On the 25th of December every year, the world wears on an extravagantly brilliant look amidst the pomp and pageantry with which people go about celebrating what many have come to describe as “The Birthday of Life”. It is the day on which all Christians, and in fact, the whole world celebrate the Birthday of Jesus Christ to commemorate the special events of about 2000 years ago, when the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity came in flesh and blood into human history to redefine the human existence and to establish the Kingdom of God on earth.
The word “Christmas” comes from the Old English words, Cristes Maesse or Cristes-messe, which means in Modern English, “Christ's Mass” or “Mass of Christ”, and it has become the common English name for the feast of the birthday of our Lord. Though the Bible ascribes no specific date as such to the birth of the Saviour, this feast dates back to the very early years of Christianity. However, Christmas attained its great popularity as a festival in the Middle Ages. A huge body of custom and belief grew up around the feast, especially of a convivial kind. Nevertheless it retains its ancient character.
After the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, carrying forth the Mission to all humankind by the Apostles and disciples was not an easy task. The Christian experience was embroiled in a very hostile world, and the Christians had to device all tactics possible to win the hearts of the pagan populace who were most fickle and get them converted to Christianity. In the Roman Empire, December 25th, the time of the winter solstice, i.e., a time when the dying sun began its steady climb into the northern skies, was the day the pagans celebrated the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, i.e., the Birthday of the Invincible Sun. This is because the sun god was proclaimed the principal patron of the pagan Roman Empire, and it was one of the biggest feasts they had which they all looked forward to annually.
When the Christians were fulfilling Christ's mandate to make disciples of all nations and restore all things in Christ, they had to teach the people the truth using categories that they are familiar with to explain the mysteries of God and His Truths, as the Apostle Paul did in Acts 17:22-33. “Who indeed is as unconquerable as our Lord?” asked St. John Chrysostom, He is the “Sun of Justice”, the “Sun of Righteousness”, the “Invincible Light of Glory” and the “Everlasting Lord of the Ages”. The Christians then took over this day, December 25th to celebrate the Incarnation of the God-man, his “manifestation in the flesh” of being born into the world.
God willed that all men may be saved and He sent His own Son into the world to reconcile all men to Himself. “…When the appointed time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman … to enable us to be adopted as sons and daughters” (Gal. 4: 4-5). This is our certainty: we know that Jesus became a man like us, but at the same time he is the “Word Incarnate”, He is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity who took human flesh and entered into human history; and therefore, in Jesus, human nature and indeed the whole of humanity, is redeemed, saved, ennobled to the extent of participating in "divine life" by means of Grace.
“All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God” (Ps 98:3). On this day of joy, the people of Rome and the whole world hear the joyful proclamation of the birth of the Son of God: Christmas is a mystery of grace to be contemplated; Christmas is a marvelous event to be shared. Christmas is therefore a time for reflection which cannot fail to have an impact on the whole of life. Indeed the new history of humanity, a history in which man's sins encounter divine salvation, began at Christmas.
What does the birth of Jesus Christ mean to us? What does the extraordinary event of the birth of Jesus Christ mean to us? What “good news” does it bring us? To what goals does it spur us?
St. Luke, the Evangelist, in Zechariah's inspired words, presents the Incarnation as the visit of God: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David” (Lk 1:68-69). But what is the effect of the “visit of God” on man? Sacred Scripture testifies that when the Lord intervenes he brings salvation and joy, he frees from affliction, he gives hope, he improves the fate of whoever is visited and opens up new prospects of life and salvation.
Christmas is the visit of God “par excellence”; in fact, in this event he comes very close to man through his only Son, who in his infant's face demonstrates his tenderness for the poor and for sinners. The grace of adoption as children of God is offered to men in the Incarnate Word. Luke is concerned to show how the event of Jesus' birth really changes the history and life of men, especially of those who receive him with a sincere heart: Elizabeth, John the Baptist, the shepherds, Simeon, Anna and above all Mary, are witnesses to the marvels that God works with his visit.
