The Mystery of Christmas

As the Advent candles brightly radiate the light of hope, perhaps you have made time for silence, prayer, penance and good works. During the next two weekends we find situated between the 4^th Sunday in Advent and the Feast of the Holy Family the Solemnity of The Nativity of the Lord, Christmas. The Mass readings fill us with messages of peace and joy as we ponder the mystery of Christmas. 

Peace-filled mystery 

Hope pours forth from the prophet, Micah, who underscores Isaiah’s writings of the coming of the promised Messiah whose rule will happen through the lineage of King David (1 Sam 16:1-13) with origins in the town of Bethlehem. (Mi 5:1-4) The ruler will “stand firm and shepherd his flock by the strength of and in the name of the Lord. Above all, the greatness of God will reign throughout all the earth. He, the ruler ‘will be peace.’ ” 

Peace, a fruit of the Holy Spirit, is the aim of life in Christ. Not only do we live in the peace of Christ, we are also called to be disciples of peace in the world, as Jesus taught, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Mt 5:9). We, as children of God, humble ourselves before the Lord. In baptism, we promise to reject all that is not of God and accept what is from God, namely the gifts of faith, hope and love which lead to peace. We believe God is with us, desires only good for us and provides for all we need to grow in an ever-deepening relationship with him and one another through encountering Jesus Christ, our peace.

We hear a similar message sung by the angels, appearing to the shepherds on that glorious night as “Jesus was born in a humble stable, into a poor family. Simple shepherds were the first witnesses to this event. In this poverty, heaven’s glory was made manifest. The church never tires of singing the glory of this night: The virgin (Mary) today brings into the world the eternal, and the earth offers a cave to the inaccessible. The angels and shepherds praise him and the magi advance with the star. For you are born for us, little child, God eternal” (The Catechism of the Catholic Church para 525), praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Lk 2:14). He will be peace.

Joyful mystery

The Sunday and daily Mass Gospel readings in the final days of Advent, Christmas Day and the Octave of Christmas include the five Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary:  The Annunciation of the Angel to Mary, The Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth, The Nativity of Jesus, The Presentation of Jesus to the Temple, and The Finding Jesus in the Temple. St. John Paul II writes, “The first five decades, the “Joyful Mysteries,” are marked by the joy radiating from the event of the Incarnation. This is clear from the very first mystery, the Annunciation, where Gabriel’s greeting to the virgin of Nazareth is linked to an invitation to messianic joy: “Rejoice, Mary.”

The great saint continues to describe the succeeding mysteries as encounters of joy, from St. Elizabeth’s greeting and St. John the Baptist’s leap in her womb to the radiance of the birth of Jesus proclaimed by the angels to the shepherds, to the presentation in the temple expressing “ecstasy of the aged Simeon” mixed with the sorrowful foretelling of what is to come, then finally, Jesus, 12 years old, found in the temple by his distraught parents and him explaining, “I must be in my father’s house,” emphasizing his priority to God.

The Christmas mystery

The mystery of Christmas is an encounter of joy, an encounter with the person of Jesus Christ. This joy is so transformative that many an inspired author and screenwriter used it as a backdrop for their stories (“A Christmas Carol,” “It’s A Wonderful Life”). Common are the tales of despairing humanity intersecting with authentic, humble, unbreakable joy. True joy is rooted in unconditional love, a real desire to want and work for the good of another. With joy arises mercy. God’s love and mercy on Christmas night was wrapped in swaddling clothes, in a place where the farm animals were kept, in a remote village whose ancient roots lead back to the greatest king of Israel. 

By the light of grace, we see the depths of the mystery of why God became. We accept his embrace of joy by embracing Jesus, the ONE joy that brings peace. Humble beginnings are within God’s divine plan of salvation, who sent Emmanuel, God with us, the JOY, as he came to save us from the darkness of death. Simply put, the path of Jesus is pure joy, even joy in times of great sorrow. For in those despairing times we  experience utter loneliness, we are surrounded by the love of God and those with us as they reach in to lift us from the coldness of the “night” and lead us to the warmth of the presence of Christ Jesus. 

The incredible mystery of Christmas is the Word became flesh to save us by reconciling us with God, so that we might know God’s love, to be our model of holiness and to make us “partakers of the divine nature” and to “accomplish our salvation” (Catechism 456-461). From the manger to the cross Jesus came to set us free; to guide us on the path back home to the father. God sent one like us so that by encountering him, we could follow him out of the darkness of sin, despair and death and be led by the light of Jesus back where we belong, in beatific union with God for eternity. Today, we kneel before the manger in joyful prayer which gives us strength to stand beneath the cross with Mary, filled with hopeful joy in the resurrection. Incarnation to resurrection.

In his 1998 Christmas message, Pope St. John Paul II exclaimed, “Today there shines forth upon the whole world, the face of God: Jesus reveals him to us as the father who loves us. All you who are seeking the meaning of life, all you whose hearts are burning with the hope of salvation, freedom and peace, come to meet the child born of Mary:  He is God, our savior, the only one worthy of this name, the one Lord. He is born for us, come, let us adore him!” We are joyful for God is with us! He is present. Emmanuel. Jesus. God saves. Joy to the world! Amen. Alleluia. Merry Christmas.

Dow is the director of the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis for the Diocese of Baton Rouge.