 |
| The Christ-child |
Every year we relive the wonderful story. The power of God asked Mary of Nazareth to believe that she would bear within herself a special child. Mary was so attuned to the presence of God, with such extraordinary faith, she replied: may it be it done to me as you say.
Mary’s “Yes” gave us the Christmas story: the greatest love story. Of a baby in a trough. Of a mother holding the child in her arms, as her husband stays near. Angels singing. Shepherds running over the hillside to tell the child they love him. A star guiding magi across the wilderness and onto their knees to worship.
The Word of God for the Christmas liturgies is like a prism refracting the multiple facets of this great mystery of the Incarnation.
Isaiah proclaims glad tidings: the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
Paul writes that the grace of God appeared in Jesus Christ who made us “heirs” to the promise of eternal life.
In the Gospel according to Luke, the Virgin Mary gave birth to her son in Bethlehem. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger.
And the Gospel of John sums up the great Christmas love story in a single line: the Word became flesh. That is God’s greatest gift to us, changing our lives and destiny forever.
Christmas means not simply God in Bethlehem centuries ago, but God within us. We carry Emmanuel, God with us, by virtue of the life-giving waters of baptism. We gather to proclaim the awesome Word of God, to celebrate the presence of the living Christ, body and blood, soul and divinity.
And that great truth of our faith, God within us, ought to challenge us always to look for the good in oneself, in other people, in every situation.
Jesus had a unique relationship with God. He was one with God. A God-man. A healer, a teacher, a peacemaker. Think of all the people in the Gospels that Jesus met: the blind, the leper, the lame, the sinner, the forgotten. Jesus found goodness in all of them where many didn’t.
God so loved us that he became one of us. The promised Messiah is in our midst sacramentally and mystically, and he will come again in glory.
Remember that magnificent hymn of the Virgin Mary: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. Because the mighty one has done great things for me.
Some gifts really can be life-giving, can transform lives: gifts of listening and supporting, of sharing time and experiences, of compassion and forgiveness and affirmation, of teaching. All we have is a gift from God, and these gifts are meant to be shared.
