Dear Sisters and Brothers, Peace, Love and Joy of the Child Jesus be with you all!!! 🙏🎄
At Christmas, we celebrate a presence: God taking on our human flesh for our salvation.
St.
John begins his Gospel with these words:“In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things came to be through him,
and without him, nothing came to be. In him was life, and that life was the
light of the human race. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has
not overcome it.”
We
might wonder: Was this necessary? Could God not have saved us with a single
word from heaven?
He
could have. God is all-powerful. But he chose flesh because we are flesh. We
live in time and space. We learn through our senses. We trust what we can see,
touch, and hold. St. Augustine taught that our deepest wound, the pride born of
Adam and Eve’s sin, is healed by God’s humility in the manger. He meets us as
we are, not as abstract souls, but as embodied persons.
This
choice reveals who God truly is: a Father who refuses to stay distant. He draws
near.
The
early Church Fathers spoke of a “great exchange.” St. Athanasius put it
clearly: “The Son of God became man so that we might become like God.”
He took what is ours to give us what is his. This is more than repair. It is
adoption. God doesn’t just fix us; he draws us into his own life. And this is
what the enemy could not accept: that God would raise human nature so high as
to share his divinity. God, in his
wisdom, remained faithful to his plan.
He
values human life, not only when it is strong, radiant, or successful, but also
when it is weak, broken, or hidden. The child in Bethlehem is utterly dependent,
vulnerable, in need of care. One of the simplest acts of faith we can make this
season is to pause before the crib and contemplate this mystery. Mary and
Joseph show us a new humanity, actively cooperating with God’s grace.
St.
Gregory Nazianzen gave us a vital truth: “What is not assumed is not
healed.” If Christ had not taken a human body, our bodies would remain
unredeemed. If he had not possessed a human mind, our thoughts would stay
unhealed. Because he embraced all that is human, except sin; he sanctifies all
of our humanity. That’s why he submitted to baptism: to draw our very nature
into the waters of renewal.
God
chooses nearness before instruction us. In the world today, so many feel
abandoned, forgotten, or invisible, Christmas is God’s answer: I am here.
Darkness
of evil, pain, and injustice are realities many experience today. Christmas
does not deny these realities, but it places a light within them. Not a
blinding glare, but a steady flame that guides.
The
manger shows us how God works: quietly, patiently, often unnoticed. John tells
us, “He came to his own, but his own did not accept him.” Still, God comes.
Every day. In the poor, the sick, the stranger. In the strained family, the
lonely heart, the wounded friend.
Christmas
asks us one question : Where have we let God enter in our lives?
John
also speaks of those who did receive him. To them, he gave power to
become children of God, not by human effort or merit, but by welcome. Faith
begins with openness.
Mary
welcomed Jesus in her womb. Joseph trusted God’s word and acted on it. The
shepherds, though they understood little, ran to share what they had seen. They
gave what they had, and that was enough.
The
Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
This means God walks with us. He shares our limits. He knows our fears from the
inside. Nothing in our lives is wasted, not family tensions, not loneliness,
not betrayal or false accusation. Jesus lived them all.
From
his fullness, we have all received grace upon grace.
Christmas
sends us forth: to carry this light into our homes, our workplaces, our
neighborhoods. To choose closeness over distance. Mercy over judgment. Service
over comfort.
This is
the feast of the Nativity:
God is with us.
God is for us.
God is among us.
May we
make room for him, not only in our hearts, but in real life, in real ways.
Amen.🙏🙏🙏
No comments:
Post a Comment