The divine refugee

The Divine Refugee Earlier this year I discovered a bronze medallion at the back of the church which had become a little bedraggled, covered in dust and the odd piece of pigeon poo. I was amazed to see that it bore the title the Divine Refuge. Included in the service sheet tonight is a photo of the medallion and some information about the sculptor. Despite many inquiries I was unable to find out how it had made its way here. The artist’s name and the year of its creation 1957 are inscribed on it, namely Andor Meszaros, who was for many years a Kew resident.

Indeed, his son Michael still lives in the family home and was equally astonished when I showed him the medallion.

So what’s the relevance to this service here tonight?

So often we focus on the birth of the Christ Child and rightly so. But there is a darker side of the story that gets very little attention. For as the Gospel for tonight reminds us, that when Jesus came into the world “his own people received him not”.

It’s about 430 miles from Bethlehem to Egypt or in our terms nearly 700 kilometres, Melbourne to

Adelaide is about 720. And yet this exactly what the Holy Family did in order to escape the wrath of Herod the Great. Some journey on foot with a baby barely a few weeks old.

The Meszaros medallion captures this journey beautifully.

We see The Blessed Virgin Mary seated on the donkey nursing the Christ Child and St Joseph kneeling by the side of the road trying the light a fire.

The donkey in the meantime totally unimpressed is braying furiously at the delay or is he trying to get something to eat, hard to tell.

How did they survive and how long did it take? We have no idea but survive they did, returning to their home in Nazareth years later.

In the world tonight there millions of refugees, indeed the UN High Commission for Refugees suggests there are in excess of 65 m of whom a third are under 18. They are the highest ever levels everr recorded. In addition there are 10 million stateless people.

But of course the Holy Family was not the only family that sought refuge in Egypt. Four nights a week I welcome to the Vicarage Regina who comes to look after my wife Susan while I get our dinner.

Some 16 year ago Regina, a faithful Catholic, fled Sudan, as it was then, because of persecution from the north and intertribal fighting. She journeyed with her 4 children and, after 3 years in a camp on the outskirts of Cairo, was able to come to Australia. She has made a new life for herself and her family here but from my perspective she remains the most loving and kind carer I have ever encountered. When she gradually told me her story I was overwhelmed, for she is utterly self-effacing. And today in Australia there are many Regina’s

The image of the Divine Refugee challenges us on many levels.

The first and most obvious is that it puts the Manger scene, the angels and the shepherds into a totally different context. From being safe, secure, warm and comfortable the Christ Child is thrust out into a dark

foreboding world. No reassuring Crib scene here.

Rather a journey fraught with danger, despair, hunger and seemingly never ending. Hundreds and hundreds of miles through sparsely inhabited lands, little water and certainly no wayside convenience stores.

I wonder how many of us would buy a Christmas card emblazoned with the Meszaros image, let alone be happy to receive one?

Secondly, Jesus as the Divine Refugee challenges our attitudes towards our own refugees languishing on Manus and Nauru. For they are our refugees. One can argue about the politics and history but the fact remains that for most, if not all, the future remains very bleak. Seemingly no solution, no resolution.

Finally, the image challenges our understanding of Jesus himself. Born a refugee in his own country destined to die because he challenged the very same authorities that wanted him dead, even while a baby.

Many of us rarely experience worship at night, except on this night. It has a strangeness about it that

is unique to Christmas. For there is no other night like this. But what remains unstated is that it’s not just the entry of the Christ Child into this world but the journey that he then took.

For many Christians Jesus never grows up nor do they allow him to grow up. The Babe of Bethlehem remains just that a Babe. We know very little about those secret years at Nazareth. What we do know is those few years of Jesus’ public ministry as recorded in the Gospels.

In a sense of course, the Divine Refugee remained a refugee for the whole of his life. A refugee from his family, his friends and even his own home.

Jesus himself says: Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.

On this most holy of nights and in the days to days I hope you will spend some time reflecting on The Divine Refugee.