Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt…Matthew 2:13-14
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Greetings of peace and joy as we bring this Christmastide to a close and begin the year 2018. I hope all have had a blessed Christmas and that the New Year is off to a happy and healthy start.
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Tomorrow, January 6^th is the Feast of the Epiphany. It marks the close of the Christmas observance for those of us in the western Church. On the Feast of the Epiphany, we focus on Matthew’s gospel with its account of the visit of the Magi to the Christ child. It is a beautiful, mystical story proclaiming that the newborn child has come to be the Savior, not merely for Israel, but for all humanity.
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The story is also a story of political scheming and treachery. Herod, the puppet king of Judah, feels threatened by the birth of this child. He does everything in his power to find and destroy him. His words to the Magi are smarmy, disingenuous, and deceitful. He has no intention of “paying homage” to this child; his intentions are violent, murderous. The latter part of the narrative confirms this with its brutal account of the slaughter of the innocents – an event we commemorate each year on December 28.
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After the Magi leave the Holy Family, “having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,” Joseph is also warned of the danger confronting his family:
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“…an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt…”
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Joseph, Mary and Jesus become refugees.
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Some people today resist applying the label “refugee” to the Holy Family, but it is a fact. According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, a refugee is, “someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. Most likely, they cannot return home or are afraid to do so. War and ethnic, tribal and religious violence are leading causes of refugees fleeing their countries.”
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The Holy Family were refugees.
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It is estimated there are 22.5 million refugees in the world today. More than half of these are children under the age of 18. We are experiencing the greatest humanitarian crisis since World War II. Yet, in the face of this crisis, the United States, a nation that prides itself on welcoming the “tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to be free,” has fallen short in providing a compassionate response. The current Administration has set a cap limiting the number of refugees who will be admitted into the United States to 45,000. It is the lowest number any President has permitted since legislation was enacted in 1980 giving the President authority to determine the number of persons to be admitted (See A Statement on Refugee Admissions 2018, Episcopal Migration Ministries and Trump Plans 45,000 Limit on refugees Admitted to the U.S., N.Y. Times, 9/27/2017).
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Even as this country turns its back on the desperate plight of refugees, it is also turning its back on the so-called Dreamers – persons “who were brought to the country at an early age without documentation but have assimilated to U.S. culture and have been educated by U.S. school systems” (Source: LawLogix – found at LawLogix.com). In September, the President announced he was ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA). This program was designed as a stop-gap measure to allow these young persons to remain while Congress developed a DREAM Act that would offer a permanent path to citizenship.
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The President’s decision to end DACA has now placed these Dreamers at high risk. If a new, clean Dream Act is not developed by early March, all of these young persons face the possibility of forced deportation. Many of them have known no other country than the United States. The President has indicated that he will only sign a new DREAM Act if it includes the building of a wall between the United States and Mexico. In short, the Dreamers are being used a political pawns in a high risk legislative game. It is inhumane and it is immoral.
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The Holy Family were refugees. Faithful Christians cannot ignore this reality and we cannot ignore the plight of the world’s refugees today nor of the Dreamers who are in our midst. As The Episcopal Church, we have spoken clearly on both of these questions. We have a long-standing record of compassion in our support and treatment of refugees and are one of only a handful of organizations entrusted by the government to do this work through our Office of Episcopal Migration Ministries.
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It is my hope that all within the Diocese of New Jersey will be proactive in standing up for the plight of refugees and of Dreamers. Compassion, our Baptismal promises, and our faith in Jesus Christ demand it.
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One concrete step we can all take is to communicate with our Senators and Representatives to let them know that we support a more open and welcoming posture for refugees and a new Clean Dream Act. Jesus words to his followers in Matthew 25 are applicable, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me…Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me…” (Matthew 25:40,45).
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For more information about The Episcopal Church’s ministry to Refugees go to the website of Episcopal Migration Ministries.
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Pray for peace throughout the world. Pray for refugees. Pray for Dreamers.
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Blessings and peace,