Christmas Message

Catholic Church 28-12-2023, 19:31

CHRISTMAS MESSAGE GOD’S SHARING LOVE AS EMMANUEL & SAVIOR

 

 


CHRISTMAS MESSAGE

GOD’S SHARING LOVE AS EMMANUEL & SAVIOR

 

 

“Would you hold my baby for me, please?”

 

Years ago a young man was riding a long distance bus from Chicago to Miami. He had a stop-over in Atlanta. While he was sitting at the lunch counter, a woman came out of the ladies' rest room carrying a tiny baby. She walked up to this man and asked, "Would you hold my baby for me, I left my purse in the rest room." He did. But as the woman neared the front door of the bus station, she darted out into the crowded street and was immediately lost in the crowd. This guy couldn't believe his eyes. He rushed to the door to call the woman, but couldn’t see her anywhere. Now what should he do? Put the baby down and run? When lmness finally settled in he went to the Traveler's Aid booth and together with the local police, they soon found the real mother. You see, the woman who’d left him holding the baby wasn’t the baby's real mother. She’d taken the child. Maybe it was to satisfy some motherly urge to hold a child or something else. No one really knows. But we do know that this man, breathed a sigh of relief when the real mother was found. After all, what was he going to do with a baby? In a way, each of us, is in the same sort of situation as this young man. Every Christmas God Himself walks up to us and asks, “Would you hold my baby for me, please?” And then He thrusts the Christ Child into our arms. And we’re left with the question, “What are we going to do with this baby?” But an even deeper question is just, “Who is this baby?” The answer is, “He is my God, Savior and Emmanuel.”

 

We celebrate Christmas because it is the birthday of our God who became man and Savior to save us from our sins, a God who came to share His love with us and a God who came to live with us always as Emmanuel. First of all, Christmas is the feast of God’s sharing a Savior with us. Jesus was the incarnation of God as man to save us from the bondage of sin. The Hindu Scriptures describe ten incarnations of God “to restore righteousness in the world whenever there is a large scale erosion of moral values.” (“Dharma samstaphanarthe sambhavami yuge yuge”- Bhagavathgeetha) 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 every one who believes in Him may not die, but may have eternal life.” We celebrate that Incarnation today as good news because we have a Divine Savior. As our Savior, Jesus atoned for our sins and liberated us from slavery to sin by his suffering, death and resurrection. Every Christmas reminds us that we still need this Savior to be reborn in our hearts and lives to free us from our evil addictions and unjust, impure and uncharitable tendencies.

 

Secondly, it 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 and rewarding God who wants to save us through His Son Jesus and not a judging, cruel and punishing God. Jesus demonstrated by his life and teaching how God our heavenly Father loves us, forgives us, and provides for 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 and the institution of the Holy Eucharist. Christmas reminds us that sharing love with others is our Christian duty and that every time we do so, Jesus is reborn in our lives. Let us face this challenging question asked by Alexander Pope, “What does it profit me if Jesus is born in thousands of cribs all over the world and He is not born in my heart?” Let us allow Jesus to be reborn in our hearts and lives today and every day and radiate his light around us as sharing and selfless love, in compassionate words and deeds, unconditional forgiveness, the spirit of humble service and overflowing generosity.

 

Thirdly, Christmas is the feast of Emmanuel, i.e., God living with us and within us. Christmas is the feast of Emmanuel because God of the New Testament is a God-with-us, Emmanuel, who continues to live with us in all the events of our lives as announced by the angel to Mary. As Emmanuel, Jesus is present to us in the sacraments (especially in the Holy Eucharist), in the Holy Bible, in the praying community and in each believer, while His Holy Spirit transforms us into the "Temples of the Holy Spirit.” Christmas reminds us that we are bearers of God with the missionary duty of conveying Jesus to others around us by loving others as Jesus did, through sacrificial, humble and committed service. Sharing Jesus, Emmanuel living within us, with others, should be our best Christmas gift to others.

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