And I am at a roundabout. I seem to be in a major European city Perhaps Rome, I do not know And there is a wave of people surging up from the south And an equally large wave of people surging in from the east And there are traffic officers on the roundabout But are overwhelmed by the sheer force of the numbers And can do nothing to establish order And yes I see the Pope come out onto his balcony in his white vestments And immediately a shout arises from ALL of the people No matter where they are from El Papa! El Papa! El Papa! And he greets them in their own tongues He welcomes them He hopes they find safe harbor and refuge While their homes are inhospitable Until their homes are restored He greets them He welcomes them He blesses them In each of their languages he does so And there are so many languages to do so in! And the people cry out in gratitude; they cry in gratitude El Papa! El Papa! El Papa! And they have renewed hope Yes they are welcome Yes they are here recognized as humans Yes they are even spoken to in their own language The relief they feel is overwhelming, and many break down in tears In convulsive sobs and tears for truly they were tired Truly they were feeling without hope And now it is as though a ray of sunshine has beamed down upon them And the people are given renewed hope And the Pope reenters his office And now there is more order in the boulevard The people are now walking about at a calmer pace following the rules of the road They have hope now They have hope now They have hope now And I see the Italians welcoming the people Sharing their food with them Yes, even accepting them into their homes And the people are so grateful The tears stream down their faces as they tell their story to their hosts Their almost unbelievable story The story of Nature seeming to have turned its fury on the humans upon her land Either withholding water from them altogether Or dumping it on them with a fury; with a vengeance Either way; she has chased them off And yes, she has won; for there was nothing they could do Nothing! And the Italians sit listening fascinated And some of them wonder what these people have done to earn such fury from Nature Is it the endless wars that they have been waging on their continents Is it the corruption of their governments Is it the extreme wealth of the few and the dire poverty of the most Or is it simply Nature being Nature And they sit and listen to the stories in utter fascination They contemplate the stories They marvel at them What does it mean For Mother Nature to suddenly turn against the humans on a continent And chase them all away Either they fled or they died The choice was as stark as that And the thought occurs to them That if Mother Nature could do so to these two continents The great land mass of Africa And the whole of southern Asia Then could it be possible that Nature would do the same to their home And they look around their home with new and appreciative eyes Yes how they love Rome How they love their city; their countryside; their streets and boulevards Yes, how much they love their home Why they had taken it for granted It was a given Of course they had a home! Everyone had a home! And they had always had a special fondness For their home above all others For after all it was an expression of themselves But now they find themselves looking around them with new eyes With appreciative eyes And yes with protective eyes We must be careful that the same thing does not happen to us And the Italians gather together and discuss and discuss and discuss They sit in their beloved cafes and restaurants And among them they share the stories the refugees have told them And among them they share what they are interpreting these stories to mean And their interpretations are not cast in stone Yes, they are willing to listen to their neighbor Each is willing to listen to the other For truly such had never happened before Not in their history Not in the history of the past 3,000 years at least! What do such things mean? And more importantly, how do we respond What must we do to assure that it does not happen here And yes a general consensus forms The 2nd step and the 3rd step are unclear But the 1st step is clear; it is obvious; it leaves no room for discussion And so the Italians pray They flood their churches and their cathedrals and they pray They kneel in their own homes and they pray They pray and they pray and they pray They pray for these poor refugees They pray that God has mercy and compassion on them And may they find safe haven in Europe And please God restore their land to them And then they even more earnestly pray for themselves
Tell us God; tell us What must we do to avert such catastrophes upon our heads Tell us God; tell us and we will do
