Strangers

Sr. Patricia McCarthy, CND, always is gracious in sharing with the Archdiocesan Catechetical Office the monthly columns she writes for Rhode Island Catholic, the newspaper of the Diocese of Providence.  Her December article is particularly timely, given the fear and distrust among many Americans of certain refugees and immigrants trying to make a life in this country. Unless we are Native Americans, we're all children of immigrants. Few of us can claim with certainty that every single one of our ancestors entered the United States legally.

Sr. Patricia writes about a family we all know and love, a mother, step-father and child who had to leave their country, their relatives, and their friends in fear for the child's life. They had to slip quietly into another country. They had to become strangers in a foreign land. When they finally came home and the child grew up, he gave his life for all people, not just those who looked and spoke like him.

Here is Sr. Patricia's Christmas column. I hope you will read it and share it.