why so many Irish names can be found in the early records of the NYPD and FDNY.

Furthermore, as a practicing Roman Catholic, according to Catholic doctrine, he is supposed to consider the spiritual leader of the church, called the “vicar of Christ” as being “infallible in all things spiritual and moral.”

How easily one can forget, and how arrogant we can become, when we are no longer in need and our bellies are full?

I quote:

Pope Francis’ four day visit to the United States was by any measure a political and personal triumph.

But how enduring, and how relevant, was the pope’s celebration of diversity, multiculturalism, inclusiveness, open borders, and a world of forgiveness, peace, harmony and love is another question.

Behind the rising resistance to illegal and mass migration is human nature—the innate desire of peoples of one tribe or nation, who share a common language, history, faith, culture, traditions and identity to live together-and to live apart from all the rest.

Such currents are stronger than written constitutions.

That Global Citizen Festival concert in Central Park Saturday, featuring Beyonce, may have spoken to the globalist beliefs of Barack Obama, whose wife was there and of the pope who was flying to Philly.

But in the real world, nationalism, not globalism is ascendant.

At first blush, those statements seem and sound so right, so self-confident, so self-assured, so self-sufficient and independent-minded. However, they infer that we do not need any body and we can do everything for ourselves and by ourselves.

Leave us alone!  We shout. You stay where you are and we stay where we are—we’ve got this! We do not need you or your kind.

However, that has never been the case. Any examination of world history shows that mindset is unsustainable, unreasonable, impractical and economically suicidal.

Here are some thought provoking questions.

• Why did Marco Polo travel to China?
• Why did Christopher Columbus try to find a western route to the Indies?
• Why did Spain explore the New World and exploit its resources?
• Why did the Pilgrims land on Plymouth Rock?
• Why were the blacks captured in Africa, and forcibly carried to the Americas to do the back-breaking work on the plantations, that had so decimated the indigenous populations?
• Why are the citrus farmers in Florida, the strawberry/avocado growers in California, the apple orchards owners in the north, looking to Jamaica and Mexico for their workers so their produce will not rot in the fields?
• Why are the CEOs in Silicon Valley so concerned with an immigration bill that will allow them to bring in hi-tech skilled foreign workers?
• Why did the Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus flee into Egypt?
• Why did Naomi and her family go to Moab in the first place?
• Why bother with the United Nations? Just dissolve the whole organization into individual blocks of squabbling nation states, each one looking out for its own selfish interests.
• How would Walmart, McDonald’s, Coca Cola and Nike feel, if they were evicted from China in a show of nationalism and nativist pride? Ask Cuba. How did that work out for them?

Mankind with Adam, Eve and Cain tried that separation thing before. That did not work out so well. There comes a time when being alone in the place of your birth, with people of your own kind, does not work, is inconvenient, stifling or downright deadly. Everybody needs help and oftentimes you find the answer in a distant place with people who do not look, speak or act like you.

There is another innate human characteristic, as outlined in the book of Kings, where the lepers said to each other, “Why stay we here until we die?” - 2 Kings 7:3.

People will always be motivated to move in search of life. Pope Francis is trying to remind us that, “it is not good for man to be alone.” We are so much better and stronger together, than when separated and apart. If we can surpass our insane insecurities and petty prejudices we may discover that, yes, we can work it out. Separation is a device of the enemy that always results in destruction, hell and death.

He is on a quest urging us to live out Jesus’s final words:

 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whithersoever I have commanded you.  - Matt. 28: 19-20

Read again the ultimate destiny of all men, finally together, in the one place or the other.

Perhaps, Mr. Buchanan and similar individuals need to revisit Gamaliel’s statement to the Jews struggling against the expansion of the church, “But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.”

Despite all efforts to the contrary.

His will, will be done.