ናይ መንፈስ ቅዱስ ኣገልግሎት

Every year when we celebrate Christmas, we ponder upon the mystery of Christ becoming man though we know we can never reach a full understanding of it in the earth for it will remain always a mystery of our faith (mysteriumfidei). Yet we enjoy celebrating Christmas for different reasons.

For some, it is simply a festive time just like that. For some, it is something intrinsically associated with the weather, the snowy season to be precise. If Christmas is not white, it is not Christmas at all to this kind of people. For some, it is just a cultural feast having no religious meaning at all.

This recalls to my mind what a friend of mine who recently came from Africa to visit his family in London told me. One day, he found himself in a supermarket, which was decorated with Christmas trees and lights. Just to see people's reactions, he asked one of the girls working there what Christmas means. To his astonishment, she did not have a foggiest idea what it really is. She simply told him that it is a time of the year in which people exchange gifts to each other. She also added that it might also be something like a religious stuff. My friend was shocked when she told him she heard that in the USA some people say it is the birthday of Jesus. "How about here," he asked himself, "does it have other meaning in this country?" My friend asked what Jesus was and her answer was that he was a religious leader. At least she had some notion that Jesus was a religious leader. My friend could not work it out to reconcile of what he heard with what he had expected.

No doubt, secularism has swamped along our modern cities and countries so forcefully that religion is becoming something outdated, something of the past. Strange as it may seem, even the secular world loves Christmas to bits; yes, how a blessed time Christmas is even to the Atheist as far as he succeeds emptying his store. What a blessed time indeed it is to the merchant who sells all kinds of gift items. Yes, it is a lovely time of the year for the secularcommodist who can envisage all sorts of gift commodities in anticipation of Christmas, no matter what his religion, if he has one, of course.

But Christmas does not consist in all that pompous secular merchandising. It is a million miles away from that. It is a unique Birthday celebration, which does not need all that kind of noise and disturbance. In fact, it happened in a quiet smelly stable in a manger at Bethlehem. There was no big celebration to mark that wonderful arrival of the Savior in human terms. The scale of the celebration was divine and heavenly but there was no superficiality involved in it. The party was given by the angels to poor shepherds. It was so humble yet glorious, so in secret yet obvious to those who are poor in spirit. Christmas is by its nature the blend of the divine with the human, the heavenly with the earthly. It is the entrance of the Eternal in time, the Omnipresent in a particular geographical area, Bethlehem of the Land of Judah, to be precise. On that blessed night of His Nativity, the Son of God became Son of Man as well. It was His second birth. In His first birth, the Word was begotten from the Father in the way of divine generation; in His second birth, He became flesh in the mystery of the Incarnation. He was born of the Virgin Mary. Yes, He is begotten but not made (created).

This we think during the Season of Christmas. What a wonderful mystery! And the thought of Christmas as Christ's first coming should spurn us for His second coming. His first coming was in secrete and silently; His second coming won't be like that. It will be openly and gloriously.

Who will stand when Jesus comes in His glory to judge the living and the dead? It will be an awesome and terrible moment. Celebrating Christmas, we look in two different directions; first, to the past when Our Lord came as man in Bethlehem; and secondly, into the future to His second coming.

Christmas is such a great event that needs to be told to everybody on the surface of the world. We must tell out this story to those living in despair. We must tell them that their Redeemer has already come. We cannot hold such a wonderful Good News only for ourselves; it should be shared with all the living. We have to proclaim the Good News of Emmanuel- God with us. Long ago the prophet Isaiah had declared:

Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who are of a fearful heart,

 "Be strong, fear not!
  Behold, your God will come with vengeance,
  with the recompense of God.
  He will come and save you."

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then shall the lame man leap like a hart,
and the tongue of the dumb sing for joy. (Is 35:3-6)

The same message applies even today. We must declare our Lord's saving visitation. Isaiah had spoken using the future tense - behold your God will come and save you. In our case it should be told in the perfect tense; Behold your God has come and has saved you! Yes, the Lord Jesus has come to us as Emmanuel -God with us, and we have been saved by Him. Jesus is His Name, which means Saviour. Indeed He is ourSaviour. "She (Mary) will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." (Mt 1:21)
Come Lord Jesus, come.Maranatha! Amen!