And the people pray They even kneel down in the town squares and are on their kneels Praying the Rosary Out loud and in concert praying the Rosary Beseeching the Virgin to protect their land Beseeching the Virgin to protect their beloved home Beseeching the Virgin to bestow mercy upon them And the Italians pray and they pray and they pray And the more they pray, the calmer they become The more Peace reigns down upon them And they arise steadily; calmly; at Peace Yes they are at Peace Their Faith is in God They will do as God tells them to do And what God tells them to do is so clear For the message has been the same for the past few thousand years Yes the message has not changed It is clear what they must do And so the Italians pray to God And so the Italians in calmness and in gratitude go about their daily lives And so the Italians gently and generously receive the refugees As they pass by on to the more northern cities of Europe And God looks down and notices the Italians and their response And he is pleased with them And so God sends them sunshine and gentle rain in equal proportions In measure to what their land needs And with each new sunny day; the Italians open their windows And turn their faces to the sun and give joyful thanks to God And with each new rainy day; the Italians open their windows And turn their faces to the gentle rain and give joyful thanks to God And the Italians understand that their prayers have been answered They understand that their prayers have been understood And they now understand what their 2nd step is And they follow it And with the same intensity that they had originally prayed For the flood of refugees keep arriving Reminding them daily of the precious gift that their home is With the same intensity that they had originally requested mercy So with that intensity do they now give prayers of thanks and praise to God They give thanks and praise to God for the mercy he is bestowing upon them For truly the weather Their climate had not been as ideal for their land in decades Just the right amount of rain – gentle rain Just the right amount of sun – gentle sun And their crops are blooming and abundant The soil is rich The air is fresh and clean And they breathe this air in deeply And they give thanks to God for sparing their home And the people are again on their knees in the town square Praying the Rosary Fervently thanking the Virgin for her intercession on their behalf Thanking her and praying for her continued intercession on their behalf And now there is the 3rd step For there is always a 3rd step And what is the 3rd step And as the people pray; they understand The understanding comes to them gradually But it comes For yes, they are growing tired of the refugees for their numbers do not diminish They keep coming and coming and coming They do not stop Who knew there were so many people in Africa and southern Asia Who knew The sheer numbers overwhelm But the Italians had not stopped praying The Italians have not stopped praying And they know what the 3rd step is And in humble gratitude to God In obedience to God And in request to God for his continued mercy upon them For they do understand that they must back up their prayers With their actions With their lives And so they follow the 3rd step And they continue receiving the refugees with the same welcome And the same warmth and the same generosity That they had received the original wave And they persist at this the Italians do And some of the refugees stay in Italy And are allowed to do so They are allowed to mainstream into Italian life They are allowed to help in the fields and in the farms Where the crops are growing more abundantly than they have in decades And yes additional help is actually needed And so the Italians have more food They have more food to share with the refugees The refugees are there to help them work the crops And it turns out to be a win-win situation as Italy flourishes Italy flourishes Italy flourishes Italy flourishes For as she gives; so does she receive As she gives; so does she receive As she gives; so does she receive And the Italians are no fools. They are able to connect the dots They know full well that their land has never been this fertile They know full well that it had never yielded such abundance Such rich abundance The soil itself is rich and fertile The Italian farmer holds the soil in his hands and tears stream down his face And yes, he gives thanks to his God And yes, he does connect the dots And since the Italians see the never-ending flow of refugees They do not forget the lesson they have learnt And so they continue to practice the 3 steps that have saved them The precious 3 steps are clear in everyone’s minds and hearts They know it experientially It is not the media that informs them of these 3 steps They themselves have figured out these 3 steps And with the continual flow of refugees with their stories of complete devastation In sharp contrast to the mercy that has been shown them The Italians are daily reminded of their 3 steps and daily, daily, daily They take the time and the time and the time To perform the 3 steps Yes each and every morning; they arise and face the new day in gratitude to God Yes each and every lunch hour; they get on their knees and pray the Rosary And continue to ask the Virgin to intercede on their behalf Yes and as each wave of refugees flood into their home The Italians do not grow weary On the contrary Their hearts continue to swell in compassion For these poor and exhausted citizens of the Earth And they treat their brothers and sisters as their brothers and sisters And show them gentleness; show them kindness Share their food and their home with them And ironically Italy is not depleted by her generosity But on the contrary; flourishes She flourishes; she flourishes; she flourishes And the land is rich with harvest And the people have become a people of Peace A people of gratitude A people of calm and humble Joy And Italy flourishes