Listen: Get Up and Flee - the Flight to Egypt

Source: BBC/ICN

It's the dead of night and Joseph is lying asleep, his wife Mary and the infant Jesus are close by. He is disturbed by the arrival of an urgent message - "Get up, take your child and his mother, and flee". They hastily pack what they can carry and run from the slaughter, heading to Egypt to escape the wrath of King Herod.

Broadcast this morning on Radio 4, Sarah Teather director of Jesuit Refugee Services and Fr Dominic Robinson SJ explore this gruesome and terrifying epilogue to the Nativity story which sees the Holy Family flee from violence to a foreign land as refugees. They consider how this two thousand year old story is reflected in the lives of many refugees in the world today. They are joined at Farm Street Jesuit Church in Mayfair by Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir and the Jesuit Refugee Service Choir, singing Gospel songs and carols.

The Band Leader is Peter Yarde Martin. Directors of Music: Magda Supel and Miko Giedroyc. Producer: Katharine Longworth.

The programme is available on BBC iplayer for the next 29 days: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0001sx3