Christmas comes to bless the world!
The birth of Jesus brings to focus God’s love for mankind. We know the familiar line: the “Word became flesh”. God chose to become incarnate, to be born small, needy, and helpless. Not above us, not separated from us, but among us.
What kind of God chooses to be this way? It is a God who is not afraid of his creation. A God who is not impressed by power. It is a God who trusts human hands, even though they are imperfect.
The child born to the Virgin in the manger does not explain himself. He cannot even speak yet. He cannot teach yet. He cannot perform miracles yet. He simply exists. Yet, His presence changes everything for the history of salvation of the whole of mankind.
In the Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius invites us to look at the life of Jesus. Not just to analyze it, but to see it. To notice where God places himself. Christmas shows us this place very clearly. God chooses the margins; He chooses vulnerability. God chooses to be with people just as they are.
Let us seize the opportunity of Christmas to think about where we place ourselves today.
Imagine the scene: a child wrapped in cloth, a mother watching, and a father standing guard. The shepherds came as they were, smelling of work, dirty.
If God was willing to come into the world into such circumstances, then His presence gives value to our daily routine and the ordinary things we do in our lives. God inserts himself into our jobs, our friendships, and our relationships.
Perhaps Christmas invites us to see God in the ordinary. Ignatius speaks about finding God in all things. Christmas gives us the opportunity to make finding God in all things more concrete. God is not hiding in rare moments or in perfect conditions. God is present in Mary’s embrace, in the presence of the shepherds, in the animals in the manger, in our being, in our waiting, and in our experiences.
God is already here. The child Jesus is lying in a manger, trusting humanity with his life. God is trusting you too.
Merry Christmas!
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