This Christmas must be a pared-down version, one without large family gatherings and parties that will spread COVID-19 and cause ever more sickness and death.
But this sparse Christmas can be a good time to see the bare bones of the Jesus story without the glitter of tinsel blinding you to its meaning.
The story of the birth of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew (Matt.1:18-2:23) is a harrowing tale of children threatened and killed by an authoritarian ruler and a flight to Egypt to escape persecution. It mirrors the plight of refugees seeking asylum in the U.S. who are fleeing violence and persecution in their own countries. But unlike Egypt in the biblical narrative, this outgoing Trump administration has consistently tried to deny them a safe place to live.
WASHINGTON (RNS) President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security held a roundtable meeting with an array of faith groups on Friday (Dec. 18), a gathering participants described as “refreshing” and a shift away from the Trump administration’s combative relationship with religious organizations regarding immigration and refugee policy.
The long list of attendees huddled virtually with Alejandro Mayorkas, a Cuban American Sephardic Jew and former refugee Biden has tapped as his DHS nominee.
A Biden transition official noted there was significant energy at the meeting created by Biden’s promise to overturn President Donald Trump’s travel ban, which advocates characterize as a “Muslim ban.” They also discussed laws and regulations governing asylum claims.