One of the Church’s traditions, which is rarely heard outside of novitiate and seminary halls, is the reading of the “Roman Martyrology.” It is a book detailing the lives and death of early Christians. For all its tediousness, it is an awesome tale of real people who believed Jesus Christ was born and is fully God and yet, truly one of us in all ways except sin. In this book, the birth of Jesus is beautifully proclaimed.
There is a temptation at this time of year to gloss over the whole Jesus and to concentrate, if at all, on the baby Jesus. Even in the birth narratives of Jesus, the Gospels proclaim him as one who would be king and victim, savior and sufferer. There is a temptation at this time of year to concentrate on the warm, kind realities of life. Neither of these temptations is wrong, just woefully incomplete and negligent in proclaiming Jesus for who he was when he walked this earth and who is now as risen Lord.
Jesus is present when we love one another, embrace the poor, lay down our lives for peace not war, refuse to hate, forgive our enemies, feed the hungry, work for justice for the poor, worship God in truth, live in integrity and honesty, love our children, welcome the stranger and care for all people.
Jesus is also present when we fail to do these works of mercy. Jesus is present when our hearts are broken from loss, when fear grips our daily lives, when division tears apart our families and friends, when war crucifies people continually, when greed keeps the poor desperate, when deceit is the norm, when the earth is pillaged by over-consumption by the few, and when there seems to be no hope left in the land.
Our God is not one for good times only. Our God is with us at the birth of a baby and at the death of a good decent man. Our God is with us at times of peace and at times of conflict. Our God is the child waiting to be held and cradled, and the brother or sister stepping into eternal life. Jesus Christ was born because God loves us and longs to share every moment of our lives. There is no season for Christmas; it is the dawn of each day and the dark of each night. No matter the joy or sorrow in our hearts and lives, Jesus Christ is born again each day.
The only appropriate response is to fall on our knees in gratitude and in adoration and proclaim with the Church and with all people, Jesus Christ is born.
From the “Roman Martyrology”:
“The twenty-fifth day of December:
In the five thousand one hundred and ninety-ninth year of the creation of the world from the time when God in the beginning created the heavens and the earth; the two thousand nine hundred and fifty-seventh year after the flood; the two thousand and fifteenth year from the birth of Abraham; the one thousand five hundred and tenth year from Moses and the going forth of the people of Israel from Egypt; the one thousand and thirty-second year from David’s being anointed king; in the sixty-fifth week according to the prophecy of Daniel; in the one hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiad; the seven hundred and fifty-second year from the foundation of the city of Rome; the forty second year of the reign of Octavian Augustus; the whole world being at peace, in the sixth age of the world,
Jesus Christ the eternal God and Son of the eternal Father, desiring to sanctify the world by his most merciful coming, being conceived by the Holy Spirit, and nine months having passed since his conception, was born in Bethlehem of Judea of the Virgin Mary, being made flesh. The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh.”
May the peace of Christ be in our hearts and the presence of Christ in our days.
