32. Christmas Day - 25 December (III)

Meditations no. 32 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Seeing the mystery of Christmas through the eyes of faith.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called “Wonderful Counsellor”. The longings of Advent have been satisfied. God has become man. The world no longer lives in darkness. Jesus has come, and all the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God. A Child smiles as we silently adore. Once and again we look into the eyes of the new-born baby -those eyes so clear and bright. He brings light to pierce our souls and to dispel the darkness of sin, to penetrate our hearts and set them on fire with his Love.

Our Father recommended: You must look at the Child in the manger. He is our Love. Look at him, realizing that the whole thing is a mystery. We need to accept this mystery on faith and use our faith to explore it very deeply. To do this, we must have the humble attitude of a Christian soul. Let us not try to reduce the greatness of God to our own poor ideas and human explanations. Let us try to understand that this mystery, for all its darkness, is a light to guide men’s lives.

As St John Chrysostom said: We see that Jesus has come from us, from our human substance, and has been born of a virgin mother; but we don’t know how this wonder came about. Let us not waste our energies trying to understand it; rather, accept humbly what God has revealed to us. Don’t try to probe what God has kept hidden. If we have this reverence, we will be able to understand and to love. The mystery will be a splendid lesson for us, much more convincing than any human reasoning.

All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. Heaven and earth were created by this Child who lies in the manger. He laid the foundations of the universe and gave it its fullness. How madly Jesus loves us! He who dwells in heaven is lying here on a bed of straw. He fills all the world with his presence, yet he takes a body like ours, so we can hold in our arms the One who created us.

This is the great mystery which Christmas places before us: God become man; God become a child; God with us.

Becoming a new creature, refashioned in God’s likeness.

Lux fulgebit hodie super nos, quia natus est nobis Dominus. This day shall light shine upon us; for the Lord is born to us. This is the great announcement which moves Christians today. Through them it is addressed to all mankind. God is here. This truth should fill our lives, and every Christmas should be for us a new and special meeting with God, when we allow his light and grace to enter deep into our soul.

All about, there is an air of festivity. “Come and you will see,” they told us; “come and you will see the wonder.” Shepherds and kings, rich and poor, powerful and weak, all now crowd around the manger. We also stop in front of Mary, Joseph and the Child, looking at the Son of God who has taken on our flesh …

Iesus Christus, Deus homo: Jesus Christ, God-man. This is one of the magnalia Dei, the mighty works of God, which we should reflect upon and thank him for. He has come to bring peace on earth to men of good will, to all men who want to unite their wills to the holy will of God - not just the rich, not just the poor, but everyone: all the brethren. We are all brothers in Jesus, children of God, brothers of Christ. His Mother is our mother.

There is only one race in the world: the race of the children of God. We should all speak the same language, taught us by our Father in heaven - the language Jesus spoke with his Father. It is the language of heart and mind, which you are using now in your prayer - the language of contemplation, used by men who are spiritual, because they realize they are children of God. This language is expressed in a thousand motions of our will, in the clear insights of our minds, in the affections of our heart, in our commitment to lead a virtuous life, in goodness, happiness and peace.

Adeste, fideles, laeti triumphantes. Venite in Bethlehem… These days the songs we sing are also an invitation, a call. We were called, and we came, and we have also seen. And now our hearts rejoice, echoing that call. There is hardly anything more to be said: here is God become a Child.

My beloved, says St Leo the Great, let us offer thanksgiving to God the Father, through his Son, in the Holy Spirit. In the great mercy with which he loved us, he had pity on us, and “in giving life to Christ, gave life to us too, when we were dead through sin,” so that in him we might be a new creation, a new work of his hands. Let us then be quit of the old self and the habits that went with it. Sharers now in the birth of Christ, let us break with the deeds of the flesh. O Christian, be aware of your nobility. It is God’s own nature that you share: do not then, by an ignoble life, fall back into your former baseness. Think of the Head, think of the Body of which you are a member. Recall that you have been rescued from the power of darkness, and have been transferred to the light of God, the kingdom of God.

Our prayer beside the crib. Giving ourselves up to God’s love.

Parvulus filius hodie natus est nobis: et vocabitur Deus Fortis; today a child is born to us. His name will be called “Mighty God”. The God of might appears to us as a new-born child in a cave at Bethlehem. His self-abasement is such that he was not even born in his parents’ home, but in the course of a journey, to make it clear that he was coming to us as one in need, in the human nature he took on.

Every time Christmas comes around, I love to look at representations of the Child Jesus. Statues and pictures of a God who lowered himself remind me that God is calling us. The Almighty wants us to know that he is defenceless, that he needs men’s help. From the cradle at Bethlehem, Christ tells you and me that he needs us. He urges us to live a Christian life to the full - a life of self-sacrifice, work and joy.

We will never have genuine joy if we do not really try to imitate Jesus. Like him we must be humble. I repeat: do you see where God’s greatness is hidden? In a manger, in swaddling clothes, in a stable. The redemptive power of our lives can only work through humility. We must stop thinking about ourselves and feel the responsibility to help others.

We will frequently remember this during these days, as we go up to the Baby and kiss him and adore him. Pro nobis egenum et foeno cubantem piis foveamus amplexibus: made poor for our sake, he lies on the hay; let us warm him with affectionate embraces. Who would not draw near to God, who would not come up to the Child, as he stretches out his arms to us, asking for our care and our love? We can think only of the crib during these days. We are like the shepherds: En grege relicto, humiles ad cunas vocati pastores approperant: when they are called, they leave their flocks and humbly come to the crib.

These are family days, especially suitable for contemplation. We need to speak intimately to the Child, looking at him and listening. Let us pray before the manger in an attitude of silent worship; and by our fervent acts of love, let us strive to attain greater purification. Sic nos amantem, quis non redamaret? Who could fail to return love to one who loves us so?

The all-holy Virgin will teach us to stay close to her Son, giving him love in return for the great Love he shows us.