CHRISTMAS MESSAGE
Christmas is finally here.! These four weeks of Advent we have been waiting and praying for the coming of Christmas. And now Christmas is here. There is no time as rich in traditions, dreams, hopes and images than Christmas. It is a time, which helps us tell our story of who we are, where we come from, what we believe in, and what our goal is.
The Christmas story is a story of faith so simple that any child you ask to, would tell you what happened on that night in Bethlehem. However, even after 2000 years, it is still such a big mystery that the richness of its meaning remains unlimited.
The angels are bringing us the good news of great joy for all the people, for to us is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. The good news of great joy that we proclaim during Christmas is for all the people of God. As people of God we have a claim to the joy and the peace that the birth of Christ brings to the world. But how do I personally enter into this “great joy” of Christmas? Christmas rings out “joy to the world,” yes, but how do I make this joy my own? This is an important question, for, even though God has declared joy to the whole world, there are still many among us who do not flow in this joy, many among us who do not know how to claim this joy and make it their own personally.
For many people this Christmas will not be a happy time. It will be a time of loneliness, a time when a departed one is most greatly missed, a time when may people will spends this day far away from family and home, or when, because of alcohol or gambling, it will become a night of violence and abuse. Do I have it within my power today and tomorrow and the day after tomorrow to ensure that those around me find happiness, at least in so far as I can contribute to that?
The joy of the Word made flesh is not a philosophy, a theory or a concept to be merely discussed, debated, pondered, or sung about. But the Word became flesh: a person – a real person – to be followed, enjoyed and loved. That is what we are about, or should be about, at Christmas and throughout the year. The work of Christmas is to tell another story to each other and to the world. The story of how peace is possible, of how love came into our midst in a child, of how life can be born from death. We tell the story as much by our lives as by our words, we tell a new story by opening our hearts to the ones who have more obvious needs. We are called not just to receive the Word of life, but to live it and to share it with others by the way we live and love.
We are called not just to celebrate Christmas, but to BE Christmas for others, to be Christ’s presence in our world, to let others know what God looks like in human form. To remind each other that because of what happened 2000 years ago, in the little town of Bethlehem, we have become one human family, with God as our Father.
As we celebrate together the greatest event which has ever taken place in history. I would like to invite you to reflect on the meaning of the birth of Christ into our world, a world that needs good news as much as the one He entered 2000 years ago. A world that needs a new story to help us imagine that love is possible, and peace can be real.
The shepherds were given the message and went to Bethlehem and see for themselves what the angels announced them. Our life as Christian is a journey from revelation to faith. It involves coming to find out for ourselves the truth and the reality of what I had been told by my parents, teachers, or preachers in church. Our live as Christians is based in between two phrases: “come and see” and “go and tell.”
Like the Wise Men following the star, we are given a way in which to walk, and the gospel is a map for the journey. Jesus himself is our Moses, as well as our manna. The gift, the call and the work of Christmas is to let Christ be born in our hearts and in our homes, and to make the people in our families, our friends, the people we will be meeting tomorrow see in us what Jesus looks like. Only like this, then what happened in Bethlehem some two thousand years ago is a cause for us to celebrate.
The big celebration begins, a festival of light and love, of joy and laughter, of family and community and world. May the Lord pour on us all and our families and friends the joy and graces he brought with him on that Holy Night 2000 years ago.