“Love came down at Christmas,

Love all lovely, Love Divine;

Love was born at Christmas

Star and angels gave the sign.”

Christina Rossetti

It’s the season to be jolly…

It is Christmas time again and there is so much this season brings along with it – gifts, dinners and stuffed turkey, family gatherings, lights, the tree, decorations, parties, carols, Santa – the list is endless!

But is this what actually makes the season jolly? With just a few days to go, I was chatting with my friends about Christmas and how they are preparing for it. Needless to say, the look on people’s faces on mentioning “preparation” is far from jolly, as everyone starts mentioning the list of people they still need to buy presents for, the dilemma of what dress to wear for the festivities, while one of us starts mentioning the recipes she has prepared for Christmas day (and reminds me of my lack of talent for cookery).

Is there more to the season?

Two thousand years ago, God was born in the cold, abandoned by the people whom he created, because there was no room for him anywhere. With Christmas Day just around the corner, it is about time that we started reflecting on the true reason for the season – Jesus Christ – the mystery of God becoming man.

Is there room for him in our Christmas? Or should we say “Xmas”, as most people nowadays prefer to call it? Are we celebrating Jesus, or are we just celebrating a family gathering or the winter season?

I do not want to sound soppy. Nor am I trying to mention a soppy story about a poor child in a cold manger surrounded by sheep and a cow.

God’s incarnation is nothing to be soppy about! Divinity and man had never been closer! It’s the fullness of the revelation of the Creator, our Creator – my Creator.

The Omnipotent is now a vulnerable child. The Word that made the universe became a baby – with a face! The hands that painted the heavens now grasped Mary’s fingers. The God, on whom everything depends, became a child totally dependent upon His mother – the ideal way to reveal Himself in a way we can approach Him, fearlessly, and identify ourselves with Him as “one of us” living among us!

The Church’s invitation

Taking a look at the Church’s liturgical calendar, we normally associate reflection and penance with the period of Lent. It is a pity, however, that we fail to see Advent as it really is – a period in which we reflect whether our hearts are indeed prepared for the coming (advent) of our Lord.

Unfortunately, because of the

hustle and bustle that this season brings along with it, we fail to stop and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. This time is there to assist us in entering a personal Advent – a preparation during which I analyse how I can come closer to God, in reply to His act of love in His incarnation to come closer to me. Are we accepting the invitation?

…so that we may become like Him

Sometimes, we still like presenting the baby Jesus as the perfect baby, with the perfect cute baby face and smile, arms open wide and a halo on His head. But I think the reality was far from that…

Jesus clinging to Mary trying to find some warmth from the cold – this is a totally human situation; Jesus became one of us, in every way.

Why? One reason is so that we can start associating ourselves with Him. Now we cannot keep falling back into the excuse that life is hard and He’s a God “up there”, who has no idea of what it means to live “down here” on Earth.

In any case, Jesus was born to deliver us. The plan was to end on the cross where, with His death, the curtain of the Holy of Holies was torn, showing that now man was completely one with God – through the blood of Jesus!

Indeed, God has taken our humanity. The nameless “Yahweh” now has a name: Jesus. We can now relate to God as a revealed God. No longer in the Holy of Holies full of incense, but in a stable in the cold.

“No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Mt 11-27.

We were created in God’s image, yet now it is God Himself who has assumed this image, in order to redeem it and perfect it.

Emmanuel – our God is with us – are we with Him?

With Him…

in appreciating our human identity?

in respecting our bodies, a body which he himself assumed and redeemed?

in loving each other as brothers and sisters of Christ, irrespective of colour or social class?

in his mercy and compassion towards others?

in his complete self-giving for

others?

in respecting human life at all costs, without excuses,

Born in a family

Christmas is the ultimate family celebration! Joseph and Mary, like any other loving couple, were completely open to God’s will. “Love the Lord your God with all your mind, with all your heart and with all your strength”. It is easier said than done to let go of our plans and accept His. Maybe we should become more aware of what we pray for because our prayers might just be answered!

Joseph – Silent and self-giving

In looking at Joseph as a young man, full of life and potential, one cannot but stand in awe at the tremendous faith and trust that this man had, at the genuine love he had for Mary and at the trust and love he had in God, to the extent that he decided to offer up his life in order to fulfil His will, even though he was petrified with fear.

God does understand our fear just as he understood Joseph’s. Yet he invites us to overcome it and trust in His love. “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife”. Mtt 1:20

Everything is possible to live through, with God by our side! It must surely not have been easy for Joseph to stand by the woman he loved – and at the same time being celibate – but he consented to this in faith, love, hope and silence.

Mary – “for I know the plans I have for you” says the Lord…

Who knows what this young woman felt at the greeting of the angel? = Who knows what passed through her mind when she felt Jesus kicking in her womb? Indeed Mary herself may not have understood all that was happening to her, yet she had one thing that helped her move on – complete faith and trust in God.

She was willing to do His will at all costs.

Her advent was complete openness, expectation and hope. Mary shows us what being a Christian is all about; what discipleship is all about. Her glance is always turned to God and her primary task is to help us become closer to Him, to show us His face just as she showed her little baby’s face to those who came to see him in the stable.

Mary is our model. She was the first to receive God with body, blood, soul and divinity. – just as today we receive him in the Eucharist. Mary was the one who took care of Jesus, from the womb to the Cross. Although not present at the Eucharistic table, she was at the foot of the cross. Mary was present at the birth of Jesus and Jesus wanted her to be present at the birth of the Church on Pentecost Day!

On the cross, Jesus gave us his final gift: his mother, to be our own. To this very day, Mary still appeals for peace in the world. Many have not yet given “glory to God in the Highest’ and so they cannot have “peace on earth”. Mary is still knocking on the inns of our heart just as she did 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem, hoping that we accept.

Rejoice! For unto us is born a Saviour!

“A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks... a new and glorious morn!” say the words from the popular song Oh Holy Night!

Indeed, Christmas is a time to rejoice; He has come and He has redeemed us; indeed, “take courage; I have conquered the world!” (Jn 16, 33)

Only by recognising that God is the Reason to Celebrate Christmas and giving Glory to God in the Highest, can we truly have the peace on earth we always longed for and craved!

Shall we accept Him as our Saviour and our Redeemer? Shall we give Christmas its true meaning?

Article provided by the Diocesan Youth Commission