In the old African spiritual hymn, "Rise Up Shepherd and Follow", the primary characters, the shepherds who were visited by the angel after Jesus's birth, are making their way to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us" (Lk 1:15) referring to the birth of Jesus Christ. The first verse of that hymn wrongly speaks of them following the star to Bethlehem (wrongly because it was the magi, not the shepherds who, according to the evangelist Matthew, were led to the place where Jesus lived). I was informed in a video I watched years ago that the African slaves in the United States sang this hymn as they fled by night to escape their slavery toward the end of the Civil War. Tragically many of them lived through many Christmases as slaves who longed for their freedom. Sadly, in our time, there are many victims of human trafficking who feel the same as they are kept like slaves and are made to do things that degrade them and potentially harm them in many ways. This is especially egregious when it happens to young people. In our state, that is ranked number two in terms of registered sex offenders, and number one when it comes to child abuse, the possibility of young people being victims of human trafficking is high.

In general, it is estimated that around 20% of all children in the United States will be approached by a trafficker before the age of 18. Those of you who have grandchildren and great-grandchildren should take notice of this and hopefully be open to hearing more about this issue and what can be done to protect our young people and even rescue those who are currently victims of such behavior toward them. Human trafficking and crimes connected with the making and distributing of both adult and child pornography is estimated to be a $150 billion dollar criminal industry.

Efforts to combat all of this include a human trafficking and pornography task forces, including one established by Bishop Taylor in our diocese. Gary Wolfer of our parish accepted a position on that task force and will be a welcome resource for our parish as we hear more about what we and the public in general can do to fight against this "forced slavery" of our times. Every one of us is invited to educate ourselves by participating in a symposium on the dangers of human trafficking that will take place at Christ the King Church in Little Rock on Saturday, January 25. An announcement about this symposium and how to go about signing up and attending this free workshop (that includes breakfast and lunch) can be found in our bulletin this week. Experts on this subject from around the country will be making presentations. At the very least, please pray for victims and potential victims of human trafficking, and be open to learning more about this growing and serious problem in our country and in the world. It is well worth our time and attention now and in the future!