Feast of the Holy Innocents

Readings of the Day

“Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”

As we reflect on today’s reading from Matthew, we see Jesus incarnate in the families fleeing for their lives and arriving at our southern border.  We see Jesus incarnate in the babies and children separated from their mothers and fathers without reason or care.  We see Jesus incarnate in the babies and children huddled in shelters and sleeping on the streets of Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo, Juarez and Tijuana with their mothers and fathers, waiting to be received and welcomed by us in the land of plenty.   The “Herod” of extreme violence and poverty propels them north to protect their lives and seek dignity.  And the “Herod” of many of our countrymen and women reject them and leave their lives in danger.   And like Rachel, we see mothers weeping without consolation for their children.  

John, in the first reading, reminds us that God is light.  He instructs that when we walk in the light, we have fellowship with one another and are cleansed from all sin.  Despite the many “Herods” in our society and across the country, there are just as many or more who walk in light, who are in fellowship with our immigrant brothers and sisters at the border.   Religious, non-profit workers and volunteers join hands and hearts to alleviate their suffering.  This fellowship is more important than ever.  We must raise our voices and stand by and with the men, women and children stranded at our borders in their pleas for protection and dignity. 

Anna Gallagher is the Executive Director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC).   CLINIC promotes the dignity and protects the rights of immigrants with our network of immigration legal service provides in 49 states and the District of Columbia.   CLINIC’s project – the Estamos Unidos Asylum Project – assists men, women and children in Ciudad de Juarez, Mexico who are seeking asylum in the United States. Gallagher is spending Christmas week in Juarez, providing Know Your Rights presentations and assisting asylum seekers to prepare their applications.

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