Angel Gabriel was sent by God to Mary, who lived in Nazareth, Galilee. She was betrothed to a man called Joseph. The angel appeared to Mary and said to her “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” Angel Gabriel also said to Mary “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God” (Luke 1: 26-38).
the divine birth
The name Jesus means ‘God saves’, thus expressing both His identity and mission. I have found that the pronunciation of the name Jesus, in the Aramaic dialect spoken in the region at the time of His birth, would have sounded like ‘Yeshu’, with a similar emphasis on the syllables as for the same name in Maltese, Gesu.
As Catholics the birth of Jesus has enormous significance for us. We believe that it also has great significance for all people on earth. One’s beliefs are a personal choice and that choice should be respected.
The miracle of the birth of Jesus by immaculate conception and the miracle of the resurrection, following His death on the cross, not only mark the passage of the divine incarnation but also mirror the alpha and omega of life. Once you believe in God, miracles are a given. I believe that Christ is the most relevant manifestation of the best way to exist in this world that is known and remembered in our times.
Western societies have a responsibility towards the rest of the world, as the peoples of other countries seek to emulate us. Firstly we should respect the sovereignty of families, communities and countries. Secondly, we should be exemplar nations under God. We are failing miserably on both counts. The reason for our failure is that we have lost touch with reality. Having intellectually disconnected our minds from that which is true, we seek out and wallow in disruption, fragmentation, disintegration, narcissism, amorality and violence.
To this aim we have brought about technologies whose sole purpose is to chain us to all that is dark in the human soul. Catholics know what I speak of. Such is the meaning and purpose of what we euphemistically call progress. Improving our health and living conditions is fine, but progress for its own sake is meaningless and is proven to end in despair. This whole human enterprise, full of greed and pride, has also irreversibly destroyed most of nature’s ecosystems. Our western societies have much to answer for.
Unity that is not honoured, will break up into multiplicity. This fragmentation and falling apart is a dangerous process as we become progressively more distant from that which keeps us safe. The agents of chaos are real, and this is their playground, and, yes, it can and will get much worse. The saving grace for those who repent and believe is that the child born to Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem did grow into a man, did remember and express His divinity, did die and did, by God’s volition, conquer death and rise from the dead. This much has been witnessed by people and recorded for posterity.
We are experiencing an acceleration in the unfolding of that which is unholy as it all must be brought into the light. Humans have gone too far in the desecration of life and of the earth. Vengeance and retribution are upon us. Christmas is an opportunity to shift our attention and to see what is really happening around us. Society may crumble but, mercifully, hope is ever present for individuals. The path the child Jesus outlined in his adult years is one that yields good results. Most of us experience life as a constant struggle. This is not misfortune but is what happens when our attention is not oriented towards the highest good.
the resurrection
A stable and reliable world is not a random occurrence. Life on earth has been intentionally created with meaning and purpose. Reality has its own intended patterns that produce good or bad outcomes. We interfere with these patterns at our own peril. The fact that species reproduce and that the seed has within it the yet unmanifested potential of the whole, is an intended pattern. The duality of male and female is an intended pattern. The rhythmic variations in the climate are an intended pattern. By interfering with these patterns, we are sowing the wind, and we are reaping the whirlwind because this also is an intended pattern.
Jesus thoroughly illustrated these patterns through His declared motivations, His sermons, behaviour and His storytelling, the parables. If we wish to have good outcomes we should stop acting as if we own the place, we should know that we are accountable to a higher moral authority.
The child born in Bethlehem 2025 years ago brings us hope and this is to be celebrated. Celebration should not mean mindless revelry. Celebrating Christmas should mean reverence, a remembering of all that is good and wholesome and a resolve to change for the better. We should practice humility and show gratitude, as we realise that we are part of this wonderous creation only by the grace and generosity of our creator.
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Also published on Substack.com
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