November 24, 2004

Though we are now exchanging our "Merry Christmas" greetings, and carols fill the air telling us "tis the season to be jolly," Christmas provides something far greater than merriment, joviality, or an easy joy. Christmas points the way to something sober and enduring. To celebrate Christmas is not simply to recall a past event in a stable which we see sweetly depicted on Christmas cards. To celebrate Christmas is to open ourselves to what is happening within us: in virtue of our baptism, Jesus continues to be born and grow to maturity in us. Our participation in the Incarnation, therefore, is a profound and all-demanding fact of life to be patiently and courageously lived by each one of us in the varying, and sometimes difficult, circumstances of our lives.

This should not surprise us. After all, the birth itself did not take place under easy circumstances, but in an uncertain season. The first Christmas was not at all what Mary might have hoped for. She found herself far from home, bereft of the human supports that would have been hers in Nazareth. And yet, she heard the angels' song pierce the night. In the midst of it all something broke loose that transformed the moment into an occasion for sober and enduring joy. With Jesus' birth the boundless love and all-embracing compassion of God became real, immediate and concrete as a human life.

Love is, therefore, the heart of the Incarnation. Through God's insistent and enduring love the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Love alone gave Jesus the ability to hope all things and to endure all things, even the pain of the Cross. And, through the love of God poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, the Incarnation continues to unfold in and through our lives. In us the Word who is Jesus becomes flesh and blood. This is the root and ground of our joy. This is the sober and enduring truth of Christmas.

As we once again celebrate our Savior's birth may we be bearers of this Christmas truth and embodied signs of God's love to our anxious and divided world. And let us give thanks that Christ, the sun of righteousness, continues to pierce the darkness and bring healing in his wings.

Episcopal News Service