The Beginning of a New Story

Timothy Gardner O.P.

25 December 2004
Christmas

fr Timothy Gardner invites us to make the good news of Christmas a new beginning for our own lives.

One of the most arresting insights into what we celebrate at Christmas comes in a line of a carol: 'See, within a manger lies he who made the starry skies.' The picture is of the creator of the universe laying aside his majesty, his knowledge, his power, his glory and his greatness in order to become part of creation.

At Christmas we celebrate the weakness of God. God comes not as a conquering warrior, but as a tiny baby. He who is the light comes in the midst of darkness. He whose body and blood are the true food of every man and woman sleeps in a manger, a feeding trough. The shepherds leave behind their lambs to worship him who is the true shepherd and the Lamb of God. He who is the first-born of all creation is the first-born of Mary.

This is the 'good news of great joy' that the shepherds hear. It is not the simply joy and relief that accompanies the safe delivery of any human baby, but the joy which is a fruit of the Spirit. Throughout history God has spoken through creation, through cosmic events and human history, through earthquakes, wind and fire and through liberating his people from Egypt and from Babylon. But this story of salvation in the end is a story of Immanuel, of God-with-us, God living a human life. Jesus is the en-man-ment of God and through him creation and history are humanised.

All parents wonder what the future holds for their children and it must have been the same for Mary and Joseph. But thanks to the coming of Jesus as a helpless baby, there really is a future. The meaning of Christmas is the meaning of life: Jesus Christ. We rejoice because life has a meaning; it has a future. Jesus is not the culmination of salvation history but its new beginning. Christmas joy is not like the joviality of ruddy-faced gentlemen in Victorian illustrations or the hearty laughter of Father Christmas; it is hope in the future. It is the knowledge that we inhabit not just history but the history of our redemption. We experience joy not only because Christ came in weakness and simplicity at Bethlehem but also because he will come again in glory.

Our joy comes from knowing that this birth is only the beginning of the story. The rest of the story will unfold quickly: tomorrow, the feast of the Holy Family, will see Mary and Joseph taking Jesus to Egypt in fear of Herod. Then, in a few days' time, the Holy Innocents, massacred because Jesus had been born. Already present in this narrative of birth, angels and shepherds are death and persecution. Even at the birth of Christ we are conscious of his passion, death and resurrection. The massacre of the Holy Innocents reminds us that Christ was born into a world of darkness and that darkness is very dark indeed. This newborn baby, who has not even learned to walk, will also have to learn to die.

Already there are hints of the rejection that Jesus will meet in the world. There was no room at the inn. How could there be? He came to his own and his own did not receive him. There is no room for God among men. God should be welcomed like the Lord of the Universe and yet finds no welcome.

But God in his great providence finds a greater dwelling than a Bethlehem inn. He made the universe and saw that it was very good, but in the Resurrection of Jesus it receives an even greater splendour. Likewise, though men and women of Bethlehem did not receive the Christ-child into their homes, he finds a greater dwelling-place in the hearts of Mary and Joseph and the poor shepherds.

The good news of great joy is meant for the poor, those who seek not to acquire possessions, but to listen to the voice of God. The good news of great joy is for Mary whose God looked with favour upon her low estate and humiliation. The good news is for the shepherds who hear the message of the angels and believe it.

It can be good news of great joy for us too if we are among those to whom the kingdom is directed: the poor, the hungry, those who weep, those who are reviled on account of the Son of Man. The good news of Christmas is that God wants to dwell in our hearts.

What can I give him, poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb

And if I were a wise man I would do my part

But what I can I give him, I give him my heart

fr Timothy Gardner works in the Parish of Our Lady and St. Dominic, London.

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© Text 2004 Timothy Gardner O.P.
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