AND THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH

Jesus is the Word of God. He is God together with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Through the incarnation of Jesus, we witness a great dialogue: God gave his Word to Mary and Mary gave her answer to God. Both God and Mary have the same word – true and everlasting. Both God and Mary have the same Word – Jesus. This is the reason why Jesus is both true God and true man. He is the great reconciliation, union and communion between God and man.

When Jesus became man, he embraced our humanity. He became like us, especially the lowliest among us. Jesus lived a simple life among us. He was not glamorous, rich and powerful despite his being God. He chose to live simply with ordinary people. He even chose to be born in a stable. He lived a hidden life and like us he experienced how it was to be poor, to go hungry, to mourn and to die. He became man for our sake: that we may experience that God is very close to us, that he is with us in our difficulties and ease.

Christmas is a great celebration of so great a love God has for us. St. Athanasius once said, “God became man so that man may become god.” God shared in our life so that we may share in his life.

PREPARATION FOR THE COMING OF OUR LORD

It is Christmas! All are busy. All are preparing. People are busy in the malls buying gifts. Divisoria is also crowded with people looking for gifts for their godchildren. The Christmas tree in the house is already lit; Christmas parties are held everywhere in schools and offices; families are planning reunions. All these preparations, and the joyful atmosphere, are all because of the coming celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

However, aside from preparing ourselves, our homes and other gatherings, it is better to celebrate Christmas with a clean conscience. It is not only cleaning our surroundings and our homes which brings us a happy Christmas. More than this is to live a life filled by our Lord with grace. This happens when we approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation. According to the Catechism for Filipino Catholics (#1771-1772), through confession, we are forgiven our sins. If sin brings us farther from God, in confession, we are brought closer again to Him and we are able to live in his grace.

Related to our asking for forgiveness for the sins we committed is our forgiveness for those whom we have misunderstandings, those with whom we are not on speaking terms, or those with whom we are angry. The Lord himself says through a parable (Mt. 18:15-35) that we are forgiven through our reconciliation with others. If we do not forgive others, how can we ask or receive forgiveness for ourselves?

In the coming Christmas, let us approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Also, let us pray for the grace to forgive those who wronged us. Through these, we can truly have and experience a happy Christmas.

ST. JOSEPH: ONE WHO FULFILLED THE WILL OF GOD

The celebration of Christmas is not really complete without St Joseph who became Jesus’ father on earth. He was known for his deep and strong faith in God. He was ready to do what God wanted him to do.

According to Sacred Scriptures, when St. Joseph was already betrothed to Mary, he was already aware that Mary was pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. Since he was kind- hearted and did not wish to put Mary to shame, he planned to break the engagement in secret. However, when the angel appeared in his dream and narrated the truth about the pregnancy of Mary, he embraced and accepted Mary as his wife. He also accepted the child to be born as his child.

St. Joseph played a very important role during the first Christmas. From Nazareth to Bethlehem, St. Joseph and Mary traveled to look for a place where she can give birth to the child. They knocked at different households but no one accepted them until they found the manger where she gave birth to the Child Jesus. And when the angel told St. Joseph that his family was in danger, he left all he had, his friends and countrymen, to go and live in a different country. His priority was the well-being of the family entrusted to him by God.

St. Joseph said “yes” to the invitation of God. In his life, he had only one goal: to fulfill the will of God. Although he did not say a single word in the Sacred Scriptures, we know how he showed his love to Jesus. He was a Servant of God who takes the well-being of his family as his first priority.

Just like St. Joseph, we are also invited to have a deep and strong faith so that we can say “yes” to God’s call and do whatever He wishes us to do. As spouses, as father, mother or a child, St. Joseph reminds us to prioritize the well-being of our family. We look up to St. Joseph who aimed to fulfill the will of God in his life.

CHANGE OF COLOR IN THE LITURGY

Do you know that the liturgy of the Church is divided into seasons? Do you also know that the colors of the vestments of the priest in the Mass symbolize these seasons?

