Focus: The historical and mysterious facts about Christmas Day

As we celebrate Christmas, the Church reminds us that Christmas is a historical fact as well as a mystery. When the time came, Jesus was born to Joseph and Mary, and the three lived in their home at Nazareth. Jesus grew up obedient to both Joseph and Mary and worked with Joseph at their carpenter’s trade. But with this historical fact of birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the whole world is faced with a mystery! John sums up the event so profoundly in the following words: ‘the Word was made flesh’. Matthew in his Gospel 1: 18-25, gives us the historical significance of the birth of Jesus with a wonderful narrative ease, but when he wants to tell us what happened exactly, he prefers to use the words of Prophet Isaiah: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel’. When faced with the same mystery, Luke reminds us that this child is not simply a human being. He clarifies the same mystery by speaking of the Holy Spirit overshadowing Mary, so that the child born of her is the Holy One of God. Matthew in his further clarification uses the infancy narrative centred on Joseph. He presents the genealogy of Jesus with the objective of showing that Jesus is ‘son of David’ despite the fact that he was conceived by the Holy Spirit. This way, he teaches us that Jesus, who through Joseph’s acknowledgment is the descendant of the royal Davidic line but begotten in the womb of a virgin through the Holy Spirit, is of both Davidic and divine sonship. It is because of this tight connection that Jesus who was truly human and truly God continued to be a problem to his contemporaries. Those who grew up with him did not understand one fact about Jesus: “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” They asked themselves on several occasions when faced with the mystery of his divine power! St. Paul clarifies this mystery from a different point of view, basing himself mainly on his own vocation. He was set apart for the gospel of God. His God-given responsibility, or vocation, was to preach that Jesus is human and divine. Paul tells us that through his human origin, Jesus is son of David. But through resurrection, Holy Spirit and divine power, he stands out as God’s Son. As we prepare ourselves for Christmas, it is very important for us as Christians to ask ourselves how we are related to the mystery of the birth of Jesus. If St. Paul’s vocation was to preach the gospel of God, our vocation is to accept the gospel and live to it in our daily life. This vocation of ours is in harmony with Jesus’ mission. He came to redeem his people from their sins that all mankind might be sanctified. Having been sent by the Father, he in turn sent his apostles whom he sanctified by conferring on them the Holy Spirit so that they also might glorify the Father on earth and procure salvation of men. As Christians, we should remember that the life of Christ speaks to all men. Even to those who are not capable of repeating with Peter: ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ We must remember them in our Christmas prayers and celebrations. He, the Son of the living God, speaks to all people, also as Man and our brother. When he speaks, it is his life that speaks, his humanity, his fidelity to the truth and his all-embracing love. Like Peter, we too as Christians, we are called to be God’s messengers with the mission of bridging the gap between him and the people who haven’t known him as yet. We should do this following Jesus’ style that is by our life, our fidelity to the truth and with true love. Together as the Body of Christ which is the Church, the mystery of Christ’s coming calls us to relive the inscrutable depth of Jesus’ suffering and abandonment on the cross as well as the joy of his resurrection. These two; the suffering on the cross and the joy of resurrection, constitute the content of the daily life of the Church as well as her vocation on earth. Apart from its vocation, the church is related to the mystery of the birth of Jesus, by the way He has chosen to remain in the Church and close to his people. In a mystical way, Christ is always present in his Church, especially in liturgical celebrations. He is present in the sacrifice of the Mass not only in the person of his minister, but more especially in the Eucharistic species. By his power, he is present in the sacraments, so that when anybody baptises, it is really Christ himself who baptises. He is present in his word since it is he himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the church. Lastly, he is present when the Church prays or sings, for he has promised that ‘where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them.’As Christians living the spirit of Advent, we are invited to take as a role model the Holy Family of Nazareth. In Joseph, fathers of families have the most excellent model of fatherly attentiveness and care. Children have the model of the child Jesus, obedient to his parents. Christians in general must think of the inexpressible love with which the Virgin Mother awaited her Son. That way, we are all called to take Church as a model and prepare ourselves to meet the Saviour who is to be born for us. Let us be vigilant in prayer and joyful in praise! Ends