WELCOME STRANGER
Just this week at www.ancestry.com, I found the original ship manifest for my mother, Mary Haran, who arrived from Ireland at Ellis Island aboard the Carmania on February 28, 1925. She was held in Detention because of a heart murmur until a rich woman who took her as a housemaid claimed her. My father escaped from the Irish Black and Tans at the age of 14, accused of being a member of the IRA. He fled to England and later boarded a ship to Canada, entering the US illegally through Detroit. Today we reflect on these alien seekers from other lands who follow a star to find “they know not what.” They are only welcomed by Herod to exploit them. The poor shepherds and the other aliens, Mary, Joseph and their Child, in the poorest of dwellings, accept them.
Are we playing Herod today when we build fences on our border or help build them in Israel? Do we only accept the aliens we can exploit? We are all aliens in this world today and as St Paul reminds us “members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”
The Wise Seekers found Jesus and went home. John and Mary Hegarty are home now also.
Marty Hegarty for Growing in Faith
Filed under: Growing In Faith
