By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami
Archbishop Thomas Wenski preached this homily while celebrating the annual Migration Day Mass on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Jan. 11, 2026, at St. Mary Cathedral in Miami.
Today’s celebration of our Migration Mass is framed by two great feasts: Last Sunday’s celebration of the Epiphany and today’s celebration of the Baptism of the Lord. At last Sunday’s Mass, we sang, “Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.” Those nations were represented by the Magi who came to worship the Christ Child in Bethlehem. Today, in this Cathedral, people from the many nations and ethnicities that make up this local Church here in South Florida come to adore the Lord who came among us as a light for the world, the light for the nations.
Epiphany, which means “manifestation or revelation,” celebrates the fact that when Jesus was born as a man in Bethlehem, he came not just for one people but for all peoples, all races, of all times and places. This would be something the Jewish people would find difficult to accept. They knew themselves to be God’s Chosen People, and indeed they were, and still are. But in choosing the Jews, God in no way meant to disparage or belittle those whom the Jews still call the “goyim” or the nations. Indeed, the election of the Jews was not a put down for those who were not Jews, for in choosing Israel as a people peculiarly his own, as today’s first reading from Isaiah reminds us, God wanted them to be “a light to the nations,” a light that would lead the nations to the knowledge of the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
And so, last Sunday’s feast of the Epiphany brings home the universal significance of Jesus’ birth among us as a man. And today’s feast, the Baptism of Jesus, is really another Epiphany or Revelation: for in going into the waters of the Jordan, God’s beloved Son wishes to show his solidarity with the entire human race. With his baptism, Jesus, anointed by the Holy Spirit, begins his public ministry and begins his great work of salvation, a salvation destined not only for the Jews but for all mankind.
St. Peter tells us in today’s second reading: “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation, whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him.”
The good news of salvation is “catholic,” a word that comes from the Greek language and means universal. If Salvation is “catholic,” then the Church which Jesus founded to preach the good news of salvation must necessarily be Catholic as well. If the Church is the Father’s House, then all those who are God’s children through baptism should feel at home in their Father’s House. Again, as St. Peter says, “in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him.” Jesus, in calling us to communion with his Father through the gift of his Spirit, does not demand that we change our culture, our language, or even our nationality: he only asks that we change our hearts.
As Peter said, “God shows no partiality, but sometimes we do.” We like our own kind, and we mistrust or are suspicious of the one whom we see as strangers. Diversity of languages, cultures, ethnicities, and races, rather than being seen as a gift, is feared and often blamed for our divisions.
But what divides us is not our diversity. What divides us is sin.
Today, the presence of so many ethnic groups that form part of our Archdiocesan community should show that all can and do find a home in the Catholic Church. Our diversity of languages, cultures, and races gives witness to the ‘catholicity’ of the gospel message of salvation. This diversity does not divide the Body of Christ; it enriches it. Our unity is not founded in race, language, or nation of origin; rather, it is founded on Christ. We acknowledge one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism.
If we, Catholics, are to be a light to the nations, we must model in the way we live in our families, communities, and parishes what a reconciled world looks like.
Our world today is increasingly globalized. In a globalized world, goods and merchandise made in one continent are bought and sold in another, half a world away; information and money can cross borders in an instant; and in a globalized world, people also increasingly move across borders, often in dramatic ways. Many people see globalization as a threat, and it is unsettling for many people. Globalization in itself is neither good nor bad. Whether it is good or bad depends on us. On what we make of it. In the United States, our national motto, E pluribus unum, suggests that globalization can be a real positive. Our unity comes not from our sharing the same race, national origin, or tribe. Our unity comes from our national creed, expressed in our founding documents: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
But today, in our nation and in much of the world, much of what is called “populism” is a reaction against globalization. We see this expressed in various “isms”: isolationism, that would have us turn inward and ignore the rest of the world; protectionism, a policy of economic nationalism restricting global trade; and restrictionism, a policy that would close our borders to newcomers, especially those that don’t look like us.
Part of the reaction against globalization we experience today is the fact of migration. Those who fear globalization fear the migrant, yet the migrant today picks our crops, builds our homes, cares for our sick and aged, and works in our hospitality and service industries.
The Church teaches us not to fear the migrant, and the Church warns us not to mistreat the migrant. In a way, just as we call Jesus the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, we can refer to him as the Migrant of Migrants as well. In becoming a man like us, he ‘migrated’ from heaven. He became a citizen of our world so that we in turn might become citizens of the world to come. And those who enter his heavenly homeland will do so because, as he himself will tell us, “I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.”
While globalization has made us all neighbors, it has not made us brothers and sisters. It is the Church, the Church that is Catholic - that brings into its communion people of every race, language, and culture - that must teach the world how to live as brothers and sisters.
This is why the Church will continue to speak out on behalf of migrants everywhere. We speak out in defense of those, especially the young, who are trafficked across borders to be exploited in the sex trade. We recognize that enforcement is a necessary part of any immigration policy; but, at the same time, enforcement alone will not be a just or humane solution to the presence of millions of irregular migrants and so we will continue to advocate for a just and equitable reform of a broken immigration system that continues to separate families for unacceptable periods of time and that provides no path to citizenship for millions who work in jobs that otherwise would have gone unfilled. We recognize that nation-states have a right to control their borders, but we will defend the rights of refugees and asylum seekers to a safe haven from persecution and violence. And thanks to our Catholic Charities and Catholic Legal Services over the years, thousands have been successfully resettled here in South Florida and elsewhere to begin new lives. And, because every child of God should feel at home in his Father’s House, as a Catholic community we will continue to assure that - in our pastoral care and outreach to the newcomers among us - we will speak their Mother’s tongue.
At his Baptism by John in the River Jordan, Jesus was revealed as the only begotten Son of God. But his baptism shows his solidarity with our human race - he comes to be our brother and to make us brothers and sisters with him and with one another.
May our solidarity with the world of migration - the refugee, the migrant, the displaced person, the exiled - help us renew their hope as we seek justice for them. Then, in the words of today’s responsorial psalm, “The Lord will bless his people with peace.”
