In a Nativity scene at St. Susanna Roman Catholic Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts, the Christ child is missing this Christmas. So too are Mary and Joseph. Instead, there sits a hand-painted sign: “ICE was here.”
Another sign reads: “The Holy Family is safe in the Sanctuary of our Church. If you see ICE please call (617) 370-5023” (an asylum hotline). A sign over the emptied creche reads: “Peace On Earth?”
A parallel reminder is occurring outside Lake Street Church in Evanston, Illinois, near Chicago, where Mary stands near the Nativity scene wearing a plastic gas mask and flanked by Roman soldiers in vests labeled “ICE.” The baby Jesus is zip-tied and wrapped in a silver emergency blanket.
At another Chicago suburb church located near an immigration and Customs Enforcement facility where protesters have frequently amassed, a sign at the manger reads: “Due to ICE activity in our community the Holy Family is in hiding.”
In the month of September alone, over 2,000 people were arrested in Illinois and Massachusetts. Clearly the communities are responding in ways that are familiar to those who follow the Bible: Awakening imagination through art and symbols and applying the stories to today’s evil goings-on, is always part of a prophetic action. As Aquinas taught, imaginative vision is required of the prophet—Jesus had those gifts, as do all who act prophetically. The prophet appeals to society’s moral imagination.
Negative responses have ensued. The Boston Archbishop ordered the display at St. Susanna to be taken down, but the pastor, Father Steve Josoma, held a parish council and the parishioners voted to keep it up.
Conservative Catholic activists called the scene “a grave scandal for Catholics.” Fr. Josoma notes that the purpose of the display is to move “beyond static traditional figures and evoke emotion and dialogue” in response to the fear many parishioners face, as federal forces spread anxiety, arresting undocumented immigrants and longtime legal residents.
The United Methodist church in Evanston put up a sign, “We hold this space to honor and remember all the victims of immigration enforcement terror.”
St. Susanna’s Parish has supported ten refugee families since 2019, and worked alongside the federal government to do so. “It’s not a stunt. We work on a daily basis with refugees…..Look at the Gospel just before Christ was executed—that was political. We were always taught: when you’re unsure, ask, ‘What would Christ do?’ Now we’re doing that,” commented Phil Mandeville, a member of the Parish Council who coordinates a multi-church refugee support committee.
In Evanston, volunteers showed up from a nearby synagogue and stood outside during the church services “to help worshippers feel safe.”
Back in Massachusetts, one Catholic objector said that “we should speak to spiritual matters, not matters of political division.” But one former Catholic schoolteacher who drove an hour to show his support, said: “The Archdiocese says, ‘Oh no, that goes against our tradition.’ Well. We’re living in times that are totally abnormal. We can’t just proceed as normal. If we’re following the scriptures of Jesus, then we have to recognize that these ICE raids, and all of these terrible things going on, are totally against that.”
Mahatma Gandhi had an opinion on these matters. He said: “Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion means.” And he frequently complained about “a Christianity without Christ.”
Meanwhile, if you take a good look at the Christian story, it includes Joseph ushering his family out of the country to escape bad guy Herod who was a politician par excellence. And of course it also includes the death and torture of Jesus by the empire about 30 years later. So it seems that religion and politics do indeed intersect.
Both Christian Nationalist Movement and the MAGA movement claim to be Christian, so that sounds sort of like politics and religion mixing, albeit of a perverse version of Christ. Sort of antichrist it would seem.
Ann Douglas defines sentimentalism as “rancid political consciousness.” May this be a non-sentimental Christmas for all—one that celebrates the coming of Justice and authentic Peace, of feeding the hungry and welcoming the stranger. Sort of what Jesus stood for and why he died.
Leah Willingham and Laura Bargfeld, “Church Nativity scenes add zip ties, gas masks and ICE to protest immigration raids,” Associated Press, December 12, 2025.
See also Fr. Stephen Josoma, “‘ICE was here’ at the manger,” Pax Christi USA, December 3, 2025.
To read the transcript of Matthew Fox’s video meditation, click HERE.
Banner Image: An ICE-raided crèche. Photo by Fr. Stephen Josoma of St. Susanna Parish in Dedham, MA. Used with permission.
Queries for Contemplation
Do you see politics in the Christian story of the Nativity as well as in Jesus’ teachings? And do you recognize those teachings as especially meaningful in this time of whipping up of hatred and hysteria toward immigrants and other minorities by certain political leaders?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
Sheer Joy: Conversations with Thomas Aquinas on Creation Spirituality, pp. 448ff.
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality, pp. 293, 305.
Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ.
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul & Society.
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice.
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth.
Adam Bucko and Matthew Fox, Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision For a New Generation.
“On Desentimentalizing Spirituality,” in Fox, Wrestling With the Prophets, pp. 297-
6 thoughts on “Prophetic Responses to ICE: Mangers With a Message & a Non-Sentimental Christmas”
Matthew Fox your writings and teachings have meant so much to me over the past 30 years. Thank you 🙏
Yes! Yes! The deeper spiritual meaning of Advent and Christmas is to remind Us of the deeper spiritual teachings of Jesus and the prophets of all genuine spiritual traditions, that the birth of Christ~Buddha within Us is an ongoing daily process manifested by Our awareness and compassionate behavior of DIVINE LOVE~WISDOM~PEACE~JUSTICE~HEALING~TRANSFORMATION~CREATIVITY~BEAUTY~JOY~LLOVING DIVERSE ONENESS…with one another, with Sacred Mother Earth, and with All ongoing Co-Creation/Spiritual Beings of Our multidimensional/multiverse Sacred Living COSMOS in the Sacred Flow/Process of the ETERNAL PRESENT MOMENT….
If ever there is the time (kairos) to live a non sentimental Christmas it is now.
It is critical that we recognize this moment and make use of our creative imaginations.
Your examples of modern day opportune prophets are inspiring. Thank You.
How could one not see politics in the Christian story of the Nativity and Jesus’ life? Here’s what I’m adding today to my previous FB post showing St. Susanna’s manger scene. “Those critical of anti-Ice manger scenes displayed in several churches, have exchanged the story of Jesus’ birth with sentimentalism. They love the story of the manger but forget it occurred because a tyrant was threatening families and separating (in this case by death) parents from their baby boys. The story of Jesus birth and his life and teachings is a story of a struggle against injustice not a sweet bedtime story.”
Also, Matthew, your mention of Carl Jung’s words on sentimentalism, make me think of right-wing apparent desires to “make women look and act like women.” (My words.) Women who buy into this (and many do) are making themselves vulnerable to the violence of pathologically chauvinistic male partners. A number of prominent men have voiced this kind of toxic masculinity lately. Maybe someone reading this can recall and post here one of these quotes.
Sentimentalism produces the hypocritical “thoughts and prayers” by politicians after yet more shootings–instead of getting out from under the bribes of weapons’ manufacturers and enacting reasonable gun laws.
The reactions of the Bishop in MA and other “religious” people show the wish for a superficial, sentimental attitude toward the sweet baby Jesus.
The ballroom is being built, a TRiUMPphal arch is in the books . . . will a golden manger follow (of a size never seen before)? King Baby will, of course, play the lead role, but it will be difficult to pick among the bullies who will play the ox, and nearly impossible to choose among the legions of candidates suitable to play the ass. At any rate, angels willing to fly around may be scarce. Thank you, Matthew, for the thought provoking invitations to resistance.