Jesus wept,
and in his weeping,
he joined himself forever
to those who mourn…
He stands with the mourners,
for his name is God-with-us.

-Ann Weems

Emmanuel – God-with-us…this is what we celebrate at Christmas! This is what we are called to reflect upon and remember. We believe that Jesus is both fully human and fully Divine. And not only is God with us, but God is also within each and every one of us and in all of creation This is what St. Francis so joyfully celebrated at the first creche in Greccio! Yes, we must be joyful! The world needs this joy more than ever as we experience it heaving with humanity’s self-inflicted pain and sorrow.

Jesus, God-with-us, human-like-us, laughed and wept, and experienced the full range of human emotions. He was born, as all healthy human babies are, with a vigorous cry. He laughed playing as a child and cried when he fell and scraped his knee. He enjoyed down-to-earth comradeship with his disciples, and I imagine they sometimes had some hilarious tear-producing stories told between them. We know of Jesus’ great compassion and love, and I am certain tears came to his eyes as he observed thousands sitting below the hill eager to hear his voice, but without enough food for themselves or their families. I imagine, as he encountered all the broken people looking for healing, that his heart was near breaking at times, his eyes frequently tearing up as he offered them solace.

This world needs our joy and our tears, and Jesus laughs and cries with us and through us. He cries, with us and through us, as gun violence is now the leading cause of deaths in children and teens in this country. He mourns, with us and through us, as civil and ethnic wars in Africa and other places rage. His tears flow, with us and through us, at the wanton destruction and death from horrific warfare in Ukraine and Palestine. He wraps his arms, with us and through us, around the refugees in the world forced to flee desperate conditions in their homelands, hoping to survive and create better lives for themselves and their families.

As we celebrate the coming of the Light of the World Which Dispels the Darkness this Christmas, may we also reflect on the photo above and see the beautiful “face of Jesus” in this child’s face. Ponder in your heart and mind how each of us, with and through Jesus, is also called to be the light of the world. We must each do our part as God-within-us to dispel darkness however and wherever we can. Each tiny flicker of light we shine will gather together to become a brilliant, fiery burning star. That brilliant star will grow brighter and brighter to dispel the darkness and bring justice, peace, and freedom for everyone and everything in the whole world! May it be so!

May you and your families all have a reflective, blessed, and peaceful Christmas filled with light and love!

– Rita Simon