CHRISTMAS-2016: Hope, joy, peace and love to the world
Glory to God in the Highest and peace on Earth to men of good will…”Christmas has come once again. Christmas is for all purposes, the celebration of life- in its fullness, as Jesus said “I have come that you may have life and have it to the full”(Jn 10:10)
Two thousand years ago in a Manger in Bethlehem, God – Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Holy Trinity, was born to Mother Mary and St. Joseph as the Holy Bible says. And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth…”And the angel being come in said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women”. (Lk 1:26-27).The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, therefore the child to be born will be holy, He will be called Son of God” (Lk 1:35).This was Gods message to Mary about the birth of Jesus. Thus it is by the Holy Spirit that Mary got conceived and Jesus was born. “Emanuel i.e. God is with us”, Jesus is born and His nativity we celebrate as Christmas every year on 25th of December. This is the greatest love of God for His people.
Christmas would not be possible without the Holy Spirit. Every Christmas Jesus is born in Every believer by the Holy Spirit and makes anyone a new being and a Christian. Christmas joy is contagious, whatever one’s age. As soon as the season approaches, we start thinking of family, friends, parties, carols, new clothes, sweets, shopping etc. We engage ourselves in these worldly preparations, very often tending to forget the deeper and more important preparations that we must make for the coming of Jesus. As we prepare our house beautifully at the same time we must clean our souls spiritually to receive Jesus in our Heart during the Christmas.
The Church has set aside four weeks of Advent as a time for spiritual preparation for Christ’s coming. This is the time and needs to make our lives more accessible for our Lord. The Christmas season, therefore, gives us the opportunity to do so. Every time we celebrate Christmas it reminds us that God became a person in order to enter into a personal relationship with us, a mystical union, secondly, Christmas is all about loving, caring, sharing with the family, friends and neighbors? Without Christmas our life is mechanical, disregarding our spiritual side and our loved ones.
Jesus was born to Mary in Bethlehem because God chose Mary to be the mother of Jesus. The incarnation of Jesus as a Human person is of great importance and it became a reality by God’s plan that God gave His only son and sent to this world as a Saviour for mankind. By choosing the incarnation as the way to save the world, God put Himself at the mercy of human beings. Since God would become totally human as a result of the Incarnation, God had to depend on humans to make this reality. Was their way in which God could have saved the world? Surely! However, God chose the incarnation, because he wanted to be at the total service and mercy of human beings. This is unthinkable, unimaginable, yet it is a reality. What does this say about our God? It says that our God wanted to be like us so totally that he could feel with our feelings, think with our thoughts, act with our actions, and in doing so, show us who we are really? Mary and Joseph co-operated with God by saying Yes to God. In the Gospel of Mathew focuses on Joseph as the one to whom the angel appears with the invitation, and Luke’s Gospel focuses on Mary.However, in both cases, the response is total and absolute. Joseph’s Obedience to the commands of God received in dreams and Mary’s “let it be done to me according to your will” (Lk 1:38). Thus God can do marvelous things through Humans if only they are courageous and dare to opt for God’s will, rather their own. What would if Joseph and Mary said No to God? In a word, Incarnation would never have become a reality. The response of Mary and Joseph is imperative to God to take flesh on the earth.
Christ came on Christmas Day to show His love and service for the world. It is for us now to carry on this Christ-like love. Christmas is the season that gives us the grace to forget what we have done for others, to ignore what the world owes us. It is a season when we become conscious of showing concern for some troubled, lonely, neglected person or someone bereaved. We are not only to give presents, rather we are to give the presence of Christ in each one of us. Giving, not letting brings to full the bloom of Christmas spirit. It is also the season when we are reminded to give God one special gift, just from ourselves to him. Forgiving someone who has wronged us or failed or disappointed us. Our personal gift could be giving Jesus our time with him. This will make us a meaningful gift to Christ and bring multiple blessings. Jesus desires us that we become holy.
The possibilities that the birth of Jesus has opened up are innumerable. Through His incarnation, Jesus has graced humanity and made it divine. After the birth of Jesus, humanity takes on a new look, a new meaning. Jesus has shown the way. The message of Christmas of God with us, for us and in us. It is and will always be a message of hope in a hopeless world a message of joy in a sorrowful world, a message of peace in a world that is torn by war and strife and a message of love in a world that is filled with fear.
During this Christmas let us accept and receive Jesus in our Hearts with faith. We can take Christmas as a wonderful time of blessing to get ourselves up and moving again! Let us enjoy our Christmas in a more Christ-like Manner. Christmas doesn’t end with Christmas Day – it follows through the New Year to culminate into a new beginning. It is time to end and begin, a chance to finish and restart. Let it be!
Wish everyone a Merry and blessed Christmas!
Alban D’Souza – Udyavar
