Merry Christmas! Certain images inspire wonder. They are powerful beyond the simple contents that make up the scene. In the nativity scene we have such an image: a serene new mother, a concerned father, and a vulnerable newborn child. Beleaguered travelers, forced to take refuge in a stable, and a child laid in a manger. The rude surroundings leave the new family barely protected from the elements, open to any and all who come their way. And yet this scene inspires wonder and awe! It is meant to open our hearts, to help us to see that there is more to life than we have come to expect. It tells us that Divinity courses through human life and that our God is not distant from us, but Emmanuel...God with us!
The manger scene is both an invitation and a promise. An invitation to leave our pursuit of worldly things behind and instead to enter into the Mystery that lays before us…to be as vulnerable as this child and these parents…to be as open as the shepherds and as generous of heart as the magi. To praise God like the angels and pay attention like the townspeople. The resulting promise is that we meet God. We discover not only that Jesus is God, but that we too share in God’s life—not only in the afterlife, but right here and right now.
And so in the days to come let us open our hearts to the wonder of this Christmas moment. Let us all say a prayer of gratitude for the gift of love that God gives to each and every one of us. Let us not waste this moment of wonder on the commercialism of the season, nor lose it in the turmoil of times but let us ponder for a moment the mystery of the Incarnation of our God, allowing it to change our hearts, to fill us with hope and to give direction to our lives, and the manner in which we live out our discipleship. I pray you have a “wonder-filled” Christmas and come to know ever more fully just how deeply and passionately you are loved by God…just as you are!
Merry Christmas,
Fr. Tim
The manger scene is both an invitation and a promise. An invitation to leave our pursuit of worldly things behind and instead to enter into the Mystery that lays before us…to be as vulnerable as this child and these parents…to be as open as the shepherds and as generous of heart as the magi. To praise God like the angels and pay attention like the townspeople. The resulting promise is that we meet God. We discover not only that Jesus is God, but that we too share in God’s life—not only in the afterlife, but right here and right now.
And so in the days to come let us open our hearts to the wonder of this Christmas moment. Let us all say a prayer of gratitude for the gift of love that God gives to each and every one of us. Let us not waste this moment of wonder on the commercialism of the season, nor lose it in the turmoil of times but let us ponder for a moment the mystery of the Incarnation of our God, allowing it to change our hearts, to fill us with hope and to give direction to our lives, and the manner in which we live out our discipleship. I pray you have a “wonder-filled” Christmas and come to know ever more fully just how deeply and passionately you are loved by God…just as you are!
Merry Christmas,
Fr. Tim
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