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Posted on 12/09/2025 9:15:31 AM PST by DFG
Last week, a Catholic church in Massachusetts made headlines with its Nativity display — in which Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus were replaced by an empty manger and an anti-ICE poster. Now, it seems the church’s pastor is refusing to take down the display for the time being, against the wishes of his church authority.
St. Susanna, located in the Boston suburb of Dedham, “displayed a Nativity scene outside the church with an empty manger and a sign that says, ‘ICE was here,’” Fox News reported Wednesday. The implication, of course, is that the baby Savior was either apprehended or threatened by federal immigration agents.
“The Holy Family is safe in The Sanctuary of our church,” the sign below the “ICE was here” poster reads, “followed by contact information for a group that monitors immigration operations in the state.”
Father Stephen Josoma, the pastor at St. Susanna, reportedly told Fox that “the church’s peace and justice group” puts together a display each year. They “try to see what [it would] be like if Christ was born into the context of the world today” and ask, “what would he be facing?” he said.
The display’s ultimate message is clear: In a modern-day context, Jesus, his mother Mary, and (earthly) father Joseph would be considered migrants — a family of refugees crossing borders only to face being nabbed by law enforcement officers amid Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown. If that rubs you the wrong way, you’re the problem, at least according to Josoma, who told Fox that if the display of “religious art” “evokes a strong reaction, it’s maybe good to take a look at that.”
On Friday, the Archdiocese of Boston condemned the display, which was reportedly put up without its permission. According to Fox, the Archdiocese’s secretary for communications and public affairs issued a statement calling for “the display [to] be removed, and the manger restored to its proper sacred purpose.” ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons has also spoken out against the politicized nativity. On Monday, Josoma defended the display and indicated it would stay in place while “waiting for an opportunity of dialogue and clarity with [Arch]bishop [Richard] Henning before reaching any final decisions,” according to a press conference video posted by MassLive. He did signal the display would come down “if the circus continues and then there’s threats … anything like that.”
‘It Does Not Make Historical Sense’
This is hardly the first time professing Christians have exploited the biblical narrative to essentially justify allowing millions of illegal aliens into the U.S. And, following a year of horrific leftist political violence, including against ICE agents, speaking out against this manipulative endeavor has never been more important.
At the very least, anyone who has actually read the biblical account of Christ’s birth (hopefully that includes Father Josoma?) knows how seriously historically flawed it is to cast Mary, Joseph, and Jesus as modern-day migrants.
Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem in accordance with the law to be counted as members of the “Roman world,” not to evade it or escape (Luke 2:1-15). Jesus was born in a stable, not because the Holy Family was homeless or displaced, but because “there was no guest room available for them” during their census trip to the City of David.
Now, the display at St. Susanna very well could be a reference to how the Holy Family later fled from Bethlehem to Egypt, which happened up to two years after Christ’s birth. In this case, Mary and Joseph were escaping an evil ruler who threatened their son. But even then, the analogy is still faulty.
Bethlehem was located in the Roman-controlled territory of Judea, which was overseen by King Herod at the time of Jesus’ birth. Although Herod was essentially a puppet ruler on behalf of the Romans, news of the birth of the Messiah — the true “King of the Jews” — threatened his power. He asked the Magi to report Jesus’ location back to him. When they failed to do this, Herod “gave orders to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under” (Matthew 2). Jesus was spared because an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream, telling him to escape to Egypt with his family.
On its face, this might seem comparable to some sort of refugee situation. However, setting aside the fact that the geopolitics of the ancient Middle East are not directly comparable to modern-day American immigration laws in the first place, Egypt and Judea were both under Roman control at the time. It’s misleading to suggest Mary and Joseph fled to a foreign country to escape their own.
Back in 2019, Christian apologist Wesley Huff similarly debunked claims that Mary, Joseph, and Jesus were “refugees” in a Facebook post documented by apologetics group Stand to Reason:
So, for the sake of analogy, I want you to picture a modern day couple: Maria and José, who are traveling with their baby boy Jesús, all born and raised in Arizona. They are fleeing Tempe, Arizona and seeking temporary shelter in San Diego, California due to a discriminatory magistrate judge who they feel is unjust and would pursue persecution within their home state. Would we consider this modern couple as refugees seeking asylum? No, if words have meanings and those meanings matter then no one in our hypothetical modern-day nativity scene were refugees. Not according to what that term is understood to legally and rationally mean.