The liturgical calendar of the Church begins with the Advent season or the season of waiting for the coming of the Lord into the world. The Christmas season is about the incarnation and the birth of Jesus. Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday, is a forty-day preparation for us Catholics by repenting for our sins and through sacrifices. Holy week is the climax of this preparation, when we remember the passion and death of Christ. Lent is followed by Easter, the season for remembering the resurrection and ascension of Christ. Pentecost celebrates the Lord’s sending of his Holy Spirit to his people. During ordinary Sundays, we remember the deeds and teachings of Jesus here on earth. Our celebrations during the liturgical year are not only repetitive celebrations. They also bring us to our destination – the Kingdom of God. 

The changing of seasons is signaled by the change in the colors used in the liturgy and the vestments. Violet or lilac, in tradition, is a “color of honor” which was only used by kings and queens. It also stands for mourning and seeking for forgiveness. In our liturgy, it is used during Advent and Lent. White is the color of purity. It is used during the Christmas Season and Easter time. In more solemn celebrations, gold is used to symbolize the light coming from God. Red is the color of blood and courage, used every Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Pentecost and in the celebration of the Lord’s passion. Green is the color of Ordinary Time. Rose is used every third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday), and every fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday).

The seasons and colors are used in our rituals. They help us grow as Christians who are called to holiness in our faith-life. May the season and color of Christmas not only be material instruments in our faith. May they bring us to the true meaning of the birth and incarnation of Christ our Savior.

THE PEACE OF CHRISTMAS

All of us desire peace. And is this not the foremost message of Christmas? In the eve of the first Christmas, the angels sang, ‘Glory to God in the highest and peace to people of good will.’ Peace or shalom in the bible, is very important. It occurs more than five-hundred times in the Bible. In the New Testament, Jesus would almost always greet His disciples ‘Peace be with you.’ But what does this peace which the angels spoke about mean?

In the entire Old Testament, the prophets often spoke about shalom, peace. This pertains to the harmonious relationship between God and man, between man and a fellow human being, and between man and his will. Because of man’s fall at the Garden of Eden, this harmony or shalom was lost. In the New Testament, genuine peace came in the person of Jesus. St. Luke said “ And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God by which the daybreak from on high will visit us to shine on those who sit in darkness and death's shadow, to guide our feet into the path of peace." (Lk. 1:76-79)

How does Jesus become our peace? The gospels show various ways.

First, by embracing those neglected and rejected by society. In the gospel according to St. Luke, the angels appeared to the shepherds, who in the eyes of the Pharisees were unclean because of their inability to observe the Mosaic laws. Jesus invited the tax-collectors, who were hated for their apparent betrayal and collaboration with the Romans. Jesus mingled with Samaritans and prostitutes, with sinners. Jesus is peace, that is, he restores the relationship of us sinners to each other and to God.

Second, by his miracles. Many of the miracles performed by Jesus concern the healing of lepers and the blind. He also brought back to life the only son of a widow. The absence of a healthy body for those who are sick and the uncertainty of the lives of widows and poor people, are examples of the absence of peace. Jesus came to restore spiritual, emotional, and bodily health. That is why holiness is closely linked with wholeness. Through Jesus, we become whole; we become holy.

Third, shalom, peace means to live in accord with the will of God. Pope Leo the Great said “We wish that our friends be like us or have the same interest and desire. How can we say that God can be our friend if we keep on doing things that He hates?” At the last supper, Jesus said to his disciples “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27). Peace does not mean conformity with the ways of this world; Peace demands the denial of sins and efforts to build the Kingdom of God. The seed of peace will sprout and flourish only if we water it with obedience and perseverance.

Thus, if we long for the peace of God, which is the spirit Christmas, we have three tasks: to accept the persons rejected by society and those who have sinned against us; to give healing and security for the sick, widows, and destitute; and to aspire to follow the will of God. In this way, through God’s, the song of the angels will be fulfilled: “Peace on earth to people of good will.”