Holy families of today
La Sagrada Familia, by Kelly Latimore. Used with permission by the artist.
In nearly every moment of the Christmas story, characters heed promptings from angels. An angel announces to Mary she is chosen to be the mother of God, and she accepts. An angel encourages Joseph to support Mary in this calling, and he does. The magi return home from Bethlehem by another road, and the new family flees to another country in order to protect their child, all thanks to divine messengers.
Perhaps part of being “The Holy Family” is the willingness to follow the prompting of the divine.
And if that’s the case, we should bestow a holy designation on many families today who are fleeing their homes in order to protect their children. For it would take divine intervention for most of us to do what they do.
Fellowship Southwest has the privilege of encountering many families who are seeking asylum in the U.S. Versions of the same story are often repeated. People are given a choice: participate in violence and criminal behavior, or see your family killed. Instead, they find a third way, perhaps prompted by divine messages. Leave everything. Protect your children. Sound familiar?
It’s not a new idea to compare modern day immigrants and refugees to Mary, Joseph and Jesus. Kelly Latimore’s popular iconography makes this point (pictured here). Christmas of 2018, one church’s outdoor nativity scene went viral when they put a cage around it, alluding to the Zero Tolerance crisis that summer.
Once we acknowledge the comparison, we must heed the prompting of the divine and let it urge us into action. What is our role in their stories? Maybe we have the chance to be an angel, a kind innkeeper, or a wise one who discerns who can (or cannot) be trusted?
Fellowship Southwest invites you into one concrete action to support these families: Give to your Christmas Eve offering. Your offering will go to FSW’s Knox Fund for Immigrant Relief and be distributed to migrant ministries along the border. Your offering will fund migrant shelters and provide a “room in the inn.” Your offering will offer food, hospitality and basic necessities to migrants who have run out of resources. And your offering will support ministries that truly see Jesus in each migrant, ministries that offer spiritual, emotional and medical support as well. Join us in being the answer to prayer for the migrants we encounter this Christmas season.
The Holy Family of today might just be camped along the Rio Grande. Thank you for being part of God’s divine story for their safety and wellbeing.