“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”
- Charles Dickens
“And she will bear a Son, and you shall
call His name Jesus, for it is He who
will save His people from their sins”
- Mathew 1:21
What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present,
hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace.
Man and the world, without being conscious of it, are calling to God, with all their strength. More often than not, the call remains a silent one. This call implies that man has an inner craving for having an encounter or a meeting with a God.
God designed to meet humanity through Patriarchs, Moses, Prophets and so on. Finally the greatest encounter of God with mankind was made through Jesus Christ, His only son. That Jesus the Divine Person has two natures, namely divine and human, indicates very clearly that Jesus Christ is the perfect place of encounter where God and man meet each other. Christ has seen to it that we continue to be privileged to have encounter with him. That is why he has given us the sacraments. Being the extension of his presence the sacraments become the true means of our encounter.
“Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine;
Love was born at Christmas;
Star and angels gave the sign.”
- Christina Rossetti
The encounter of man with God always makes man realize his own weakness, sinfulness, emptiness and worthlessness. It causes man to open himself fully to God, to receive His gifts. It makes man thoroughly dependent on God for his own existence. A fruitful encounter entails a great change in the heart of the concerned. We ask ourselves whether we realize that we really meet God every day, every hour, every minute, every second through some means or the other. Do these encounters create any great impact on us?
The most spectacular encounter of God Moses an Israeli- refugee, on the mount Horeb is graphically described in Ex.3:1-12. God’s magnanimity is so great that He does not hesitate to come down to the level of mankind. The glorious sight of God makes Moses feel nervous and fearful. His fear and nervousness vanish when he is overwhelmed with the loving words of God. When God entrusts him with a great and exacting mission, he immediately takes recourse to a meek withdrawal, because the sight of God makes him aware of his inadequacy and limitations. Again he is comforted by the assurance given by God. This great encounter brings about a change in the history of the Israelites.
The Revelation of Jesus, the Risen Lord to Paul on the road to Damascus
proves to be a decisive factor in Saul’s life. Before this encounter Saul was doing what he liked, what he wanted. But from now on he would be told what to do by the Lord himself. It his no longer his will, but Christ’s that will be done. Saul became fully a new man as Paul after his encounter with the Lord. Saul a destroyer of the church becomes Paul a builder of the Church. Saul an arrogant Pharisee turns Paul an Apostle of Christ. Thus we find a complete change in this encounter.
The curiosity of Zacchaeus led him to an extraordinary encounter. Owing to his short stature Zacchaeus had to climb a road-side tree to get a glimpse of Jesus. This passing encounter with Jesus changed the whole course of his life. His happiness knew no bounds, when Jesus called him by his name. Zacchaeus the sinner was turned into Zacchaeus the just.
God is so gracious and kind that he is always ready to come to the rescue of mankind by His abiding presence in us. He is sympathetic towards our weakness and sensitive to our needs.
“Christmas is forever, not for just one day,
for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away
like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf.
The good you do for others is good you do yourself.
Let Every Day Be Christmas”
- Norman W. Brooks
Fr. Paul Raj Kumar,
Principal,
St. Joseph’s College
Cuddalore.