VATICAN CITY (Catholic Online) - "The people who walked in darkness
haveseen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on
themhas light shined" (Is 9:1). "An angel of the Lord appeared to
(theshepherds) and the glory of the Lord shone around them" (Lk 2:9).
Thisis how the liturgy of this holy Christmas night presents to us the
birthof the Saviour: as the light which pierces and dispels the
deepestdarkness. The presence of the Lord in the midst of his people
cancelsthe sorrow of defeat and the misery of slavery, and ushers in joy
andhappiness.
We, too, in this blessed night, have come to the
house of God. We havepassed through the darkness which envelops the
earth, guided by theflame of faith which illuminates our steps, and
enlivened by the hope offinding the "great light". By opening our
hearts, we also cancontemplate the miracle of that child-sun who,
arising from on high,illuminates the horizon.
The origin of the
darkness which envelops the world is lost in the nightof the ages. Let
us think back to that dark moment when the first crimeof humanity was
committed, when the hand of Cain, blinded by envy,killed his brother
Abel (cf. Gen 4:8). As a result, the unfolding of thecenturies has been
marked by violence, wars, hatred and oppression.
But God, who
placed a sense of expectation within man made in his imageand likeness,
was waiting. He waited for so long that perhaps at acertain point it
seemed he should have given up. But he could not giveup because he could
not deny himself (cf. 2 Tim 2:13). Therefore hecontinued to wait
patiently in the face of the corruption of man andpeoples.
Through
the course of history, the light that shatters the darknessreveals to
us that God is Father and that his patient fidelity isstronger than
darkness and corruption. This is the message of Christmasnight. God does
not know outbursts of anger or impatience; he is alwaysthere, like the
father in the parable of the prodigal son, waiting tocatch from afar a
glimpse of the lost son as he returns.
Isaiah's prophecy
announces the rising of a great light which breaksthrough the night.
This light is born in Bethlehem and is welcomed bythe loving arms of
Mary, by the love of Joseph, by the wonder of theshepherds. When the
angels announced the birth of the Redeemer to theshepherds, they did so
with these words: "This will be a sign for you:you will find a baby
wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger"(Lk 2:12).
The
"sign" is the humility of God taken to the extreme; it is the lovewith
which, that night, he assumed our frailty, our suffering, ouranxieties,
our desires and our limitations. The message that everyonewas expecting,
that everyone was searching for in the depths of theirsouls, was none
other than the tenderness of God: God who looks upon uswith eyes full of
love, who accepts our poverty, God who is in love withour smallness.
On
this holy night, while we contemplate the Infant Jesus just born
andplaced in the manger, we are invited to reflect. How do we welcome
thetenderness of God? Do I allow myself to be taken up by God, to
beembraced by him, or do I prevent him from drawing close? "But I
amsearching for the Lord" - we could respond. Nevertheless, what is
mostimportant is not seeking him, but rather allowing him to find me
andcaress me with tenderness. The question put to us simply by the
Infant'spresence is: do I allow God to love me?
More so, do we
have the courage to welcome with tenderness thedifficulties and problems
of those who are near to us, or do we preferimpersonal solutions,
perhaps effective but devoid of the warmth of theGospel? How much the
world needs tenderness today!
The Christian response cannot be
different from God's response to oursmallness. Life must be met with
goodness, with meekness. When werealize that God is in love with our
smallness, that he made himselfsmall in order to better encounter us, we
cannot help but open ourhearts to him, and beseech him: "Lord, help me
to be like you, give methe grace of tenderness in the most difficult
circumstances of life,give me the grace of closeness in the face of
every need, of meekness inevery conflict".
Dear brothers and
sisters, on this holy night we contemplate theNativity scene: there "the
people who walked in darkness have seen agreat light" (Is 9:1). People
who were unassuming, open to receiving thegift of God, were the ones who
saw this light. This light was not seen,however, by the arrogant, the
proud, by those who made laws according totheir own personal measures,
who were closed off to others. Let us lookto the crib and pray, asking
the Blessed Mother: "O Mary, show usJesus!'"
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