Jesus as a Migrant, Part 2

When news of Herod’s death came to Joseph in Egypt, it was time to move on. Logically, they would return to Judah, to where they had been in Bethlehem.  But news that Archelaus, Herod’s son, would rule that part of Herod’s kingdom, led them to migrate further away and to seek a different opportunity in Galilee.  Instead of going to Judah, then, they find their way to Nazareth. Safety.  Opportunity.  Sustainability.  In the case of the Holy Family these are not choices.  SOS lived itself out as a result of being persecuted, displaced and exiled.  The search for safety, opportunity and sustainability are the logical consequences of their situation.   

It is not so different today.  People who migrate are often forced to do so for their own physical safety and the safety of their families.  There are many people who never intend to migrate.  Yet, powers beyond their control force these families and individuals into migration.  Some are tricked.  Some are captured.  Some are sold into slavery. 

There are others whose life situations are such that migration offers the only apparent hope of opportunity.  True security is the goal of sustainability.  For Joseph, Mary and Jesus, the migration from ‘S’ to ‘O’ to ‘S’ ended in the town of Nazareth where Joseph was able to find safety, opportunity and sustainability for his family as a carpenter. 

We need a call to action for churches that would minister to today’s holy families for they are in our midst and they are in our neighborhoods. We need to remember that theirs is an S O S distress signal.  Every day we see migrants who are dying, innocents being slaughtered.  They cannot wait. May God grant our churches the wisdom, the courage and the vision to offer ministries compassion, love and community to migrants.