Dear brothers and sisters of the Augustinian Recollect family;
I happily accept the invitation the Church makes to all who pray the office of Readings today, with the text from our father St. Augustine, which is at the top of this message. It is an invitation I joyfully endorse, repeating it for you, thinking that it may serve us all as we make these feelings and attitudes personal and adding some reflections which may help us celebrate this Christmas feast as it deserves.
No need to over explain in order to understand that these Augustinian expressions take for granted a committed Christian soul who at once takes on the responsibility of handing on, by word and life, the news of Jesus, so as to bring to belief in Him, after the fashion of the first disciples who burned with a desire to do so: we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.
What have we seen and heard?
First of all we can appreciate that Christmas is a mystery of peace. On this night the angels sang: Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will. The angels brought the shepherds news of a great event: joy, even a long way from home like a migrant, the poverty of the manger like a crib, the indifference of the townspeople, the hostility of those in power….Today a deep cry rises from the grotto of Bethlehem for the world not to fall into indifference, suspicion and mistrust, even though the tragic phenomenon of terrorism, of drugs, of the uncomfortable and sad situation of the diverse political, social, economic and religious crises make uncertainties and fears in numerous families, communities, institutions and countries increase.
Continuing with the Augustinian text above, Augustine making use of his personal catechetical and pedagogical style, makes a transcendental and pointed question: Whence is peace on earth, if not in the fact that Truth is sprung out of the earth, that is, Christ is born of flesh? And he is our peace, who has made both one, that we might be men of good will, bound together by the sweet bonds of unity.
World Peace Day
Pope Benedict XVl, in his message for the next World Peace Day emphasizes some aspects of the treatment given to the complex phenomenon of globalization with regard to poverty: there are international campaigns afoot to reduce birth-rates,… graver still, these methods often fail to respect even the right to life. The extermination of millions of unborn children, in the name of the fight against poverty, actually constitutes the destruction of the poorest of all human beings.
In stark contrast to these realities that have been denounced, let us return to Bethlehem to live the Birthday of the Saviour, as a feast of love and so contemplate with wonder a mystery filled with love. God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son, to give us his own life. The Virgin Mother gives him all the love she has, in the cold shelter, in the midst of silence. The glory of the Eternal Word, eternal like the Father, is hidden in a Baby who from the first moment of his earthly life not only accepts all human weakness but also lives them in the poorest of conditions. An immense treasure is enclosed in these words; God is love. God has come down from the heights of his divinity to the lowliness of our humanity, moved only by his immense charity.
From this premise we can deduce that the Nativity for us today continues to be a feast where we are to correspond to God’s love. True love conquers all obstacles, accepts any condition or sacrifice, in order to be united with the one s/he loves. In order to correspond to this infinite love of God we must follow a trail like the Word’s: it is humility. This way starts with laying aside our pride, vanity, pretensions about our rights, titles, posts held and fruits acquired, our honour, our personal plans….Whoever desires to be near Jesus, to imitate him – says Augustine- must freely cast aside and from the heart, the ego, self love, attachment to material things and consumerism which enslave us and stop us giving God due worship.
Feast of salvation
Disposed in this way we can advance and contemplate the Nativity as a Feast of salvation. The angels announced it to the shepherds: a Saviour has been born for you. So there is no room for sadness, when life, which will end the fear of death and fill us with happiness of eternal life, has just been born. We all share this joy and can celebrate it with jubilation: the saint because he sees victory approaching, the sinner because he is invited to receive forgiveness; the non believer for he is invited to have faith and life: Glory to God in the highest and peace to men.
On the Christmas journey we do not walk in the dark. The Nativity is the feast of the light of God: And life was the light of men; the light shines in the dark, but the darkness couldn’t welcome it. He – John the Baptist- was not the light, but had come to bear witness to the light. The Word was the true light, that enlightens all men. From my faith: I believe in Jesus Christ…Light of light.
On Christmas night the light that is Christ rises, shines and penetrates the hearts of all men, filling them with new life; he lights up in them the light eternal, that always enlightens the human being, even when the darkness of the mind enwraps the body.. This light is brought into being by the fire of the Love of God and is a flame of living love that tenderly wounds the deepest part of the soul.
Enlightened by this light, we can perceive with daylight clarity that if God has become man out of love, every man is my brother and is to be respected as a son of God and brother of all men. This love fills with Christian understanding all life: man, marriage, family, society….There are no borders, no barriers of language, country, race, colour, sex, culture: you have only one Father and you are all brothers; what you did to the least you did to me. Christmas invites us to solidarity: consumerism divides us. For this reason, Christmas is the feast of brotherly love.
St. Augustine
Let us call to mind once more the invitation of St. Augustine to celebrate with joy the birth of Our Lord, a hallowed day, a feast of great joy.
From now on, but especially on this feast of Christmas, let us keep in mind the interpretation given by the Pope regarding globalization in his Message for the World Day for Peace: “There are international campaigns afoot to reduce birth-rates, sometimes using methods that respect neither the dignity of the woman, nor the right of parents to choose responsibly how many children to have; graver still, these methods often fail to respect even the right to life. The extermination of millions of unborn children, in the name of the fight against poverty, actually constitutes the destruction of the poorest of all human beings”.
All of us believers of all religions together with men of good will abandoning any form whatsoever of intolerance and discrimination are called to build peace for a better world.
At the Virgin Mother’s side let us stay praying before the crib, where the child is resting, to share her very wonder at this coming down earth of God. May Mary lend us her eyes to help unravel the mystery hidden behind the frailty of her tiny Son, to recognise his face in the faces of the children of every race and culture and to be authentic witnesses of his message of peace and love. May the men and women of our time, still characterized by tense contrasts and unheard of violence, recognize in the Child she holds in her arms, the only Saviour of the world, the unending source of true peace, that all peoples aspire to in the depth of their heart.
Let us show gratitude to God, One and Three, for counting on us to help bring about his plan of salvation for humankind. Let us ask and be grateful for the intercession of those who have collaborated more closely in the divine plan and who help us feel it and live it as they did.
Without Mary’s fiat this mystery of love and salvation would not have been possible. Joseph, who was a just man, without being involved, believed and hoped and loved this Child, more than if it were his own. The saints surrendered themselves unconditionally to fulfil the plan of God.
Very importantly, let us not be scandalized at the endless wait but respect the seasons and waitings of God.
With my wishes for a Happy Christmas, open to and held by love and hope, and a prosperous new year 2009.