Dear Friends,
Well, here we are, at the end of the Advent season and about to approach the crib of the Christ-child with awe and wonder.
How are these days for you? Are they hectic and frantic as you finalise preparations for Christmas gatherings and buy those final gifts for the tree? Or will you be able to carve out even a small amount of time to ponder quietly the miracle that we celebrate.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”. This short sentence from the Prologue of the Gospel of John tells us of the miracle of Christmas. God became man and lived among us. Could there be a better Christmas gift? And the fact that we know how his earthly story ended, how he suffered like us and for us, how he died on a cross for our sins and rose again, defeating death and restoring our way back to God. Along the way he taught us how to live, both now and in eternity.
What a gift. We can’t repay it and nor does God want us to. That’s how gifts work. They are given freely, out of love.
But this Christmas, we can find some time in our busy schedule to gaze at the crib and to prayerfully ponder the wonder of the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us.
It’s been a long and difficult two years for so many of us. The COVID crisis caught us unawares and continues to present fresh challenges. We are weary and many are anxious as we prepare to gather at the Christmas table.
But Christmas tells us that we are not alone in all of this. God is with us. He was with us in a stable in Bethlehem more than 2000 years ago and God is with us now. He is Emmanuel. This Christmas let us draw strength and peace from the baby in the manger. Whatever circumstances are swirling around us, this baby – God-with-us – is our anchor and our rock and our promise. And, as missionary disciples, let us not only live in the knowledge of God’s love for us this Christmas, but share it with others we might meet, whether that be our family members at Christmas lunch, a kind word with a lonely neighbour or a person living on the streets. Let our presence make real for others the great wonder and mystery of Christmas: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”.
May the blessings of the Christ child be with you and your family this Christmas.
Fr Asaeli Rass SVD,
Provincial.