A visit to Bethlehem is naturally an essential part of any pilgrimage to Israel, to “Jesus’ country”. And the Kimberley pilgrims who visited the Holy Land in October this year duly paid homage to the memory of the Infant Jesus as they enthusiastically attended the scene honoured as the place where he was born. The exact location of the place of the manger was at a lower level quite some metres down from the floor of the church we first entered.
When you arrive there, after the people in the queue have eventually descended into the dimly lit space, you see the decorations and constructs laid down over the ages – the silverware, the icons, the embroidered cloths and finely woven carpets, the marble.
As you view what is before you, it is most difficult to imagine that first Christmas night when the boy child was born upon the filthy floor of the stable, complete with its animals and feed and dung. In the midst of all these ‘improvements’ in the Bethlehem Shrine, it becomes a staunch effort to recall that our Blessed Lord was born into real poverty, in appalling surroundings, devoid of any of the trappings of opulence.
Most of us enjoy the glitter of Christmas with its festive lights, the neat crib scenes, the presents and the brightly attractive decorations that go with the celebrations of the season. But for all this, it would be shameful if we forgot our origins in faith.
Our faith life began with the birth of a child who was to be Christ our King, who was born into poverty in an isolated part of the Roman Empire and whose very life changed the world like no other in history. Despite his undisputable kingship, he wore not a crown as his symbol of leadership but a cross. Upon that tree hung the hopes of the world and upon that symbol all of our hopes have been held on high ever since.
During this season of newness, it is good to remind ourselves that one of the matters that Pope Francis continually tried to draw our attention to, during the now past Jubilee Year, is the need to live simply, without greed, to be devoid of opulence. He coaches us to be disregarding of the quest to accumulate those things in life that grow to possess us. Rather, he asks us to joyously acknowledge the mercy of God and to be people who are merciful towards others. To be compassionate as our heavenly Father is compassionate. Mercy, he says, is the name of God and so too it should be our name, a name that defines us as all things selfless.
As we celebrate a newness in the birth of Jesus, a name above all other names, let us be reminded that our hope is in the mercy of God: “By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us” (Luke 1:78). Then might we be reminded of God’s promise to us: “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body a heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you… and you shall be my people, and I will be your God” (Ez. 36:26).
I wish you and your family God’s choicest blessings this Christmas.