“Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. To you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. And this will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” (Lk 2:10-12)
The most sublime and beautiful mystery, the Incarnation and Nativity of God-with-us, is described as an invitation not to be afraid and to be joyful. And the sign for this is very simple: a child wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.
By no leap of human imagination could such greatness occur in such simplicity: a poor new-born child is Christ the Saviour, the Lord of history, the Son of God made man, the Redeemer of humanity. Such smallness seems impossible and nevertheless, such is the great truth: Christmas. Jesus the son of Mary was born and joy submerges us.
The birth of Christ, Christmas, cannot be overwhelmed in the noise and the economic interests of our consumer society with its lights, glitter, presents, food, drink, cards, dances, shouting…
Only if we are able to perceive the presence of God, who radically commits to us, can we say with full coherence, Happy Christmas!
Only if we accept that God is alive and present in humans who suffer and are in need, does it make sense to say, Happy Christmas!
Only if we open our spirits, our hearts and our minds so that God made man can transform us, can we pronounce once again the wish for a Happy Christmas.
I would like to invite all of you to pronounce with feeling, coherence and enthusiasm this marvellous exclamation, HAPPY CHRISTMAS!
P. Ricardo Londoño Domínguez,
Spiritual Counsellor of the ERI
