Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
Some of us will spend Christmas here at school; others at home. But wherever we’ll be, in humility and gratitude perhaps we’ll find our way to the school chapel or to the parish church to pray, to worship, to visit the manger scene which remembers and celebrates the simplicity of the Holy Child of Bethlehem; his Mother’s care; Joseph’s protection in a dangerous world.
Look at the top of this letter and see the angel telling the shepherds about the Holy Birth. On the left, see the wise men on their way, traveling by starlight. Below, the midwives bathe the Infant Christ, who is God with a body like our own. The earth receives the God-man in the cave that foreshadows his burial at the Gospel’s end – the child wrapped in swaddling clothes as if in death, and placed in a crib resembling a tomb.
But look, there is more. Inside the cave there are the donkey and the cow. And while there’s no Gospel-mention of animals at the birth of Jesus, surely we can use our imaginations after hearing the prophetic words of Isaiah in Hebrew Scriptures : The ox and the ass know their master. Isaiah 1:3
If the animals know Jesus-God-among-us, then of course I must ask, Do I? This question means much more than, can I pick out and identify Jesus from among a larger collection of media, sports and entertainment faces. That would be a small recognition. But rather, does my heart recognize Jesus, who has come to us in love and to challenge us to love.
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ” Jesus says in Matthew 5:44.
And again, “Bless those who curse you; pray for those who abuse you.” Luke 6:28.
Perhaps my mind and heart quake as I hear and recognize my need to obey these difficult commands of Jesus. Is there defensiveness and justification in me as I kneel before the Christmas crib – “Oh Jesus, allow just this one resentment. Oh Jesus, just this one desire for punishment and revenge.” In the Child of Bethlehem God has taken us very seriously and gone a great distance and to a lot of trouble to lead us to something new – something often not tried – to love other people as we are loved by God. Give yourself to him today then: kneel at the manger, gaze long at the Christmas icon, listen, whisper, confide, receive, be encouraged, be strengthened, be glad!
The Holy Child of Bethlehem smile on you and your family on Christmas!
Fr. Stephen P. Morris
Christmas 2009
Love and Care, Not Stuff
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