Reflection: Migrant families and Our Lady of Guadalupe in Season of Advent

image: mural at Sacred Heart Parish in El Paso, TX of Our Lady of Guadalupe offering relief to migrants

Advent is a season of waiting, a season of hope. In a special way, Advent is a season of migration, a season that reminds us of the journey of Maria and Jose on their way to Bethlehem to give birth to Jesus, the journey of the three kings from the East to pay homage to the Christ child, and the journey and flight of the Holy Family to Egypt, as King Herod sought the child to slay him.

Especially in this season of Advent, the drama on the US-Mexico border lends itself very well to the Advent and Christmas story: pregnant mothers, journeying through Mexico and giving birth to children in manger-like conditions of poverty and refuge from violence; government authorities along their route, and especially in the United States, persecuting them and tear-gassing those who approach the border wall; Catholics and Jews, nuns and priests, people of good will travelling near and far to offer gifts of service, hospitality, and solidarity.

To read on see: http://columbancenter.org/content/migrant-families-and-our-lady-guadalupe-season-advent