Midweek Meditation from Episcopal Migration Ministries
By Allison Duvall, Manager for Church Relations and Engagement
St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), the Spanish priest, theologian, and founder of the Jesuit order (Society of Jesus), believed that through imagination we could draw closer to God. His Spiritual Exercises teach a practice of imaginative contemplation that draws one into a deeper relationship with God through scripture.
In one of the work's early exercises, Ignatius invites the reader to meditate on the birth of Jesus: to imagine Mary's home - its size, how many rooms there were; to imagine the road from Nazareth to Bethlehem; to imagine the place of the Nativity - Mary in labor, Joseph at her side, and the birth of the Christ child. When I took a moment to try this exercise for myself, it nearly took my breath away. The dirt, the smell, the sweat, the fear, the hope, the cry of the newborn child. The world-altering, boundary-crossing incarnation of Love left a lingering scent of dung and moldy straw.
I often wonder how it is that we celebrate Christmas with such pomp, when the reality of the event we commemorate was one of danger and fear, devastation and sorrow, difficulty and pain. This Friday, January 6, we'll celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany, the manifestation of God in Jesus as revealed to the Gentiles in the persons of the Three Magi, or Wise Men. At my home parish, Christ Church Cathedral in the Diocese of Lexington, the celebration of Epiphany it is an event of joy and a special wonder in children's eyes as camels process through the beautiful Cathedral.
But what of the reality of the event?
I invite you to take a moment to try St. Ignatius' exercise of imaginative contemplation on the Gospel Reading appointed for the Feast of the Epiphany: Matthew 2:1-12. Imagine yourself in the home of an anonymous young couple and their toddler son as Herod's murderous campaign descends on Bethlehem. What do you hear? What do you smell? What do you see? What do you feel? What do you do?
What do we do?
That's the question that startles me every Epiphany - what do we do? What do we do with the voices that the text has neglected or silenced - the hundreds of families whose children were murdered? What do we do with the voices with us today that are repressed, oppressed, and that no one seems to hear?
I can only wonder how popular opinion and public policy towards refugees might shift were we all to engage in St. Ignatius' spiritual exercises.
Who are the Holy Innocents, today? And what do we do?
By Allison Duvall, Manager for Church Relations and Engagement
St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), the Spanish priest, theologian, and founder of the Jesuit order (Society of Jesus), believed that through imagination we could draw closer to God. His Spiritual Exercises teach a practice of imaginative contemplation that draws one into a deeper relationship with God through scripture.
In one of the work's early exercises, Ignatius invites the reader to meditate on the birth of Jesus: to imagine Mary's home - its size, how many rooms there were; to imagine the road from Nazareth to Bethlehem; to imagine the place of the Nativity - Mary in labor, Joseph at her side, and the birth of the Christ child. When I took a moment to try this exercise for myself, it nearly took my breath away. The dirt, the smell, the sweat, the fear, the hope, the cry of the newborn child. The world-altering, boundary-crossing incarnation of Love left a lingering scent of dung and moldy straw.
I often wonder how it is that we celebrate Christmas with such pomp, when the reality of the event we commemorate was one of danger and fear, devastation and sorrow, difficulty and pain. This Friday, January 6, we'll celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany, the manifestation of God in Jesus as revealed to the Gentiles in the persons of the Three Magi, or Wise Men. At my home parish, Christ Church Cathedral in the Diocese of Lexington, the celebration of Epiphany it is an event of joy and a special wonder in children's eyes as camels process through the beautiful Cathedral.
But what of the reality of the event?
I invite you to take a moment to try St. Ignatius' exercise of imaginative contemplation on the Gospel Reading appointed for the Feast of the Epiphany: Matthew 2:1-12. Imagine yourself in the home of an anonymous young couple and their toddler son as Herod's murderous campaign descends on Bethlehem. What do you hear? What do you smell? What do you see? What do you feel? What do you do?
What do we do?
That's the question that startles me every Epiphany - what do we do? What do we do with the voices that the text has neglected or silenced - the hundreds of families whose children were murdered? What do we do with the voices with us today that are repressed, oppressed, and that no one seems to hear?
I can only wonder how popular opinion and public policy towards refugees might shift were we all to engage in St. Ignatius' spiritual exercises.
Who are the Holy Innocents, today? And what do we do?
Questions & answers about the Current Global Refugee Crisis
Click #REFUGEES WELCOME FOR A SLIDE SHOW PRESENTATION

- The current global refugee crisis is the largest humanitarian crisis since World War II.
- Episcopal Relief & Development continues to respond to human need in the Middle East and throughout Europe.
- Episcopal Migration Ministries responds to human need as refugees enter America.
Prayer for Refugees
Dear Lord, You know what it means to be a refugee. You also lost all and perhaps remembered how you came to be hungry and naked, thirsty and cold, prisoners in a camp or prisoners in our own minds. They even took your cloak and you had nothing left, except some people who came by to quench your thirst, to give you a blanket and to help carry your burden.
Lord Jesus, for God's sake, let us be those people who bring comfort, food and water, and an encouraging word. And may we then hear the words softly spoken: "insofar as you did it unto these people who are the least of my brothers, you did it unto me. Go in peace!" By Brother Andrew L. de Carpentier, Jordan