By all intents and purposes, God is infinitely faithful. In the book of Deuteronomy the Lord says of himself: “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations” (Deut 7, 9).
As the Bible and human history portray, we, as human beings, did not respond with faithfulness to the Lord’s faithful love. On the contrary, we betrayed his trust. And till this very day we are reaping the sour fruit of our betrayal of God’s ever present love, as Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans eloquently shows: “Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned” (Rom 5, 12). Postmodern culture is so gravely infected and intertwined with sin that it has evolved into a “culture of death”.
In his encyclical “On the Value and Inviolability of Human Life”, Evangelium Vitae, Pope John Paul II says that “such a culture of death, taken as a whole, betrays a completely individualistic concept of freedom, which ends up by becoming the freedom of ‘the strong’ against the weak who have no choice but to submit” (§ 19). In our shattered world and mentality the strong party has every right to betray the weak one because it can afford it. Is it not this imbalance of power one of the leading motivators behind the many betrayals that spring practically everywhere in our country?
Christmas is the productive response to any betrayal experience. Instead of taking his rightful revenge on us, God the Father made his wonderful justice by mercifully sending his Son into our world to redeem us. “We were children, we were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe. But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Gal 4, 3-5). Thus, he set for us an example to follow.
This Christmas will be a tough time for those who felt somehow betrayed in life. The more they invested in loving trust the least they got back. Nevertheless, the “Emmanuel (which means, God with us),” (Matt 1, 23), will give us the strength to bless and forgive those who have betrayed our trust. Painful as it is, such an act is essential, if we truly want to celebrate a peaceful Christmas. If you are finding it impossible to carry out this fundamental and liberating act, address this psalmist prayer to the Lord: “Into thy hand I commit my spirit; thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God” (Psalm 31, 5).
Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap
San Gwann