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Last week, a Catholic church in Massachusetts made headlines with its Nativity display — in which an empty manger and an anti-ICE poster replaced Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. Now, it seems the church’s pastor is refusing to take down the display.
St. Susanna, located in the Boston suburb of Dedham, “displayed a Nativity scene outside the church with an empty manger and a sign that says, ‘ICE was here,’” Fox News reported Wednesday. The implication, of course, is that the baby Savior was either apprehended or threatened by federal immigration agents.
The Holy Family fleeing from one Roman-controlled region to another in the first century is in no way a mandate on whether America has a right to enforce immigration laws.
Be informed, not misled.
The pastor of a Catholic parish near Boston says an anti-immigration-enforcement display in its Nativity scene will stay up at least for the time being, and he is asking for a meeting with the archbishop.
The announcement Monday night — more than three days after the Archdiocese of Boston said the display should be removed — leaves the parish and Archbishop Richard Henning of Boston at an impasse.
“We are waiting for an opportunity of dialogue and clarity with [Arch]bishop Henning before reaching any final decisions,” Father Stephen Josoma said, according to a video of a press conference published by MassLive.com.
The display, put up Nov. 29 outside St. Susanna Church in Dedham, Massachusetts, includes a large sign saying “ICE Was Here” and another sign explaining that the absent figures of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are safe inside the church building. The display also includes a telephone number to report the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs agents to an organization that monitors them.
A spokesman for Archbishop Henning on Friday described the display as inappropriate and said it should be removed.
“The people of God have the right to expect that, when they come to church, they will encounter genuine opportunities for prayer and Catholic worship — not divisive political messaging... ” said Terrence Donilon, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Boston, by email.
According to Josoma, "The display’s ultimate message is clear: In a modern-day context, Jesus, his mother Mary, and (earthly) father Joseph would be considered migrants — a family of refugees crossing borders only to face being nabbed by law enforcement officers amid Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown. If that rubs you the wrong way, you’re the problem," at least according to Josoma, who told Fox that if the display of religious art “evokes a strong reaction, it’s maybe good to take a look at that.”
Let's take a look at that.
Maisey Jefferson, writing in The Federalist said this:
This is hardly the first time professing Christians have exploited the biblical narrative to essentially justify allowing millions of illegal aliens into the U.S.
Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem in accordance with the law to be counted as members of the “Roman world,” not to evade it or escape (Luke 2:1-15). Jesus was born in a stable, not because the Holy Family was homeless or displaced, but because “there was no guest room available for them” during their census trip to the City of David.
Bethlehem was located in the Roman-controlled territory of Judea, which was overseen by King Herod at the time of Jesus’ birth. Although Herod was essentially a puppet ruler on behalf of the Romans, news of the birth of the Messiah — the true “King of the Jews” — threatened his power. He asked the Magi to report Jesus’ location back to him. When they failed to do this, Herod “gave orders to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under” (Matthew 2). Jesus was spared because an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream, telling him to escape to Egypt with his family.
On its face, this might seem comparable to some sort of refugee situation. However, setting aside the fact that the geopolitics of the ancient Middle East are not directly comparable to modern-day American immigration laws in the first place, Egypt and Judea were both under Roman control at the time. It’s misleading to suggest Mary and Joseph fled to a foreign country to escape their own.
Back in 2019, Christian apologist Wesley Huff similarly debunked claims that Mary, Joseph, and Jesus were “refugees” in a Facebook post documented by apologetics group Stand to Reason:
So, for the sake of analogy, I want you to picture a modern-day couple: Maria and José, who are traveling with their baby boy Jesús, all born and raised in Arizona. They are fleeing Tempe, Arizona, and seeking temporary shelter in San Diego, California due to a discriminatory magistrate judge who they feel is unjust and would pursue persecution within their home state. Would we consider this modern couple as refugees seeking asylum? No, if words have meanings and those meanings matter then no one in our hypothetical modern-day nativity scene were refugees. Not according to what that term is understood to legally and rationally mean.
The Left is stumbling in the darkness again.
‘When the Fullness of Time Had Come’
Takeaway
The virgin birth and the arrival of Emmanuel — God with us — were foretold in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New. To strip the Christmas story of its place in history and cast the Lord as a political victim is to miss the hand of God who, while transcending time, nonetheless sent Himself to us in a specific context. Jesus fled to and came out of Egypt like His people before Him. He fulfilled the Law and the Prophets. He suffered at the hands of the religious leaders and the Romans. He tore the curtain in two. He rose victorious, and now with Him, so can we.The point of Christ’s birth is that it both involves and transcends our human existence, thus redeeming it. In the midst of broken immigration systems and riots in the streets, let us turn our eyes to eternity and call on His mighty name that will never be overcome: “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” And, while we wait for His return, let us resist all efforts of cheap political activism that seek to cheapen His display of love for us.
