Christmas Day
Dear brothers and sisters!
May the Joy of His Nativity be with you!! Take some minutes to feel the spiritual atmosphere of Christmas. Breath in the great joy of our Lord’s birth. Open your senses, open your eyes, your ears and smell to the many symbols and signs that bring you back to your inner child. Only becoming like children can we access the mystery of the grotto of Bethlehem. The Christmas lights decorations on the streets, buildings and churches speak about the baby who is the Light of the World radiating purity and warmth in the cold and dark winter of the human soul. The Christmas Carols evoke the wonder at the paradoxical arrival of the Newborn King, echoing the invitation of angelic hosts to harken and join a cosmic renewal. In the Christmas tree we may contemplate the dancing joy of every plant, bush and flower that wants to stretch upwards orienting its praise heavenwards. In the stars you can recall the guiding power of the firmament for the three wise pilgrims that left kingdoms behind for the beginning of a new era. The smell of hot chocolate and typical pastry, and the fragrance of pine trees wake up memories that are the starting point of true maturity.
Let us contemplate the King as a baby and allow Him to teach us, may He be your master. His smallness is the key to our greatness. His vulnerability and helplessness radiates a new security and power. Without a place to be born He rests with infinite safety in the hands of the Father. His holy serenity extends in total dependence to the arms of Mary and the caring gaze of Joseph. Baby Jesus is showing us the path of true maturity. Be like a child and say yes to everyone and everything that God the Father gives you, to every relative, friend and stranger. Every person that touches my life is invited in a unique way to the manger of my life. Lord Jesus, as you accepted the arms of Mary I accept the smile and gestures of my mother and father on earth. Baby Jesus as you accepted the rough and uneducated shepherds I will accept the simple and blunt people that you have placed in my path. As you accepted the gifts of the foreign magi coming from distant lands I will accept the people from different perspectives and backgrounds, and take their gifts into my heart. In all I accept Our Father’s Plan, in all I surrender like you did, as a little child. Amen.
Marry Christmas!!
Fr. Remi Morales