THE LIVING BELEN OR LIVING GOSPEL.
December 25 2019 - The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) - Mass During the Night
A Lithuanian proverb says: “If it weren't for sorrow and bad
times, every day would be Christmas.”
Years back, when we were in Novitiate, under the inspiration
of one of our fathers, we created a living manger (Belen) taking into account
the ordinary realities of the life of the Abouré people of Bonoua and their
neighbors. Whenever we arrive at Christmas, this experience comes to my mind
and challenges me. Today is Christmas. The Bethlehem crèche spreads a message
of revolution. It is the place par excellence of the revolution of love. For in
this manger, the love of God became man and was called Jesus.
In his recent Apostolic letter entitled, “ADMIRABILE SIGNUM”,
“The enchanting image of the Christmas crèche”, the Holy Father, Pope Francis
tells a great truth which opens us to the solemnity of this day. He affirms: “The
nativity scene is like a living Gospel rising up from the pages of sacred
Scripture. As we contemplate the Christmas story, we are invited to set out on
a spiritual journey, drawn by the humility of the God who became man in order
to encounter every man and woman. We come to realize that so great is his love
for us that he became one of us, so that we in turn might become one with him.”
This could simply be a summary of the mystery of Christmas. God comes to unite
with humanity so that in return humanity and each human being in particular can
unite with him.
Christmas is above all the incarnation, or at least the
revolution of the love of God. St. John, in a very poetic and at the same time
philosophical way affirms it in his prologue. The word of God who from all beginnings
was with God and by whom everything was made, today chooses to reveal himself
to the human being his creature and better, to become one of us in order to
show us his love and his proximity. God in Jesus, takes on our humanity to give
us to share in his Divinity. This admirable exchange takes place in a newborn
baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. This scene not only
teaches us about the level of humor and humility of God, but also and above all
about the very value of love.
In the manger of Bethlehem, the whole mystery of salvation
is written, the mystery of the tenderness of a God who takes our humanity upon
him; mystery of the inexpressible humility and great simplicity of God. In
fact, at Christmas we are talking about mystery. But in reality, Christmas or
the scene of the little child lying in a manger is mysterious only by what
human reason refuses to understand, that is to say, the humility of God.
Because the crib reflects the most perfect humility. Which woman, today, in
normal conditions, and this, despite the great poverty, would accept to put her
child on a straw where eat oxen and donkeys?
The mystery that we are living in this day was written in
words of humility and in a crèche. God came to meet mankind and found nowhere
in our hospitals, much less in our hotels and inns, but in a sheepfold, and on
straw.
Isaiah, in the first reading announced the birth of a child;
that a son, a child king will be born to us. This child comes to us, charged
with a mission. God is born in this world with a road map: to rise us from our
sufferings; take our pains on himself. The paradox is that his birth itself
plunges him into the very heart of human misery, poverty, precariousness. He is
born, but like a rejected king.
Paul, in his address to his faithful disciple Titus,
announces that the grace of God has appeared for all. The Savior comes to us to
turn us away from the aimless and Godless life we lead, and lead us to the
perfect end of our existence, life with God and in God. He comes to deliver us
from life without faith or law, in order to present us to his Father as a
people willing to do what is right and good.
Today is a new day for everyone. A new gospel is being
written for us. The announcement made by the angel to the shepherds, “Do not be
afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for
all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you
who is Messiah and Lord.” A savior is born to us! A son is given to us in the
most mysterious way: in a garment of humility.
The crèche of the Lord Jesus will always be an open book for
us. A gospel that we will never exhaust. It is a hymn of humility and it tells
us about the suffering of many of our brothers and sisters in humanity. The
Catechism of the Catholic Church will not fail to emphasize this: “Jesus was
born in a humble stable, into a poor family. Simple shepherds were the first
witnesses to this event. In this poverty heaven's glory was made manifest. The
Church never tires of singing the glory of this night: The Virgin today brings
into the world the Eternal and the earth offers a cave to the Inaccessible. The
angels and shepherds praise him and the magi advance with the star, for you are
born for us, Little Child, God eternal!” (CCC. 525).
May this Christmas day encourage and convoy us
to seek humility. For this is where, like the shepherds, we will find the
newborn Lord, and we will worship him. He is in our brothers and sisters in
need. Christmas today seems to be a celebration of extravagance and a
commercial celebration. Let's go back to the origin and rediscover the mystery
that it conveys, the simplicity, the humility and the love of God. This
Christmas, let's give love to those who need it most. It is also for them that
Christ is born.
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