The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
a light has dawned. – Isaiah 9:2
Emmanuel– God-with-us…this is what we celebrate at Christmas and also try to hold close to us each day throughout each year. 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 within 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 when 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’s great compassion and love. I am certain that tears came to his eyes as he observed the thousands of people 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 own heart was nearly breaking at times, his eyes 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 of children and teens in this country. He mourns, with us and through us, as civil and ethnic wars rage in this country and in other places in the world. His tears flow, with us and through us, at the wanton destruction and deaths from horrific warfare in Ukraine and Palestine. He wraps his arms around the refugees in the world fleeing desperate conditions in their homelands, hoping to survive and create better lives for themselves and their families.
As we continue to celebrate the coming of the Light of the World Which Dispels the Darkness, 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 wherever and however 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 on this beautiful planet. May it be so!
As each day’s light grows longer and shines brighter, may you and your families all have a reflective, blessed, and peaceful year filled with light, love, and hope! May you be a Christ-light in the world!
– Rita Simon
Thank you Rita, especially for the declaration that “And not only is God with us, but God is also within each and every one of us and within all of creation.”. I struggle to realize this at times, but I know it is true. I like very much your statement “Jesus, God-with-us, human-like-us, laughed and wept, and experienced the full range of human emotions”. Like many people know, that laughter and humor are important human characteristics, but where do we see it in scripture – I wondered about this for a lone time and found recently a book by Father James Martin titled “Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor, and Laughter Are at the Heart of the Spiritual Life”. Father Martin describes how to see the joy, humor and laughter of Jesus in First Century Israel as you have stated, being true of Jesus’s humanity.
Thank you for lightening my morning.
It is easy to see the “”face of Jesus” in that child’s face. It would be more compelling, I think, if you had chosen a starving child in Darfur or even a very unattractive homeless person.
I agree. I would have used a photo I have of a child crying in a war zone overseas. It is very powerful and poignant. However, we can no longer use photos that are copywrited without the owner’s permission. So, I can only use my own photos.
https://amishamerica.com/amish-mennonites-others-come-together-to-can-80000-pounds-of-chicken-for-charity/
Just yesterday I read this article and watched the video. Here is Christ in action through us!
Yes, what bit of light can we, each one of us, bring to the world.
Peace and all good.
Thank you Rita. Well said.