May the LORD bless you and keep you!
May the LORD let his face shine upon you and be gracious to you!
May the LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!
(Book of Numbers 6: 24-26)
1: Christmas is the Feast of God’s sending us a Saviour:
God undertook the Incarnation of Jesus as True God and true man to save us from the bondage of sin. The Hindus believe in ten incarnations of God. The purpose of these incarnations is stated in their Holy Scripture, Bagavath Geetha or Song of God. “God incarnates to restore righteousness in the world whenever there is a large-scale erosion of moral values.” (“Dharma samstaphanarthe sambhavami yuge yuge.”). But the Christian Scriptures teach only one Incarnation, and its purpose is given in John 3:16: “God so loved the world that He sent His only Son so that everyone who believes in Him may not die but have eternal life.” We celebrate the Incarnation of God as a Baby today as Good News because we have a Divine Savior. As our Savior, Jesus liberated us from slavery to sin and atoned for our sins by His suffering, death and Resurrection. So, every Christmas reminds us that we need a Savior every day, to free us from our evil addictions and unjust, impure and uncharitable tendencies. Christmas 2021 also challenges us to accept Jesus in the manger as our saving God and personal Savior and to surrender our lives to him, allowing him to rule our hearts and lives every day in the New Year.
# 2: Christmas is the Feast of God’s sharing His love with us:
Jesus,
as our Savior, brought the “Good News” that our God is a loving,
forgiving, merciful, rewarding God and not a judgmental, cruel,
punishing God. He demonstrated by his life and teaching how God our
Heavenly Father loves us, forgives us, provides for us, and rewards us.
All his miracles were signs of this Divine Love. Jesus’ final
demonstration of God’s love for us was his
death on the cross to atone
for our sins and to make us children of God. Each Christmas reminds us
that sharing love with others is our Christian privilege and duty, and
every time we do that, Jesus is reborn in our lives. Let us humbly admit
the truth with the German mystic Angelus Silesius “Christ could be born a thousand times in Bethlehem – but all in vain until He is born in me.”( https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Angelus_Silesius) Hence, let us allow Jesus to be reborn in our hearts and lives, not
only during Christmas, but every day, so that he may radiate the Light
of his presence from within us as sharing and selfless love, expressed
in compassionate words and deeds, unconditional forgiveness, the spirit
of humble service and, overflowing generosity.
# 3: Christmas is the Feast of the Emmanuel (God living with us and within us):
Christmas is the feast of the Emmanuel because God in the New Testament is a God Who continues to live with us in all the events of our lives as the “Emmanuel” announced by the angel to Mary. As Emmanuel, Jesus lives in the Sacraments (especially in the Holy Eucharist), in the Bible, in the praying community, and in each believer as the abiding Holy Spirit, residing in us and thus making us His “Temples.” Christmas reminds us that we are bearers of God with the missionary privilege and duty of conveying Jesus to those around us by loving them as Jesus did, through sacrificial, humble, committed service. Sharing with others Jesus, the Emmanuel living within us, is the best Christmas gift we can give, or receive, today.
Mother Teresa: “It is Christmas when you let God love others through you.”
(From a Christmas reflection by Fr Tony Kadavil
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