As we enter the Advent-Christmas season, SMOS Immigration contemplates this much-loved story, filled with journeys and arrivals, and unlikely folk. The shepherds – laborers of low status – are invited by angels to go and see.  The Magi – exotic strangers – journey from afar.  The malice of the power-hungry King Herod weaves in and out of our story.  Joseph is warned in a dream that his family is not safe; he is told by the angel that he must flee the only home he’s ever known. “Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, he left that night for Egypt.”  Strangers in a strange land, this family was welcomed. Can we take the Christmas story to heart – and to action? This Advent will we recognize the face of Christ in each immigrant? Will we welcome them as Joseph’s family was once welcomed?