Fr. Campbell- We Who Believe
Words from the Book of Wisdom speak prophetically of the Birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ:
“While
all things were in quiet silence, and the night was in the midst of her
course, your almighty Word, O Lord, leapt down from your royal throne”
(Wis.18:14,15).
These
words remind us of the great mystery of the Incarnation, when “the Word
became flesh”, and of the Birth of Our Lord on Christmas Day. We who
believe in the Son of God made Man welcome Him once more on this
celebration of the Feast of His Nativity.
On
that first Christmas night Jesus was born into a cold, hostile world.
But He did not protest being born in a manger, though the kings of the
earth are born in luxurious palaces. He was welcomed by shepherds,
simple believers to whom the angels announced His birth. He was safe and
secure under the protection of St. Joseph, the quietly obedient servant
of the Lord, kneeling before Him in adoration. And He was at home in
the arms of Mary, His sinless and Holy Mother.
God
wanted so much to be with us that he became one of us. It was His
delight to be among the children of men (Prov.8:31). Jesus was like us
in all things but sin. As a tiny baby He was completely dependent upon
Mary. Mary was all things to Him – life, nourishment, warmth, security,
His comforter and teacher. There was nothing He needed that she could
not give Him. In fact, we could say that the Son of God, having
forsaken, in His Humanity, the celestial Paradise, found Paradise once
again in the arms of His Mother. According to St. Louis Marie de
Montfort:
“God
the Son came down into her virginal womb as a new Adam into his earthly
paradise, to take his delight there and produce hidden wonders of
grace” (True Devotion to Mary, 18).
It
is not in the nature of God to hate, or kill, or be cold and
indifferent towards His creatures. It is in the nature of God to love.
“God is love,” says St. John (1Jn.4:8b). This is why when we despise
other human beings, injure them or insult them, we distance ourselves
from God, and even make it impossible for God to remain with us. We
become strangers to God. God can relate only to those who love others.
He does not feel at home with those who cheat, and steal, and use others
badly.
Mary
and Joseph and the Divine Child were not welcomed in Bethlehem. Imagine
how hurt God is when He finds that people even now do not welcome His
Divine Son, and are doing everything they can to make Him feel unwanted.
The world would no longer have us say “Merry Christmas.” The world
would no longer have us sing the beautiful carols and hymns of
Christmas. Manger scenes are no longer welcome in public places, while
the symbols of false and pagan religions are now replacing those that
represent love, truth, and peace.
Jesus
was a “homeless person” in this world: “The foxes have dens, and the
birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his
head” (Lk.9:58). Well, how about Nazareth, where He grew up with Mary
and Joseph? The Nazarenes wanted no part of Him. They took Him to the
brow of a hill, where they intended to throw Him off the cliff, “But he,
passing through their midst, went his way” (Lk.4:30).
Why
is there no peace, but constant war? Because those who reject the
Gospel of peace are not “men of good will”. There can be no peace for
such men, but only constant war, and immeasurable suffering for the
innocent.
Love
others, be kind to them, help them in their need, and you will find a
friend in God. He will feel comfortable in your presence, and He will
delight in preparing a place for you in Heaven. When you get there you
will find your place decorated with all good things, and more beautiful
than any Christmas tree.
Christmas
is a time for giving gifts as a symbol of our love. God loves to give
gifts. His greatest gift to us to us on this day is that of eternal
life. Christmas is for us. It is our birthday too. Although the world
does not know Him, and even His own did not receive Him, to those who
did receive Him “he gave the power of becoming sons of God; to those who
believe in his name: who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the
flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (Jn.1:12,13):
“For
God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that those
who believe in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting”
(Jn.3:16).
The
world does not love us, but we are no longer “of this world”. Pope St.
Leo the Great declared: “… the Faithful, once having been regenerated in
the font of Baptism, are born, on this Day of Christmas, together with
Christ; just as they are crucified together with him in his Passion, and have risen together with him in his Resurrection, and in his
Ascension are placed at the right hand of the Father. For every
believer, no matter in what part of the world he may be living, is born
again in Christ; his birth according to nature is not taken into
account; he becomes a new man by his second birth; neither is he any
longer called of the family of his father in the flesh, but of the
family of our Redeemer, who unto this was made a Son of Man, that we
might become the Sons of God” (Sermon 6, On the Nativity of our Lord, Ch.2, as quoted by Dom Gueranger, The Liturgical Year).