The Dangerous Reality of Christmas

A blessed and joyous Christmas to all who read this! While we continue to be immersed in the light and joy of this blessed and holy season of Christmas, we are also reminded of the dangerous reality of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ that we celebrate during these twelve days.

St. Stephen,
Deacon & Martyr
December 26th

In claiming the Christ Child as our Lord, Savior, and Master, we are embracing a counter-cultural vision of the world. Our power is not in prestige or wealth, but rests in the fragile baby who was born into an impoverished Jewish family. God exults those who are powerless and humble. The merciful, the just, and the peacemakers will be vindicated by the Lord, for our faith reminds us that there is more to life than what we experience here and now. Indeed, God's justice and mercy - inaugurated one silent night more than 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem - will be brought to fulfillment and fullness at the end of time. 

As Christians, we celebrate the Incarnation of the very Word of God. We must then constantly work to de-construct the gods and idols of our own making: consumerism, greed, lust, and domination. Instead, like the Christ Child, we humbly embrace the Gospel values of poverty, lowliness, and self-giving love.  

St. John,
Apostle & Exile
December 27th

All this week, we have remembered various saints and martyrs who have given their very lives in witnessing to these Gospel values inherent in the coming of Christ at Christmas. In some cases, such as in the martyrdom of Stephen, their lives were willingly handed over to their persecutors. In other cases, such as with the innocent children of 1st century Bethlehem, violence and martyrdom were imposed by those unbridled forces of evil and hatred. 

Today in our own time, Christians throughout the world, particularly in Iraq, Syria, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, and Nigeria, continue to be persecuted, rejected, and martyred for their faith in the Incarnate Lord. Many others - though not Christian in creed - become like Christ the refugee child as they flee the violence that has engulfed their once serene towns and homelands.

The Holy Innocents,
1st century Martyrs
December 28th

The wood of the crib foreshadows the wood of the cross. Christ was born into our imperfect and sinful world, a world that still clings desperately onto its own darkness. However, the Son of God became one like us not to condemn nor to punish us, but to illumine our lives and our hearts with the light of God's love, truth, and mercy. The martyrs of long ago and of today still experience the dark powers of cruelty, evil, and suffering. Their witness points to the victorious power of God's saving love, even in the midst of death. The martyrs' lowliness and poverty of spirit give perfect witness and embody the Incarnation of Christ Jesus. 

St. Thomas a Becket,
Bishop & Martyr
December 29th

This is the dangerous reality of Christmas that we are invited to consider. We remember those who have given their lives in witness to Christ. And we pray for those who continue to be persecuted for the sake of the name of Jesus. While we may never have to give up our lives in martyrdom, we are nevertheless challenged to embrace the same Gospel values of Christ and his martyr-witnesses: humility, lowliness, poverty, and self-giving love.