In the Saviour whose birth at Bethlehem we celebrate at Christmas, the Christian community contemplates the “Wisdom of the Most High”, the “Guide of his people”, the “Flower of Jesse's stem”, the “Key of David”, the “Radiant Dawn”, the “King of all the nations” and, last of all, “Emmanuel”, that is, “God is with us”. This name recalls the prophecy made seven centuries earlier through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah. With the birth of the Messiah, God assures his complete, definitive presence among his people. This is the divine response to the basic need of humanity in every place and age.
The Solemnity of Christmas brings back memories of tenderness and goodness, and increasingly draws fresh attention to the fundamental human values: the family, life, innocence, peace and gratuitousness. In the words of our beloved Pope John Paul the Great, in his December 1995 General Audience, “Christmas is the feast of the family which, gathered around the crib and the tree, the traditional Christmas symbols, discovers that it is called to be the sanctuary of life and love. Christmas is the feast of children, because it reveals 'the lull meaning of every human birth, and the joy which accompanies the Birth of the Messiah is thus seen to be the foundation and fulfillment of joy at every child born into the world' (cf. Pope Paul VI's Evangelium Vitae, n. 1). The Nativity of the Lord, likewise, brings us to rediscover the value of innocence by inviting adults to learn from the school of children to approach the newborn Saviour's crib with wonder and purity of heart.”
Christmas is the feast of peace, because “true peace has come down to us from heaven" and "the skies rain down sweetness all over the world”. The angels sing in Bethlehem: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!” (Lk 2:14). How graciously fulfilled our lives would be if we cherish peace, by living it out in our lives and working for it to flourish in our communities and wherever we find ourselves, for the Bible says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons and daughters of God” (Matt. 5:9). The world needs peace amidst the many human tragedies that have obscured the joys and hopes of so many people all over the world. Today, more than ever before, we must continue tirelessly in our search for peace in the world.
Christmas is also the feast of gifts: I can imagine the joy of those, both children and adults who, receiving a Christmas gift, will feel loved and committed to making themselves a gift, like the Child that the Virgin Mary shows as in the crib.
But, again according to John Paul the Great, these considerations only partly explain the festive and evocative atmosphere of Christmas. So then, how should Christmas be celebrated? Besides the festive and evocative aspect of eating, drinking, visiting friends and relatives, going to funfairs, exchanging gifts and pleasantries, what special considerations for our faith do we need to evaluate so as to accentuate our exercise of the faith?
It is well known that for believers the true foundation of the joy of this feast lies in the fact that the eternal Word, perfect image of the Father, became “flesh”, a frail infant in sympathy with weak and mortal men. In Jesus, God himself came close to and remains with us, incomparable gift to welcome with humility into our daily life.
During Advent, we really need to get prepared to experience the saving event of Christmas with total openness of spirit. In the poverty of the manger we must contemplate the great event of the Incarnation and let it penetrate to the depths of our being, with its power to change our life. And then, with the arrival of the great day itself, we should let Christmas evangelize us, as it did the shepherds, who readily accepted the announcement of the Savior's birth and went without delay to adore him, thus becoming the first witnesses of his presence in the world. In turn we will become witnesses to Emmanuel at the side of our every brother or sister, especially the poor and suffering.
According to John Paul the Great, “We are all of us in Jesus: our true nobility and dignity has its source in the great and sublime event of Christmas. In the mystery of Christmas we admire in astonishment the eternal divine Word who became man, who became a surprising Presence among us, within us. With the efficacious help of his grace he fills the void of sadness and suffering, enlightens our search for joy and peace, and protects our every effort aimed at building a better world of greater solidarity”.
In the light of the Mystery of the Incarnation, everyone should celebrate Christmas, like Mary, by welcoming the One who comes “to visit us from on high” (Lk 1:78), with an open and sincere heart, and by striving to become the instruments of God's joyful visit for those we meet in our daily path.
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