Suddenly their perfect and comfortable life came to an abrupt end. At first, they were terrified, with no obvious way out of their hopelessly dire situation. Gradually they learnt to live in a new ‘normal’ life; resembling their old one but unmistakably different; far more restricted and limited, with the danger of crashing down lurking in their minds. They hoped for a way out, they prayed for it but their prospects were bleak. Then, rather surprisingly, a solution seemed to appear, announced suddenly in the middle of the night by choirs of angels. The reactions of some of those who heard the news varied; some were enthusiastic, even ecstatic; some were cautiously optimistic, others were a bit sceptical, while others were outright dismissive. What all of them saw wasn’t massively impressive; a baby in a manger accompanied by his parents, who themselves didn’t look like influencers with huge followings. But when the light of hope seemed to start to shine ever brighter a nasty turn of events occurred; baby boys lost their lives with grieving families left behind while THE baby – the hope – was taken by his parents into exile in a foreign country. This is the compact version of the biblical story from Adam and Eve to Jesus, told in modern language.
Christmas is a rather peculiar celebration. Its modern, secular version is so widely popular that it’s being celebrated in countries with a very limited Christian presence. In this country, where declared Christians are becoming a minority, Christmas remains the most popular celebration of the year. This time around it had served as a particularly bright beacon of hope until it was brutally squashed by the governments’ announcements of cancelling it effectively, followed by a threat of going back to square one, i.e. full lockdown.
Christmas is a rather peculiar celebration. As Christians, we celebrate the incarnation of the Son of God. ‘In carne’ is the phrase from which ‘incarnation’ is derived and it literally means ‘to become flesh’. The eternal, timeless, illimitable God became one of us; limited and restricted himself for the time being. He did that not for his own sake; it is we who benefit from his self-limitation and self-restriction. I guess you see where I’m going… In that respect, many of us have lived in the spirit of Christmas since the end of March. We have done it in spite of frustration; in spite of mental, physical and financial struggle. More or less religiously we have followed the guidelines on restrictions, limitations and hygiene for the sake of others. You don’t have to be a religious person to do so, but it certainly helps you to dig deep when the motivation to carry on wears thin…
Christmas is a rather peculiar celebration. It’s joyful but somehow, we concentrate on the negative aspects of this particular story; like the long, seemingly needless travel of heavily pregnant Mary and her husband Joseph. Or the fact that they end up in a stable, where the new-born baby Jesus lies in a manger instead of a proper cradle. Those and many other difficult, dramatic or even tragic events are hard to accept on a human level and we must never do so. But faith helps us to see beyond the obvious. God works through the scheming politicians and authorities, whether they are aware of that or not, and whether they are willing to be so or not. Then all those difficulties, challenges and problems test our mettle and – more importantly – are our opportunities to help us develop our skills, talents and traits. Comforts and convenience make us lazy and self-satisfied. Challenges spur us to thinking and acting in a new, more creative way. For example, with no room in the inn for Mary and Joseph – nobody’s fault, really – someone offered a stable. Not a perfect solution but certainly better than staying in the open overnight. We don’t have to assume the stable was an utterly disgusting mess. Mary and Joseph’s acceptance of that offer suggests it was a decent shelter for the night. It was creative thinking to help them in their hour of need.
In the same way, many of us have acquired new skills, learnt new ways of doing things, found deep layers of compassion that have led to greater, more creative ways of helping out. This very community has shown that in so many ways. Most of you have done it quietly, without making a fuss about it. Others in an obviously more visible way, like the parish online choir who have produced remotely so many hymns for Sunday Masses or a rather beautiful Carol Service that had its world premiere on YouTube last night. There are volunteers who tirelessly disinfect our churches to keep them safe and open. Those who restrain themselves from booking for Sunday Mass to allow fellow parishioners to attend Mass… The list is very long indeed and I’m putting myself at risk here by involuntarily omitting you.
This Christmas is admittedly different from any other, but we don’t have to surrender to the negatives, however real they are. Life is going on; there’s another day tomorrow. Propelled by the living faith we can always look forward, with the hope that the best is ahead. Merry Christmas!
Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay