Christmas 2021
Christmas is celebration of God’s love entering human history, coming to dwell with us. How do we respond to this love? We are beholding a baby in the manger; he is a gift, coming from the bosom of the Father, God from God, son of Mary and human like us. He is everything our hearts long for, our healing, peace and joy. We are amazed that God has become a baby! What does that mean? God can only be loved, embraced, held in openness of heart and with wonder; our arguments, reasoning would take us nowhere; we can only receive him in faith. Baby Jesus reminds us that God is inviting presence, not imposing power; this bay should be nurtured with love.
Pope Francis told a Christmas story that ‘at the birth of Jesus the shepherds hurried to the stable with different gifts. Each brought what he had; some brought the fruits of their labor. But there was one shepherd who had nothing to give. He was extremely poor and had no gift to bring. He stood at a distance, embarrassed. Joseph and Mary found it hard to receive all those gifts, especially Mary, who had to hold the baby. Seeing the shepherd with empty hands, she asked him to draw near. And she put the baby Jesus in his arms. That shepherd became aware of holding in his arms the greatest gift of all time. He looked at his hands, those hands that seemed to him always empty; they had become the cradle of God. He felt himself loved and, overcoming his embarrassment, began to show Jesus to the others, for he could not keep him for himself the gift of gifts’. In Jesus God has lit our hearts with his divine light. Leo Tolstoy: ‘Just as one candle lights another and can light thousands of other candles, so one heart illuminates another heart and can illuminate thousands of other hearts’ and as Velma Frye’s song “The Lantern” says, we pray, “May the lantern of my life move into all the places where light is needed.” We are sent forth as illuminated love, kindness.
Why did God choose a humble setting to be born? There was no room for him in the inn, yet he came to be born; he keeps coming to fill us with his presence when we feel empty inside, afraid, disheartened by the pandemic and crushed by tragedies. He holds everything in love, the living and the dead! To truly fall in love, we need another person, an idea is not enough; so, God became a person that, as John says, we could see him with our eyes, hear him, and touch him with our hands. Can you love this baby in the manger with all your heart? Can you see the humanity of Christ in others, some of may be shattered, or broken, some others violent, all need to be healed by the miracle of love in baby Jesus. If God could become human out of love for us, it is possible for everyone to transform life by responding to him and choosing to love!
This is a day to ponder with wonder, sweetness and welcome that God has joined himself with our humanity, a memory to be cherished, a good news to live, fill a heart with goodwill and give God a home in us!