I
listened to a radio programme last week during which the story of a refugee boy
who had been settled with a family in the West was asked what was different when
compared to the home he had left. His reply?
“Now I am warm and when I open the larder door, there is food to eat”
How well would those of us in the affluent towns and
cities of
Europe
manage in circumstances
such as those that have faced these people in transit? How would we have coped
with the long walks, the risks at sea and the varying weather? Not very well I
am sure.
Yet there it is. At some point in recent months, a
family would have agreed, “it’s time we were moving, it’s time we were
gone”. Leaving their home and extended family behind, they set out on their
perilous journey.
Some never made it, losing their lives on the way.
Others arrived having become separated from families. And others are camped in
make-shift manner hoping for a welcome in a strange land.
No doubt, there are a few in their midst who
shouldn’t be with them, whose intention it is to bring the terrors that the
vast majority are fleeing into the heart of the European continent and continue
to wreak havoc amongst innocent people. So be it. It is the risk we must take in
order to help those who need our help, those who need our care.
During these days of Christmas, there will be families living in rough
dwellings, tents and make-do shacks, as we share our family Christmas in the
warmth of our comfortable homes.
We
sing carols about the star of
Bethlehem
, we tell stories of a
pregnant Jewish girl, Miriam, and her Joseph on the road from
Nazareth
to
Bethlehem
. We hear once again the
story of rejection, there being no room for strangers and we welcome the Christ
Child. For a brief moment we can hesitate
and gaze in speechless wonder as we know again Christ’s Birth.
When you leave the First Mass of Christmas, late in the evening or maybe
where Mass is still at midnight, early
Christmas morning, imagine that under those self-same stars overhead, young
families are without the comforts of our communities, without the comforts that
we are returning to.
May our Governments and our people continue to
welcome them, offering shelter, food and clothing and extend the love of Christ
to those in need.
Come Lord Jesus, come.
END
-----
