Today, December 25, Father Rafael de Mosteyrin offers the following article on Christmas, highlighting the importance of the interior celebration: “What Greatness Is that of an Almighty God Who Wants to Make Himself So Small!”
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At Christmas, we remember that God loves us so much that He is born as one of us. Saint Joseph and the Virgin Mary are obliged to tidy up a stable, so that He is born in a manger, given that no one wants to receive them. It is a unique event, witnessed only by a few. Some shepherds go hurriedly to accompany Him. Days Later some Magi arrive, guided by a star. The Angels also descend to congratulate the Child Jesus. However, first of all, a Virgin Mother, accompanied by Saint Joseph, who acts as father and husband, adores her newborn Son. What greatness that of an Almighty God Who wants to make Himself so small! He is born absolutely vulnerable and needy so that we realize how much He waits for our love, which we can express with the good works of our life. Then He asks us, How do you want to receive me these days?
Why did this happen? A very long time before, our first parents disobeyed God and committed the original sin. Then God Himself had no other remedy than to let us remain separated from Him. However, with His infinite mercy, He wanted to forgive us and to show the greatest love possible. He would make Himself one of us so that we would understand how much He loves us. Then He will offer Himself in sacrifice, to God the Father, so that we can again be accepted in eternity.
Jesus is going to be born. A week before, Mary and Joseph received a very inopportune order. An edict of Caesar Augustus stating that they must go to register to the city where Joseph’s family came from, which is Bethlehem. The Virgin has a week left before giving birth, and it’s not the best moment to travel. That journey meant crossing the country from north to south, enduring all sorts of discomforts. Tradition tells us that the Virgin Mary traveled on a donkey, and Saint Joseph accompanied her on foot.
From the Holy Family, we learn humility. They show this to us because they do not complain and are not surprised by the poverty in which the Son of God is born. From their behavior, we also learn what the spirit of service means, as between them, there is mutual collaboration, without anger or impatience. The main thing about Christmas is that we should discover the importance of the interior celebration, much more necessary than the exterior one. And to have this celebration within means to think about our life. Of what we must repent, to ask God for His forgiveness and the way can get closer to Him.
Without a doubt, the greatest closeness is always participation in Holy Mass. In addition to Christmas and Sundays, there are three days that are equally important; hence they are also days of obligation. December 25, which is Christmas; January 1, which is Holy Mary’s day; and the 6th, Jesus self-revelation to all people, the day of the adoration of the Wise Men.
Translation by Virginia M. Forrester
