by Shadra Strickland
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2022
“Brothers and sisters, standing before the crib, we contemplate what is central, beyond all the pretty lights and decorations. We contemplate the child. In his littleness, God is completely present. Let us acknowledge this: “Baby Jesus, you are God, the God who becomes a child”. Let us be amazed by this scandalous truth. The One who embraces the universe needs to be held in another’s arms. The One who created the sun needs to be warmed. Tenderness incarnate needs to be coddled. Infinite love has a miniscule heart that beats softly. The eternal Word is an “infant”, a speechless child. The Bread of life needs to be nourished. The Creator of the world has no home. Today, all is turned upside down: God comes into the world in littleness. His grandeur appears in littleness.
To accept littleness means something else too. It means embracing Jesus in the little ones of today. Loving him, that is, in the least of our brothers and sisters. Serving him in the poor, those most like Jesus who was born in poverty. It is in them that he wants to be honoured. On this night of love, may we have only one fear: that of offending God’s love, hurting him by despising the poor with our indifference.”
Pope Francis
Today is Christmas Day, the day that Western Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
The Christ Mass was first celebrated on December 25th in the year 336. Constantine was the first Roman emperor who professed to be a Christian, and he is the first to mark the holiday. There are a few theories about why this date was chosen. The Annunciation — which is the Angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that she had been chosen to bear Jesus, the Son of God — was traditionally celebrated at the spring equinox, around March 25.
For the first few centuries of Christianity, there was great resistance to observing the birth of Jesus Christ, or indeed any saint. Early Christians believed that birthdays should be mourned, not celebrated, because that is the day that people are born into their lives of suffering. Instead, Christians celebrated the day that a saint was martyred, because that was the day of their true birth into the spiritual realm. So people celebrated the Epiphany—the baptism of Jesus—and Easter — his death and resurrection — instead.
Christmas Light
by May Sarton
When everyone had gone
I sat in the library
With the small silent tree,
She and I alone.
How softly she shone!
And for the first time then
For the first time this year,
I felt reborn again,
I knew love’s presence near.
Love distant, love detached
And strangely without weight,
Was with me in the night
When everyone had gone
And the garland of pure light
Stayed on, stayed on.
“Christmas Light” by May Sarton from Collected Poems. © Norton, 1993.
The Vibrant Channeled Creator 