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In the midst of the pandemic, the Church celebrates the feast of the birth of Jesus, that is, Christmas. In the midst of death, suffering, exhaustion, fear, in the midst of anger, hatred, division and aggressiveness, Christians celebrate faith in life. We believe that never death, but always life will be stronger.
The story of Christmas is familiar to us humans – even if we don’t necessarily profess a religious church or faith community: Mary and Joseph, the Bible tells us, find retreat and security as a family for the birth of their child in a stable. Shepherds, with their flocks in the fields of Bethlehem, were alerted by voices from heaven. They found the mother and the child, the man at her side, and told what they had been told. The Savior is a child. Not an earthly ruler. Not a ruler. The future of mankind is in the hands of a little child in the straw of a manger. Powerless. Defenseless. Loved and reaching out for love.
This is the message of Christmas. God wants to enter into a relationship with us. He wants to meet us and in doing so he shows himself in his vulnerability and his being at the mercy of others. We have a patient, quiet and attentive God who does not shout, who does not demonstrate, who does not show off power and wants to enter into a power struggle between either good or evil. We have a God who meets man with a great tenderness. He waits for us. He waits for us to enter into relationship with him, in this little child of Bethlehem, so that through each and every human being he can guide our world into wholesome paths.
With this child begins a new future for the world. In the midst of the pandemic, the message is: Man, remember, your God wants to celebrate life with you. He wants you to be well. Our mission is to enter into a relationship with this God, that is, with his love, with his exceeding readiness to forgive, with his longing for us human beings.
The new beginning with humanity is given through the event of this birth. This new beginning is not self-made, not organized, not managed, but given by God. God gives humanity a new beginning in the birth of his Son. This is the hope of humanity, in the midst of the darkness of the pandemic.
The message is: We should not let ourselves be led out of the darkness of oour everyday life, turn our gaze back to life, love, reconciliation and peace. It is not about a “contact tracing” of the soul. By this is meant, it is not about looking up who started what hurt, who triggered something, or who blamed. Nor is it about finding out who prevented life. No, that’s not how we get anywhere. The promise to mankind means: God himself becomes a man with whose life program we humans can enter into a relationship. He assures us that he wants to be with us.
Whoever looks long into the eyes of God in the child of Bethlehem, whoever tries to absorb the love that emanates from this child in the stable of Bethlehem and wants to make it his own program, will become a different person, a new person.
At Christmas, we Christians proclaim a radical new beginning that God gives us. God succeeds through re-creation in allowing humanity to grow into a new generation of hope.
I wish you, dear reader, that Christmas may dwell within you, but also in our families. May Christmas be a celebration of joy and peace, because in the child of Bethlehem, strife and hatred, anger and aggression have been conquuered.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
hp, picture: Image by Here and now, unfortunately, ends my journey on Pixabay from Pixabay
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