Christmas Day Reflection with Fr Robin Gibbons

Icon by Fr Robin Gibbons

We are all aware during the feasts of Christmas, almost without too much thought, of the musical cadences of prophecy in the Old Testament, the different gospel accounts of the Nativity of Jesus and other events, as well as John's wonderful poetry about the Word made flesh. Because of this familiarity we can be forgiven for our present preoccupation in a disturbing pandemic, with missing the traditions we associate with Christmas (and have become so used to) that we have forgotten what we assume as long tradition is in fact the product of many changes. What we are going through at the moment is perhaps nostalgia for gathering, singing, feeling good, partying, sharing presents and catching up with people we miss.

Yet this year, the world engaged in a fight to get through a pandemic that is far from abating, perhaps we are actually in the right religious place for once! The two things I have homed in on when musing or thinking about the feasts, is firstly that this stripped down, cut back, rather sad set of Nativity celebrations might be far closer to the real story than anything else we have gone through! Secondly, though the message might be of joy and cosiness, the shepherds give us something very special to think about:
"The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people". (Lk 2:10)

Not being afraid is a constant theme throughout the Gospels, Jesus in his ministry says it often, and who can blame him given the instability and occupation of his homeland which must have worn thin the nerves of the even most placid of people? Two things, unease and fear, haunt us at this time. Covid 19 has come as an angel amongst us, but an angel more in tune with the OT Passover than the NT messengers, gathering to bring news of great joy, or ask a humble lady to take on the impossible task of bearing the Son of God, let alone possibly turning natural law on its head by giving Elizabeth a longed for joy in a very late pregnancy! The angels of the NT are pretty straightforward in their dealings with humanity, yet horrible as it may appear when seen in the sufferings of so many, Covid 19 for all its mutations is also straightforward, but its message is to be fearful of what we have already done in destroying the only home we have, uneasy about the future, warning us to go another way!

Dickens' Christmas Carol inadvertently gave me a real spiritual insight into the meaning of THIS Christmas. Scrooge was given a type of angelic visitation as we are now, when he faced past, present and future. But he heeded the warnings and faced his own wounded nature, that made him cut off affection, grow hard and cynical, encouraging in him miserly selfishness. Several images in the story helped me see how this Christmas is very much a visitation of a stripped down radical messenger of the Gospel . Ignorance is found in Herod's Court and amongst the religious leaders who do not hear, nor see the various prophets' messages. Want is found in the people under a Roman yoke seeking deliverance and freedom, needing a God who is love not hard rule and regulation. Scrooge comes to self understanding when he connects with his own life and loves, his sister, or his great love Belle, who like an angel says to him: "You fear the world too much". It is when Scrooge really connects with others, his nephew Fred, Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim, that a corner is turned, compassion and mercy are found in his redemption, for they also become the gifts he receives.

So with us, Covid 19 is like those visitors, showing us a past that has not always been good, a present where we are heedless of the real vocation humanity has, and a future where we can help make the difference! The first Christmas was full of people in bad situations, Mary, Joseph, the outcast criminally regarded shepherds, the unwanted foreigners seeking truth, the murdered innocents, Herods cruelty, a Roman occupation hated and resisted .No Nine Lessons and `Carols there, no festive meals, no rejoicing in the surplus population. In fact it has the quality of deprivation and unease we now know!

But it is in the message of the angels to those outcast shepherds, that of future joy, of present salvation, of past histories to learn from, of good will from God and peace for all who love each other, we discover this alone can help us. We like Scrooge have to go into the Crib of our hearts and let love in, accept that generosity he found in Bob Crachit and his nephew Fred. This Christmas time stripped down to the bare essentials, we pray these words from John's Gospel, to the Emmanuel in our hearts :

"* All things came to be through him,

and without him nothing came to be.

What came to be through him was life,

and this life was the light of the human race;

the light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness has not overcome it". (Jn 1:3-5)

And in praying these words, let us truly believe in them. Amen.

May I wish all of you who read my reflections a Blessed and Merry Christmas, and hope that we celebrate all the feasts in our hearts and homes this year.