We have become accustomed to celebrate several occasions, some to commemorate national events and religious occasions and others of more personal milestones. Our calendar is dotted with birthdays, anniversaries of weddings, silver, gold and tin ones, Mothers’ Day, Fathers’ Day etc. Most festivities have their time for preparation and a bit of excitement, but Christmas tops them all.
Most start preparing early for Christmas. Shop-keepers order their stock well beforehand, employees are careful to book their leave so as to be home for Christmas time and the Church introduces the liturgy of Advent in preparation for the ceremonies of this annual commemoration. No other preparation for a feast generates so much activity as the festivities of Christmas. And all this with reason because at Christmas we celebrate our own spiritual birth to life eternal.
The first Christmas was a focus of history and its dimensions exceed those of the human mind. Christmas is not merely an anniversary of a birth long past, but an event which we can still live in the history of our relationship with God. It was not simply the birth of a baby, but the birth of a message because the baby born at Bethlehem 2009 years ago was the Son of God. And that message is still relevant today because it is really one for all seasons not just one day of the year. During the birth in that small cave in Bethlehem, love came apparent in its divine and human aspects, the love of God for man, the love of a mother for her new born baby, the love of the shepherds for the Holy Family. And this is what Christmas is really about, it reflects love and stirs sentiments of goodness, happiness and peace and a moment of contemplation. Christmas has the knack of awakening us up from our indifference and the humdrum of every day chores and preoccupations, making us look around and reflect on other things which we otherwise tend to ignore during our daily routine. Christmas generates a sense of joy and happiness and instills in us an urge to share this happiness with others. On 25 December we become imbued with the spirit of that first Christmas so many years ago when Jesus announced love and peace by his birth in Bethlehem and continued to preach it all his life.
Jesus was the model who had illustrated man’s humanity, not only in its beautiful and authentic aspects but also in those deficient and infirm. And this is what we really celebrate at Christmas. The feast commemorates man’s reconciliation with his Creator. By taking on human nature Jesus redeemed us from the devil and reconciled us with God the Father. And Jesus also gave us the means to continue to save ourselves. He showed us by word and example to love God and our brethren. Jesus founded a Church that stood out for justice and human rights, defending the outcasts, helping the poor and caring for the sick at a time and age when such social notions and services were unheard off. Indeed, when much later, the Magna Carta was signed and the United Nations Charter was drawn up, the Christian message of brotherly love had already been spread throughout the world for centuries.
Bringing truth where there was deceit, justice where there was injustice, love where there was hate, consolation where there was sorrow, unity where there was division, peace where there was misery, strength where there was illness, Christianity has been the source of bringing the flame of human hopes to those in need and in keeping this flame alive.
Since this event of Christ’s birth, the world has seen monumental disasters, empires vanishing, and whole civilizations being wiped out. People today are still harassed by many ailments. Every day we hear about violence, lawlessness and the disregard for human life. We live in an age of uncertainties and at times much seems to be going wrong. Modern humanity is in dire need to keep in mind the message of Christmas and the way of life promulgated by Jesus when he was born in Bethlehem. It is because the mind is full of uncertainties that the Christmas message which touches and transmutes, is so clear. When Jesus came down at Bethlehem, He brought a new set of values. Instead of brute force, He brought the spirit of frailty, instead of richness, the spirit of poverty to show that actual happiness is not found in material things but in doing good, helping others to live a better life and to live in peace with one another.
This is what the angels proclaimed on that wintry night of the first Christmas. This is what they heralded to the shepherds and the whole of humanity: “Peace on earth to men of goodwill”. The simplicity of Christ’s birth contains within it the most profound and most complex mysteries of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Our Lord. That historic birth was also the birth of a new beginning for the whole of mankind. It turned the fulcrum of our very existence full circle and created a new perspective: To survive man has to live in peace with himself, with others and with God. It is only this peace that can make us happy. It is only this peace that can help us grapple with the myriad aberrations that tend to disrupt our very existence.
When the shepherds heard the message of the angels, simple folk as they were, did not argue or discuss, they just took up their flocks and made their way to the place indicated to them. In their simplicity and innocence they managed to find Peace itself wrapped up in a manger. With all our modern amenities and gadgets we seem to complicate things and get entangled in the bedlam of political and economic confusion that rules our modern world. We tend to disregard simplicity and at times even peace itself. We haven’t yet learned how to live together and in peace. We haven’t yet learned that the secret of living a good life stems from our relation with God Himself.
Of course this relation with God does not solve the mysteries that surround our existence, the evil endemic in the heart of man, the existence of suffering and pain, the slow decay by disease or by sudden death. However, the knowledge that God became man and shared our lot and our faith in God that He is always with us, will surely help us to make our passage through life easier, happier and more hopeful. This is what Christmas is about and every year the scene of the nativity reminds us that Christmas is the birthday of us all.
Joe C.Cordina
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