He went on to note that, while “[t]he political situation in question is a pressing and serious issue,” “it does not make historical sense to take a modern definition, apply it to a situation within antiquity using a modern lens of both situation and geographical borders, and then try to apply it to make a political point.” (At the time, during the first Trump administration, a Methodist church made headlines for a nativity display featuring the Holy Family as “refugees in cages.” St. Susanna apparently made a similar statement with a 2018 display.)
Political Hijacking
After a year of anti-ICE rioters flying Mexican flags, leftist sieges of government facilities, deportations of countless criminals, and multiple violent attacks allegedly at the hands of illegal aliens — all following Biden’s open border spree — there is no question that strict immigration enforcement is far past due. Yet Democrats and the corporate media insist instead on running cover for alleged human smugglers, smearing Trump and ICE as Nazis (another historically dubious comparison), and perpetuating hoax after hoax to demonize federal law enforcement.
I don’t want to suggest no one should ever be eligible for asylum or that our immigration system is not broken, but, as The Federalist’s John Daniel Davidson aptly noted in 2019, “It’s unclear what Democrats and liberal media outlets want to happen. Do they think everyone who crosses the border illegally and claims asylum should be released the same day, before we have any idea who they are or where they came from? … Does the outraged left think there aren’t bad people willing to exploit a very real crisis, willing even to buy and sell children to take advantage of defective U.S. asylum law?” Do they want all ICE operations to cease completely?
While Christians and churches can debate immigration policy or how to respond to current events, Trump ran and won on the promise to keep America safe for Americans. It’s his prerogative to do so, and any attempt to project his immigration policy onto the Holy Family’s situation is inherently a non sequitur that ignores very real national security concerns.
‘When the Fullness of Time Had Come’
Historical ignorance and lack of common sense aside, what makes me the most sad about St. Susanna’s display and others like it is just how much they miss the whole point of the nativity. The “what if Jesus were born now?” argument leveraged by church leaders like Josoma and other Christians completely overlooks a key part of God’s plan for salvation: Christ came “when the fullness of time had come,” at the exact right moment, in the exact right place (Galatians 4:4 ESV).
The virgin birth and the arrival of Emmanuel — God with us — were foretold in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New. To strip the Christmas story of its place in history and cast the Lord as a political victim is to miss the hand of God who, while transcending time, nonetheless sent Himself to us in a specific context. Jesus fled to and came out of Egypt like His people before Him. He fulfilled the Law and the Prophets. He suffered at the hands of the religious leaders and the Romans. He tore the curtain in two. He rose victorious, and now with Him, so can we.
The point of Christ’s birth is that it both involves and transcends our human existence, thus redeeming it. In the midst of broken immigration systems and riots in the streets, let us turn our eyes to eternity and call on His mighty name that will never be overcome: “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” And, while we wait for His return, let us resist all efforts of cheap political activism that seek to cheapen His display of love for us.
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ICE is helping all these invaders return to their home countries to be counted correctly in their census there.
Perhaps we should do the same.
Zackly.
“The issue is not the issue. The revolution is not the issue.”
There is nothing to discuss with revolutionaries.
They want to steal your stuff and then kill you.
Bkmk
Correction: The revolution is the issue.
Even going to Egypt was not *illegal immigration*.
And they went back home when told to.
When are illegals going to start going back home?
Big time.
The sooner the better.
If they want to preach the bible then preach the whole word:
Romans 13
13 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
Reason #67 why my wife and I, and numerous extended family members, attend a Protestant Bible Church instead of the Catholic Church that we were raised in.
Bare bones. I like that. I couldn't read the article.
Discussing “big ideas” with leftists is a monumental waste of time.
They are operating in bad faith—use words as weapons of indoctrination and subversion.
Yup.
” ... and the truth shall set you free.”
>Joseph & Mary were immigrants and little baby Jesus was natural born, bigots!
Memes, or enthymemes are effective because they provide premises that allow the audience to draw their own conclusion, thereby having ‘ownership’ in the conclusion.
However, the minor and major premises must be true in order for the syllogism to be logically valid.
Unfortunately, the left lies like a bear rug—they can’t help themselves. Comparing the Holy Family to Paco, Maria and nino Heyseuss is inapt.
Thus, the axiom, “The left can’t meme.”
Herod wanted to have all young boys Jesus' age killed for his political power. A more accurate 2025 analogy would be radical leftists wanting to trans them into girls, also for their political power
Same-same.
I concur
For the leftists marching through the institutions they view the places they occupy (like churches) as bases of operations.
Everything else is just noise.
This “church” has a history of leftist activism.
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