Weekly THIS AND THAT for December 28, 2008: The Whole Family of God Is Holy

This and That:
The Whole Family of God Is Holy


While away on sabbatical, one of many heartfelt experiences of the Palestinian People came in our visit to a Refugee Camp in Bethlehem. Agar and Emenia were parents of six children. They had fled from Iraq, hoping for a better life in the West Bank. It’s hard to know if things are really “better” for them. While they feel safer, life in the camps threatens their family with little or no food, cramped living conditions (8 in two rooms and a small kitchen), and no work to be found for either of them. Could we even imagine our family in a similar situation? Yet, with so little they invited us warmly into their humble home and offered us tea. Salir, their small son, graciously poured tea from a battered metal pot into six small glasses and served them as if he were serving royalty.

Speaking through an interpreter we asked them about their life in the camp. Their explanation only added to the dismay we felt over the living conditions we saw. We entertained the little children, taking their pictures and playing hide-and–seek. After an hour and a half we thanked them and left. What I will always remember is how Emenia bid us farewell saying, “Please come again and maybe next we make you chicken.” Our guide assured us that for them to “make us chicken” would be a very special occasion indeed.

Whether tight-knit, loosely woven, or downright poor, family is the safety net that draws unique and different human persons and holds them together in a unity, however, strong or tenuous. Whether wholesome or fractured, prosperous or poor, the ties that bind us bring tears to every family member’s eyes when one of their own is suffering. When one in the family achieves success, all celebrate it as if it were their own. When a newborn becomes part of the family, all feel a surge of new life; when one member dies, a little dying comes to all.

Today, in the company of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, we celebrate our identity as family, as “The Joneses,” the O’Learys,” the “Rossettis,” “the Martinezes.” etc. In addition to our own nuclear family, our Judeo-Christian faith reminds us that we also belong to a global family that excludes no one. But this is a goal we must work for.

At this moment, untold numbers of our worldwide family that includes Agar and Emenia are struggling to survive circumstances that threaten their very existence. War and its consequences destroy thousands in the human family each day. Poverty, hunger and disease claim even more lives, leaving countless children orphaned and alone.

This hard reality is well known and many among us, individually and as a parish, acknowledge our suffering brothers and sisters with generous help, prayers and outreach. But there are other family members whose voices are not heard and whose claim on us is not acknowledged. Millions of people from developing countries are seeking to survive through emigration. Driven by hunger and weighed down by poverty, joblessness and political oppression, these refugees risk their lives to try to provide the basic necessities of life for their own families. Many do not survive the journey; others are turned away at unfriendly borders. Nevertheless, their need is so great, they keep coming and keep hoping that someone will recognize their humanity and welcome them.

In recent years not just America, but other wealthy nations with great resources and room at the table for those who want to work hard and live responsibly are closing their doors to immigrants. Fear of political and economic conflict, supposed threats of terrorism and ethnic shift have challenged even our historic identity as a “Nation of Immigrants.” In recent times, lacking a coherent immigration policy, we have focused on a deportation-only strategy to pursue the millions of undocumented people who are already in the country hoping to find a legal path to citizenship. We read of workplace raids that are dividing families, imprisoning and deporting workers who were first welcomed, but then exploited by employers. While the goals of a national immigration system are in large measure responsible for this, the means have become an assault on human dignity and fairness. Children watch as their parents are taken away in handcuffs to appear later in court in chains. With little help from the legal system, limited cautious support from the Church, and little sympathy from a public that, despite our own immigrant heritage believes the myths about immigrants circulated by hate media, these helpless members of our family have little or no recourse.

Yet at the same time, signs of momentous change are visible. We just witnessed a general election that was a historic struggle to determine who would lead our county and set national goals and policy. Each party made history in presenting either an African American for president or the first woman in history as Vice President.

Inclusivity is undisputedly becoming a reality that enriches the lives of many, but others as families continue to live in a nightmare of fear and insecurity. The dream must expand to every member of the family. Therefore, those of us who are free to celebrate the gift of family on this Feast of the Holy Family are compelled because our membership in the family of Jesus to work diligently and to speak out boldly until absolutely every member of our human family can share the same joys.

Fondly,
Father Nicholas