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December 25, 2023The celebration of Christmas first announces us an immense joy. Today, we are invited to happiness and peace. We heard from the prophet Isaiah the emotion of seeing the sentries running to announce good news to the people: How beautiful on the mountains, are the feet of one who brings good news who heralds peace, brings happiness… the Lord is consoling his people.
The joy announced on this day has a foundation. It's not just a passing feeling we can experience in a moment of euphoria. The invitation to joy has an unshakable foundation: the Word of God became Flesh, as Saint John says. God visits us, placing his tent among us. The son of God was born from the virgin Mary: he is the Prince of Peace. For two thousand years, the Church has not tired of announcing on this day a joy that is stronger than our sadness and melancholy. Today, we are invited to stop looking at ourselves and turn our gaze to Baby Jesus.
But why is this announcement a source of joy, so much so that all the problems in the world cannot overshadow and hold back the bright light of Christmas? It is not just a matter of being moved by the birth of a child, but it is the discovery that this child is God with us. He is the eternal son of the Father who entered the world. He made us know the mystery of divine life and the meaning of our earthly existence.
With the birth of Jesus, divine eternity has conquered human time. An eternal event has occurred within time. What is eternal entered what is temporary. But if this child is the eternal son of God, then this birth is not just an event of the past but an event that is happening even today, here, for us. Jesus will never leave us. He will be with us forever.
Saint Francis of Assisi understood all this well when he invented the nativity scene in Greccio eight hundred years ago. In this way, he wanted to express that Jesus is always our contemporary. Bethlehem happens again for us today, here, in this part of the world.
We find a fundamental expression in today's Gospel and the letter to the Hebrews: this Jesus, who was born in time, is the eternal Word of the Father, and all things that exist were made through him. Saint John says: “Through him, all things came to be. Not one thing had its being but through him”.
From here comes a great consolation. God willed everything that exists. If the Word of God made all things, then my life, your life, your family, and your children are not by accident. We don't exist by chance. But we are within a good plan that has Jesus at its center.
Indeed, if we look at the world, there are many problems and threats: wars, the climate crisis, many divisions, and so much of poverty. But the greatest danger is the loss of meaning of life, thinking that everything is a senseless coincidence. That living, being born and dying, suffering and fighting against sickness are meaningless. No, Christmas reveals to us that God wants us, he gives meaning to our life.
I invite you to look at yourselves and others at Christmas light this evening. When we look in the mirror, we sometimes ask ourselves: who we really are? Whose we are? Who do we belong to? Please, don't think about your limits, about what you cannot do or what you did wrong. First, we must say with all amazement that “I am loved, I am wanted, I belong to Jesus, who was born of Mary to show us this infinite love.” This is the joy of Christmas, and in the light of Christmas, the life of each one of us finds infinite value.
Jesus was born among us precisely to reveal God's love to us. He heals us from our wounds and brings us God's forgiveness. The birth of Jesus becomes our rebirth. Jesus supports us on our journey by purifying us and restoring the image of God so that we can be reborn as true children of God.
Dear brothers and sisters, the joy of Christmas is contagious. We cannot keep it just to ourselves. Let us bring this announcement to our families and our communities. Let us become humble and strong witnesses of the Peace of Christ before the world and in the society.
Thanks to Christmas, we are freed from the fear and suffering of a meaningless life. Therefore, we can live our daily lives with a commitment to the greater glory of God. Let us look after our families well. Let us commit ourselves to the Christian education of our children. Let us work for a more just and fraternal world. Let us become peacemakers. Let us take care this earth, of our common home. In the creation, God wanted to give us to express his love for us.
But how can we carry forward this good life of the gospel? Not alone, dear brothers and sisters, but as a Christian community, as a Church, as the people of God. The Church is the family of God. The Church is a family of families. Let us always put Jesus at the center of our lives and our families. Together, we walk with Jesus towards the kingdom of God and witness to everyone the joy of the Gospel.
May Mary, Mother of God and the Mother of the Church, always make us walk together, following Jesus, our redeemer.
From the bottom of my heart, I wish you all a merry Christmas.
