Saturday 11th January 2025
Whilst I value family and friends over possessions I am, I confess, a bit of a hoarder and I can’t imagine what it must be like to have to pack up only those items you can carry in a bag and flee from your home because of the threat of imminent danger.
Read Matthew 2: 13 – 15
Mary, Joseph and Jesus have become refugees in order to escape the threat from Herod. The angel may have warned them but the practicalities of leaving a place that was home to them and taking flight to a foreign land is something familiar to an increasing number of families in our world today.
The Holy Family in this part of the Gospel stand alongside all those in our world today who are displaced; refugees because of situations beyond their control and victims of circumstances they could not imagine. Many of us will find it hard to put ourselves in to their shoes and imagine the refugee life but we empathise and through various charities and organisations, including MWiB, we support and highlight the suffering caused by conflict, trafficking and economic desperation.
We pray:
Light of the World, Emmanuel, God with Us,
We pray for all those who through no fault of their own are refugees. We pray for the agencies that seek to offer support to people who have become displaced through whatever circumstance and in whatever part of our world. We pray for kindness and understanding to be shown in our churches and communities to those who seek to begin again in a foreign land, and we thank you for Churches and Cities of Sanctuary who bring the light of the Gospel into the lives of those who have nothing.
Amen.
Bronwen Braisdell Communications Officer
