Today I was reflecting on the scriptures in which Herod, learning from the Magi of the birth of Jesus whom they name New King, is thwarted from his plans to eliminate Jesus. The Magi never return to give him the exact location of the Child. So, in anger, he has all the young boys below two years old massacred. However, Joseph has taken the Child and his mother to Egypt.
My thoughts took me to the detention centers where at last count 15,000 migrant children are being held. I am not sure of the numbers of children two years and under, but all of the children being held are our Holy Innocents. All of them, whether held in tents or cages, are dying a bit each day. And now two have died. For the others, their psyches are being damaged, not knowing or understanding what is happening. Not knowing where their parent or relatives have gone. Imagine being a toddler looking at life through the fencing of a cage. Imagine sitting on a mat in a soiled diaper waiting for it to be changed when someone can get to you. Just imagine.
And all for an angry approach to immigration. Yes, I concede there is anger on both sides of the issue, and my reflection does not lead to a solution for immigration. However, anger has a harmful wrath. Anger, as demonstrated by Herod, can lead to reckless actions like separating children from their parents. An article I was reading in the October New Yorker said of anger: “Anger is an avaricious emotion: it takes more credit than it deserves. Attempts to make it into a political virtue too often attribute anger to victories that rightfully belong to courage, patience, intelligence, persistence or love.”
All these virtues are being demonstrated by those who have gone there to be of service to the children and their relatives. They are demonstrated by those who care for the innocent’s welfare. We can agree to disagree about immigration and political solutions, but can we afford to act on this disagreement by internment? Can we who follow the Child not listen to his call, “Suffer the little children to come to me.” The Child would later remind us of the greatest commandment to love God with all our hearts and our neighbors as ourselves. And then respond with the parable of the Good Samaritan when asked, who is my neighbor. Remember Samaritans were despised and feared by the Jews.
Perhaps we should place these calls of Jesus front and center in our actions for immigrants. Perhaps courage, love, patience, intelligence, persistence and love are lenses to a policy solution rather than anger. Perhaps, but at least they are the way to a human solution so that the present day Holy Innocents are freed and returned to their families. Let’s not let the prophesy of Jeremiah continue to be fulfilled: “A voice was heard in Ramah (Texas, Florida, California, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Oregon, Michigan, Washington, Arizona, Illinois, etc.) sobbing lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children and she would not be consoled…”
That’s very unkind to compare our brave border enforcement as murdering Herod’s. No one snatched those children from their homes. They are in detention centers because of their PARENTS choice to involve them in violating our law. A better biblical analogy would be those in Canaan who sacrificed their children in hopes that their god would give them a better life.
FYI The “caged children” is a view which was photographed during the previous administration- not occurring today due to a pro life and pro family president. The two recent child deaths occurred because misguided PARENTS overexposed them….there is no mention of the heroic efforts of our border agents, first responders, helicopter pilot and hospital staff who tried to save them. This misleading and one-sided article has much more melodrama than fact.
I hope this article is not shared universally by your order. I am a small donor but cannot support those who support those who break the law.
Delita, thanks for your comment and thanks for reading. We deeply appreciate your support. Parents choose to come to the United States to give their children a better life. Many times, they are fleeing from violence, gangs, and drug culture. We know this not from the news, but from the experience of our own sisters who have ministered extensively in Central America and have befriended those in detention centers. As we have walked with our brothers and sisters from Central America, we have heard their fear and pain firsthand. These aren’t criminals looking to break the law, they’re parents hoping for a better life. Perhaps your relatives who immigrated to the U.S. had the same hope.
Unfortunately, many immigrants do enter the United States illegally. (To be clear, those seeking asylum are NOT committing a crime. It’s legal to enter the U.S. if one is unable or unwilling to return to his or her home country, and cannot obtain protection in that country, due to past persecution or a well-founded fear of being persecuted in the future “on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.”) Still, we recognize that illegal immigration is an issue. That’s why, since 2011, we have taken a corporate stance that recognizes that our present immigration law is badly broken and in need of reform. We call for our administration to create legal avenues of immigration that preserve human dignity and keep families intact. This article is an extension of that stance, which requires each of us to address the issue and call for change.
We appreciate that you follow us and are a generous supporter. We invite you to read more in the links below on why we hold these beliefs.
https://ophope.org/justice/corporate-stances/on-immigration-reform/
https://ophope.org/justice/should-the-u-s-accept-refugees/
https://ophope.org/justice/sister-visited-inside-of-detention-center-immigrant-detainee-immigration/
https://ophope.org/justice/dominican-sisters-statement-on-migrant-crisis-and-caravan-these-are-asylees-seeking-refuge/
https://ophope.org/justice/i-was-born-in-a-refugee-camp-in-germany-heres-what-americans-dont-understand-about-the-crisis-at-the-border/
https://ophope.org/justice/myths-family-separation-us-border-immigration/
https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/asylum-united-states
Please continue the good works, and reach out to those who do not understand how anger is not the answer. Thank you for your comment in response, so more details are known for others. I plan to print your article and share with my friend who is not understanding there are Lost Innocents in this mess.
CJ, This is touching to us. Thank you for your kind words and your heart for justice. We always hope to dialogue with those who don’t agree with us but always, as you point out, without anger. Thank you for reading and sharing!
Thank you for finding the detained migrant children in scripture for me. They are Innocents suffering because of decisions made by their parents and decisions made by our government.
As for Herod, I placed him back in the immigrants’ countries – making life so tenuous for the poor that the only way to ensure the children survive is to flee to another country. Like the Holy Family.
Thanks, Nancy! We’re so blessed to have you as an associate.