Saint Luke sets the time and place when God broke into human history in a dramatic way. Caesar Augustus, as emperor of the Roman Empire, was considered divine and the empire was in the midst of a (relatively) peaceful age, called Pax Romana, or sometimes Pax Augusta. Rome was secure and at peace, thanks to the divine emperor.
At the edge of this great empire - practically at the edge of the known world - in a dusty provincial outpost, a little Jewish boy was born. And this Jewish baby was God himself; God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, as we profess in the Nicene Creed. This true God, unlike the divine emperor sitting in Rome, would usher a wholly different kind of peace into the world.
This peace is not the kind of political or social peace we usually think of. When the wise men came to Jerusalem looking for the newborn king of the Jews, King Herod and all of Jerusalem became extremely agitated. (Matthew 2:1-3) Herod would later order the slaughter of all the boys aged 2 and under in the area of Bethlehem in an attempt to eliminate what he understood as a rival to this power. Herod's son and successor would later be bewildered by the adult Jesus. The Roman governor Pontius Pilate would become unsettled when confronted with Jesus the accused criminal. Pilate's wife even had an ominous dream about this righteous man. (Matthew 27:19)
Jesus has continuously made the comfortable uncomfortable right up to the present day. Try talking about Jesus anywhere in public outside of church.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. (John 14:27) The peace of Jesus Christ, the only true and lasting peace, is attained when we give our lives completely to Him, knowing that whatever happens to us in this world, Jesus is with us every step of the way and he will save us. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world. (John 16:33)
A place at the table
The word for 'Christmas Eve' in Polish is Wigilia. Wigilia is a very important and special celebration in Poland. Everyone wants to be with family on this day. There are many traditions followed on Wigilia. People fast during the day and then eat a traditional evening meal after the first star is spotted in the sky. Before the meal there's the praying of the Lord's Prayer followed by family members going from person to person, sharing pieces of a blessed wafer (opłatek) and expressing wishes for the upcoming year (a very emotional moment with not a dry eye to be found afterwards). After the meal comes the exchanging of gifts and midnight mass. One nice little custom is setting an extra place at the table. This is done in case somebody in need comes to the door; that person would be invited to sit at the extra place prepared for them.
A year ago a Polish film came out titled Listy do M (in English, Letters to S - 'S' as in Santa or Saint Nicholas, which is Mikołaj in Polish). This film is one of those comedy-drama-romances. In the beginning of the film we meet the various characters. Their lives are intertwined or eventually will be. There's a family of four: father, mother, disaffected teen daughter and grandpa. The couple's marriage is an unhappy one. The wife is cheating with a single guy who is currently working as a shopping mall Santa. He's frustrated with his life. There's a young woman, lonely and looking for romantic love, working alongside him as a shopping mall elf. There's a popular radio DJ who's a widower raising a young son alone. There's a childless couple whose lives are disrupted by the arrival of a runaway orphan girl.
By the end of the film, each of them will be surprised by love.
For example, take the unhappy family of four. They apparently haven't celebrated a traditional Wigilia in many years. In a fit of desperation, on Christmas Eve the father packs the family in the car to take them to visit some relatives. He and his wife get into a loud argument. The teenage daughter mopes and scowls in the backseat, next to grandpa who seems delighted at the prospect of a good old-fashioned Wigilia. The wife orders her husband to turn the car around and take them all home. When he refuses, she grabs the wheel, causing them to run off the road in a wooded area. The car is hopelessly stuck in the snow. After some more shouting at each other, they all tramp off together to find a house where they can ask for assistance.
They find a house and knock at the door. Naturally, it being Wigilia, there's a large family gathering in the house. The man and woman of the house both press the unhappy family to stay for Wigilia. The house is warm and dry, the people are happy and friendly. After some hesitation, the new arrivals agree to stay. They begin to warm up - physically and emotionally - and eventually laugh together about their predicament. Love is reborn in that family.
They were strangers in need, and there was plenty of room for them at the table.
Everlasting
There are a thousand things more I could write about Christmas. For me as a Christian believer it never gets old. Every year the splendid beauty of it overwhelms me. I've sang the carols a thousand times and yet often they still make my heart flutter and cause me to lose my breath.
Because of that astonishing birth in Bethlehem 2,000 years, the living flame of this holiday continues to burn. No amount of crass commercialisation, loss of faith or indifference can extinguish the true meaning of this day. The vulnerable baby lying in the manger disarms us.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, I wish you peace, joy and love this Christmas and always.
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