DIVINITY LYING IN A MANGER
The Christmas story begins in obscurity. For centuries, the prophets of old foretold of the coming of the Messiah. The important question on the minds of everyone was, “When and Where?” For God, the question was about Who and Why? The Christmas story begins in Love! “For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him, may not perish but may have everlasting life!” (Jn 3:16-17). God’s choice bypasses the Roman empire, the Jewish Temple and comes to the small countryside town in Nazareth. God breaks into our world in time and space. God’s WORD became incarnate in the womb of a young maiden Mary. The Almighty is now seen in the fragile face of a child. The age of prophets is now over. God pitched His tent among us in human flesh. The child’s name is Emmanuel, God with us. Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.
Every year, this love-story is recalled and celebrated with joy and hope. We are invited every year to follow the star, to stoop before the manger and behold Jesus – the gift of God – wrapped in swaddling clothes and to behold Mary and Joseph. In the simplicity of the inn, one encounters Divinity. Archbishop Ven. Fulton Sheen in his book, “Life of Christ” writes; “Divinity is often found in places where one least expects to find it.” Like the Shepherds and the Magi, we are invited to make the journey and to come and worship, to experience first-hand the great promise and gift of God. In Jesus, God becomes tangible but also fragile and vulnerable.
With the gift of Jesus, our ‘divine-human’ adventure takes on a new meaning. God’s love story now enables us to live a better ‘human-human’ adventure too! Jesus opens for us a new way of relating with the Father and with one another. Christmas reassures us all that God has loved us with an everlasting love! Christmas will soon move into the New Year 2025 – the Jubilee Year. The Church invites us to be ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. The Jubilee Door beckons us to walk with greater spiritual, ecclesial and social renewal in the life of the Church. You and I have a mission in bringing the joyful proclamation of the Gospel to everyone. Rooted in Hope, be courageous missionaries of Jesus!
May this Christmas and New Year 2025 be Christ-filled and Gospel-directed for you and your family.
Fr Glenford Lowe
