THIÊN CHÚA LÀ CHA - LM BRIAN - LỄ GIÁNG SINH
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Mo NguyenDec 22 at 8:55 PM
THE POWER OF CHRISTMAS
On a trip to the Holy Land, a man called James Martin bought a crib, a nativity set. All the figures were there - Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus, the shepherds, the kings, and the animals. When James arrived at Tel Aviv airport for his journey home to Australia, security was extremely tight. Customs officers checked and X-rayed each figure, even the baby Jesus. 'We can't take any chances,' the officer apologized to James. ‘We have to be sure there's nothing explosive in this set.' Afterwards James thought to himself, 'If that officer only knew! That set contains the most explosive power in the world.'
It’s a power, which is far from obvious at first glance. For Jesus Christ came on earth, not as a powerful prince, living in a great mansion in the most powerful nation on earth. He came as the foster son of a poor carpenter in a dirty stable in one of the weakest nations on earth, a nation ruled by the Roman emperor, a nation paying taxes to a hated foreign occupying power.
When he arrived in the world, he was not greeted or visited by world leaders, generals, or celebrities. No, he was greeted and visited by poor shepherds, no doubt smelling somewhat of their sheep. They counted so little In their time and place that their testimony was not accepted by any law court. But it was to those shepherds, nevertheless, that God gave his good and wonderful news: 'I bring you news of great joy, a joy to be shared by the whole people.'
The choice by God of those nobodies, as the first to receive the Christmas message, shows us that God has no special preference for the rich and famous, the movers and shakers of this world, and the manipulators of markets. On the other hand he does have a quite special care and affection for the victims, the suffering, the poor, the downtrodden, the rejected and neglected. He is clearly on their side. This truth, this fact, is illustrated by the condition of the Christ-child himself. The sign the shepherds are to look for is a baby wrapped in rags and lying in a manger, the feed box of animals. So within and beyond these signs of poverty, vulnerability and weakness, there is to be discovered the power of love, which is to say, the power of God, of Love with a capital ‘L’.
The impact and the significance of the circumstances of the birth of Jesus could not be better expressed than in two sentences from our scripture readings today. The first sentence says: 'The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light.' The second sentence says: 'Today in the town of David a saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
In fact, Jesus was born to us and among us, so that we might be born in a new way. Born to live like sons and daughters of the God who is particularly caring about the poor, the deprived, the lonely, the lost, the grieving and the broken-hearted. Born to live with the same sensitivity and compassion as Jesus - walking his way, telling his truth and living his values.
Jesus, seemingly so helpless and powerless in the manger, but whom we come to adore, is destined as the strong adult Jesus to make everything new again. He does this by inviting us to respond to some of the many needy and broken human beings not too far away, who won’t be having even a tiny fraction of the goodies you and I will be enjoying at our Christmas celebrations.
But I’m not pretending that the invitation of Jesus at Christmas to get a life, a new life, will always come to us at the most convenient time. He may e.g., come to us in our neighbour, knocking on our door for help, just as we are starting our Christmas dinner with family and friends. He may be in our co-worker dropping by for a chat when we are on some deadline over Christmas. He may be in the smile of a child gazing at her first Christmas tree, and we don't have a camera with us to capture the precious moment. He may come to us in the fund-raising letter that arrives from Caritas Australia on the very same day of our holidays that our credit card bill also arrives in the mail.
I’m not pretending either that that the invitation of Jesus at Christmas time to get a life, a new life, always happens at a time of perfect peace, tranquillity and contentment. To give an extreme example: - A newspaper reporter once said that whenever he was assigned to the Christmas shift he always did a story on how many more murders occur on this day than on any other day in the whole year. Unfortunately, what is meant to bring out the best in people when they get together to celebrate Christmas, sometimes brings out the very worst.
However, we, the People of God gathered today, have only kind and gentle thoughts for one another and for all our fellow human beings as we celebrate this feast of God's overwhelming love. My personal wish and prayer for you for both Christmas and the coming New Year, is that the God Who loves you personally, individually and dearly, and who has sent you his Son, will bless you with patience and endurance, with mercy and forgiveness, with faith, hope and love. Above all may the God, Whose power and love are one and the same thing, draw you to take Jesus Christ to your hearts with new commitment and dedication, when he gives himself to you in Holy Communion this Christmas!
Fr Brian Gleeson
Hillsong - O Come let us adore Him – Lyrics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIj6wtHN21s
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