Predictable news stories around this time of year are: people falling through the ice on a local pond or river, and someone taking the Baby Jesus statue out of the manger in a nativity scene.
This week the Framingham area had both. The kids are OK after being rescued.
But the Nativity scene at St. Jeremiah’s is missing both the baby statue and the manger. At first they thought someone had started to bring in the statues as it is the end of the Christmas season. Hopefully, the statue will be returned soon. It was donated and rather expensive.
What motivates people to take these statues?
Over at sister church, St. George’s, the Nativity Scene is intact, watched over by the large stone statue of who my then four year old son once pointed to and said was “Baby Jesus all grown up!”