For the Season of Advent, which begins December 2, we offer the Walking Toward Hope Advent and Epiphany Devotional produced by the Interfaith Immigration Coalition. The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns is part of this alliance of faith-based organizations advocating for refugees and migrants in Washington, D.C.
We invite you to consider placing your tabletop nativity set inside a cage, surrounding it with wire, or making a large outdoor display with fencing to remember immigrant or refugee families now enduring detention and displacement. Be inspired by the display of Christ Church Cathedral, Indianapolis - installed since family separation began last summer! Images related to each devotion’s theme are also provided on pages 20 and 21. Print these out on large mailing labels or other sticky paper to affix to your display in the first four weeks. Then place the images near your nativity on and following Christmas Eve, to help recall the daily challenges faced by migrants seeking hope. On Christmas Eve, be sure to remove any barrier around your nativity to celebrate the power of Christ's birth to overcome oppression.