Christmas
The life of Jesus is an open book from the beginning to the end, from his birth at Bethlehem until his death on the cross. We can learn from every page, from every sentence. He teaches us graphic lessons through his words and his actions; everything in his life has a meaning for us. Today we contemplate him as a baby, his first professorial chair.
The first lesson we learn is simple: silence. God became man shrouded in silence. During a wintry night, in an unknown town lost in the middle of nowhere, in a cave surrounded by a mule and and ox, the King of kings was born, hidden from the eyes of the powerful and the learned. The Jews had been waiting for him for centuries and they missed him. Only a few shepherds went to adore him, warned by the angels. The most marvellous works of God, his incarnation, his birth and his resurrection, were surrounded by silence, hidden from the naked eye. The ways of the Lord are different from ours. We expect to find him in big miracles, apparitions, revelations; in the fire, storm, hurricane, or earthquakes, like Elijah, but he comes through a soft breeze. Silence is the language of God. He speaks in a very low voice, almost imperceptible, and we need a special gadget, a hearing aid, to tune to his wavelength: faith. They say that the best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched; they can only be felt with the heart. The mysteries of God are immersed in silence, and only faith can see through. Noise is the common language of the devil.
The second lesson is clear: humility. God coming to us as a baby. He could have come as a grown up man, but he wanted to come to us in the same defenceless and humiliating way that we all come into this world. To access him we need to reach down to his level. The first thing he says when we approach him is: get rid of your fancy dress, the outfit you have weaved with your pride. In front of the baby we cannot talk about our talents, achievements, or our wealth. We need to go down on our knees and become as little as him.
The third lesson is poverty. He was the only one who could choose his birth and he chose a poor family to be born into. Not even the place where he was delivered was his. He came with nothing, and he left with nothing, only the wood of the cross as his dying bed. It is the same with us: we came naked and we cannot take anything with us when we go. He is looking for a place in our hearts, and it is full of things.
Where there is a baby, there is a mother. We depict Mary with baby Jesus sitting on her lap, looking after him, showing him for our contemplation. We call her Sedes Sapientiae, seat of wisdom, throne of grace. She brings to us the infinite well of knowledge and grace. Let us take advantage of these days of Christmas to spend time looking at the beautiful baby, and learn from him as many lessons as we can. And don’t forget to give our Mother a hand.
josephpich@gmail.com
Christmas
The life of Jesus is an open book from the beginning to the end, from his birth at Bethlehem until his death on the cross. We can learn from every page, from every sentence. He teaches us graphic lessons through his words and his actions; everything in his life has a meaning for us. Today we contemplate him as a baby, his first professorial chair.
The first lesson we learn is simple: silence. God became man shrouded in silence. During a wintry night, in an unknown town lost in the middle of nowhere, in a cave surrounded by a mule and and ox, the King of kings was born, hidden from the eyes of the powerful and the learned. The Jews had been waiting for him for centuries and they missed him. Only a few shepherds went to adore him, warned by the angels. The most marvellous works of God, his incarnation, his birth and his resurrection, were surrounded by silence, hidden from the naked eye. The ways of the Lord are different from ours. We expect to find him in big miracles, apparitions, revelations; in the fire, storm, hurricane, or earthquakes, like Elijah, but he comes through a soft breeze. Silence is the language of God. He speaks in a very low voice, almost imperceptible, and we need a special gadget, a hearing aid, to tune to his wavelength: faith. They say that the best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched; they can only be felt with the heart. The mysteries of God are immersed in silence, and only faith can see through. Noise is the common language of the devil.
The second lesson is clear: humility. God coming to us as a baby. He could have come as a grown up man, but he wanted to come to us in the same defenceless and humiliating way that we all come into this world. To access him we need to reach down to his level. The first thing he says when we approach him is: get rid of your fancy dress, the outfit you have weaved with your pride. In front of the baby we cannot talk about our talents, achievements, or our wealth. We need to go down on our knees and become as little as him.
The third lesson is poverty. He was the only one who could choose his birth and he chose a poor family to be born into. Not even the place where he was delivered was his. He came with nothing, and he left with nothing, only the wood of the cross as his dying bed. It is the same with us: we came naked and we cannot take anything with us when we go. He is looking for a place in our hearts, and it is full of things.
Where there is a baby, there is a mother. We depict Mary with baby Jesus sitting on her lap, looking after him, showing him for our contemplation. We call her Sedes Sapientiae, seat of wisdom, throne of grace. She brings to us the infinite well of knowledge and grace. Let us take advantage of these days of Christmas to spend time looking at the beautiful baby, and learn from him as many lessons as we can. And don’t forget to give our Mother a hand.
josephpich@gmail.com