Crossing the border
The father is a craftsman, the mother young and inexperienced. They’re carrying an infant whose life is in danger. God guides the father to take his little family across the border to another country for their safety. They make the journey and remain outside their homeland for a certain time. Presumably, the father uses his skills to support the family and the mother cares for their child. When it’s safe to return home, they make the journey back.
This isn’t the story of a Central American or Mexican family of “illegal” aliens, although it could be. On December 30, the Church celebrates the Holy Family and the Gospel tells the story of their flight to Egypt. It’s a good thing that the ancient world didn’t have overzealous Border Patrol agents or Minutemen watching the line between Palestine and Egypt. “And so they were deported…” might not have fit in St.Matthew narrative in today’s readings.
How many families with fathers who have menial skills, mothers who are young and infants in God’s image are suffering because of our immigration policies? During this season of love and compassion and on the day when the Holy Family is venerated, we should all examine how we treat those who are strangers in our land. As Leviticus says, we too were “once aliens in the land of Egypt.”
