Surprise! I know I said last week I wouldn't be posting until the new year but couldn't resist passing up on such a special day.
Christ entered a disturbed and broken world, but it is this precise fact that makes Christmas now and always such a joy and wonder. Our God sent his only Son into the mess of our world and our lives out of infinite love to become one of us and to show us the love we are capable of. Isaiah uses marriage imagery, ‘as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so will your God rejoice in you.’ We sing, joy to the world the Lord has come; the Lord has come to us because we are beloved daughters and sons in whom God delights. We are here in faith with our own context, our own questions, and the issues we face because we believe that love is possible, peace and reconciliation are possible, new life is possible because the baby of Bethlehem is ‘God with us’ through it all. He is Jesus, Saviour of the World. ‘Happy are we who acclaim such a King, who walk in the light of his face and who find joy every day in his name and who make his justice the source of our happiness.'
Today is a time to celebrate and perhaps a time to remember Christmas’ of old when we were young excited about what lay at the bottom of our Christmas stocking, joining our parents and family around the festive table, trying to stay awake at midnight Mass. There is so much to be grateful for and perhaps today we can collect all our loved ones living and dead pray for them and remember them. We can gather all those who have no consciousness of Christ and why he came among us and all those for whom Christmas is a lonely time for we are all connected and the love so evident in and around the manger is God’s eternal gift to us.
Listen to ‘You are the Gift’ track 5 from the album of the same name. The lyrics are below. I have unlocked 'Silent Night' track 9 as well for you to listen to.
You are the gift
You are the joy
You are the Blessed Virgin’s baby boy
And you are the reason for the season
Why we gather with the ones we love
And if we but listen to your voice again
In the silence of this Holy Night
We will topple the walls of prejudice and fear
And bring peace into the light
You are the hope in our despair
And when the maddening world’s too much to bear
Despite the derision and division
You inspire us always to choose life
And if we but listen to your voice again
In the silence of this Holy Night
We will topple the walls of prejudice and fear
And bring peace into the light
You are the gift
You are the joy
You are the Blessed Virgin’s baby boy
And you are the reason for the season
Why we gather with the ones we love
Yes, you are our hope
And you are our life
And you are the gift
Happy Christmas everyone.
Hari Kirihimete e koutou katoa.