For some reason, one of the children, perhaps an orphan, stood out and I am not able to erase his image from my mind. The expression on his face is still speaking to me, and to the world. I cropped the photograph so he is now front and center:
This child is alone. He does not know what will happen to him and he does not know what to do. He does not know if anyone will take care of him or even care if he is thirsty or not, hungry or not, in pain or not, sick or not, dies nor not. A stranger in a strange land, this child is too young to have skills to survive with ease in surroundings where only the fittest of those with skills will survive. Nobody is going to care about him when there are over a million other refugees who have to take care of themselves first.
Do you know how heavy his young heart is? Do you know that he is afraid, that he is worried, that he is sobbing inside and cannot stop, that he misses his mother and father and the rest of his family, that he desperate, and wishes to feel safe, be comforted and feel loved?
Can you see in his eyes that he is reaching out to anyone in the world who will give him a hug, to reassure him that everything will be fine and that he need not be afraid?
Will he ever be able to laugh again with spontaneity, as children normally do? Will he ever be able to trust people again? Will he ever be happy again?
Mother Mary, You are the Mother of all, this child needs you just as I need you. Love him as you have loved me. I share in a small way his fears and his sorrows but he does not partake in any of my comforts. Pray that he may endure with fortitude the pains of Your suffering Son and be lifted to Heaven to rejoice in the glory of the resurrected Christ. Let his heart not be hardened by his sufferings, but grant him the capacity to forgive me for not doing all I can, as well as those responsible for his plight. Amen.
[1] http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/09/1409021-syria--turkey-refugees-islamic-state-pictures-photography/
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