Pope Leo XIV, at the Angelus on the Feast of the Holy Family, spoke about the flight into Egypt — the moment when Joseph received warning in a dream that Herod intended to kill the child, and immediately got up, took Mary and Jesus, and left.
No consultation. No committee. No strategic review. A dream, a decision, and a departure before dawn.
I want to dwell on this for a moment, because it is one of the most practically instructive stories in the Christian tradition, and its implications go well beyond the religious.
The Structure of the Story
Herod was a man blinded by the fear of losing power. When the Magi arrived with news that a king had been born in Bethlehem, he could not see the miracle. He could only see the threat. And so he ordered the massacre of every male child under two years old in the region.
He had absolute power. He had an army. He had the apparatus of the state entirely at his disposal.
And the family he was trying to destroy escaped because a carpenter in Nazareth listened to a dream and acted on it immediately.
The Pope noted something that struck me: Joseph, at the moment of the dream, had already chosen the path of mercy. His heart was already oriented correctly. When the angel came, he was ready to receive the message.
Preparation precedes action. The man who has already done the moral work is the man who can act decisively when the moment arrives.
The Plan B Parallel
I write about Plan B for a living. The term has become a kind of shorthand in my world — the second passport, the offshore structure, the bank account in a neutral jurisdiction, the ability to move when circumstances require it.
But the Holy Family's flight into Egypt is, I think, the oldest and most instructive Plan B story in the Western tradition.
They did not have much. They had what they could carry. They had connections in Egypt — a Jewish diaspora community that would receive them. They had the practical skills of a craftsman who could work wherever he landed. And they had the willingness to leave immediately, without waiting to see whether the threat would materialise.
They did not wait for certainty. They acted on credible warning.
This is almost exactly the error I see my clients make repeatedly. They wait. They hope the political situation will improve. They tell themselves the wealth tax proposal will never pass, the exit restrictions will never come, the banking crackdown will not reach them personally. And then one day the situation is no longer theoretical, and the cost of acting has increased dramatically.
Joseph did not wait for Herod's soldiers to arrive at his door to decide it was time to leave Nazareth.
On Egypt
Egypt in this story is interesting. It was pagan territory. It was the land of Israel's former slavery. It was the place every good Jewish family was taught to have left behind definitively.
And yet it was safe. And it received them.
This is the other thing I try to explain to clients who are emotionally attached to the idea that their new home must be perfect — culturally ideal, politically aligned, immediately comfortable. The Holy Family did not go to the ideal place. They went to the safe place. And they made it work.
The best jurisdiction for you is not always the one that fits your ideological preferences most neatly. Sometimes it is simply the one that is safe, functional, and open to receiving you.
Egypt was good enough. It kept the child alive.
A Note for the Week Between Christmas and New Year
This week has a particular quality. The feast is over, the year is almost done, and there is a natural pause between what has been and what is coming. It is a good week for honest assessment.
What are you waiting for? What warning have you been receiving that you have not acted on? What would you do if the situation changed faster than you expected?
These are not fearful questions. They are prudent ones.
Joseph was not afraid. He was faithful, alert, and ready to move. The result was that the child lived.
Plan accordingly.
Work with Sebastian
January is when serious planning begins. If you want to spend the new year actually building the structures that protect your family and your wealth, rather than just thinking about it, let's talk. Book a consultation.