24 Dec 2014
This year it seems that Christmas has crept up on me. In the midst of the busyness of meetings, carol concerts and shopping all my hopes for Advent were quietly forgotten. As I was thinking this morning of something to write about for our vocations blog I came across a letter from Pope Francis sent to a group of prisoners earlier this month.
In it he apologies for not having written sooner and encourages the men there with a Christmas message of hope. He prays that as the feast of the Nativity approaches that Jesus will be born in the crib of their hearts. He asks them to seek those occasions “for genuine growth in order to find peace of heart and the strength to be reborn, a return to living the hope in the Lord who never disappoints.”
At times we can all become trapped by circumstances, distracted by the irrelevant concerns of life, and lose our way. The Feast of the Nativity of our Lord is wonderful in that it is both so simple and so grounded. It tells the story of how God became one of us, not amid pomp and glamour, but as part of a homeless family. Pope Benedict once wrote that God did not enter into our world with the shout of a king to command our obedience, but with the cry of a child to invite our love.
This year we have an opportunity to celebrate what Christmas really means. It’s the message of faith that reminds us that we are children of the Father. It’s the message of hope that Francis speaks about in a living God that never disappoints. Above all it’s the message of love that has been part of our human story since the beginning. It’s a love that challenges us to reach out to those who are lost and are in need like that young homeless family two thousand years ago, and be like Christ to them.
“May the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, fill you with the joy of His Nativity, and reward all those who are close to you. May the Blessed and Immaculate Virgin Mary keep you under her maternal mantle. And please pray for me!” Pope Francis