“SHE will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” The Christmas message.
With these few words, the gospel tells us the core reason for our joy in spite of whatever may be our condition and situation in life. Christian life is always a happy life. We should be wary when we find ourselves in the clutches of sadness for a variety of reasons.
We are meant to be happy, because no matter how we may be at any given moment, our Lord is always there to save us. He is bent to bring to completion the wonderful thing God has started in us.
We can, of course, abuse his goodness, his eternal mercy, as many times we have done in the past and for sure will do in the future, but Christ never changes his mind about us. His love is eternal. It’s unshakeable.
We have to learn to love him in return. Love is always repaid with love. This is what Christmas is trying elicit in us. Every time we see the Son of God turn into a baby, defenceless and in total need of our care, let’s bring it to our mind that he’s inviting us to the marvellous, if tortuous, road to love.
It’s love that is meant for us. Everything else is subordinated to it—our pursuit for justice and peace and truth, our concern for development and progress, our interest in the enrichment of our culture, etc.
May we know how to relate everything to love, or to charity, which is another name for love, the very essence of God, whose image and likeness we are. May we know how to inspire and lead everything to love, to God.
This would mean that we have to make an effort. In fact, an effort that should be with us till the end of our life, and till the end of time. Love without effort, without sacrifice, is fake. It would just be for show. A bubble that cannot last.
We have to learn how to engage our mind and heart with Christ. He is never just an idea, nor a historical figure who lived in the past but is only made present in our memory. He is truly alive, here and now. Through faith, hope and charity, we can see and hear him at every moment. This is no fiction. This is real, not virtual.
This is the challenge we have to face—how to keep ourselves alive to Christ, since as far as he is concerned, he is already alive in us. In this, we have to help one another.
We are actually given all the means for this purpose. We have the Church, established by Christ so that his presence and work of redemption and perfection of our creation can continue throughout time.
In the Church, we have the salvific doctrine of our faith, the truths that include mysteries that bring us to him. We have the sacraments that, regardless of their human and natural elements, convey grace if not the very Christ, in body and blood, to us.
We have the living witnesses of holiness through the myriads of saints and holy men and women who have identified themselves unsparingly with Christ. Through them, we get a good idea of how it is to be a true child of God. We will never lack inspiration to give us the needed impulses to go on in spite of whatever.
Yes, we just have to train our mind and heart to focus on our Lord and to beat in synch with the heart of Christ. That is always possible. If it can be done in our human love affairs where we depend more on human means, this definitely can be done in our love affair with Christ who gives us much more powerful means.
How important it is that we know how to develop a lifestyle and culture that spring vitally from this Christmas message and spirit! In our journey of life, we face tremendous trials and challenges. Temptations from within and without abound, and they can truly darken and spoil our outlook.
We cannot underestimate the dangers that lurk at every moment and in every corner of our earthly pilgrimage. We truly need Christ. He is our strength, our light, our cure, our salvation and perfection. Let’s never think we are ok without him.
Again, let’s help one another. We have to keep the Christmas spirit alive always.
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