“The night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness
and put on the armour of light” (Rom 13:12).
Dearest brothers,
Filled with the joy and hope that radiate from the countenance of the Holy Child, Let us greet one another a Blessed Christmas.
Let us reflect together the words of Pope Francis.
Christmas fills us with joy and makes us certain that no sin will ever be greater than God’s mercy; no act of ours can ever prevent the dawn of his divine light from rising ever anew in human hearts. This feast invites us to renew our evangelical commitment to proclaim Christ, the Saviour of the world and the light of the universe. “Christ, ‘holy, blameless, undefiled’ (Heb 7:26) did not know sin (cf. 2 Cor 5:21) and came only to atone for the sins of the people (cf. Heb 2:17). The Church, however, clasping sinners to her bosom, at once holy and always in need of purification, follows constantly the path of penance and renewal. She ‘presses forward amid the persecutions of the world and the consolations of God’”, – amid the persecutions of the spirit of this world and the consolation of the Spirit of God – “announcing the cross and death of the Lord until he comes (cf. 1 Cor 11:26). But by the power of the risen Lord, she is given the strength to overcome, in patience and in love, her sorrows and her difficulties, both those from within and those from without, so that she may reveal in the world, faithfully, albeit with shadows, the mystery of the Lord until, in the end, it shall be manifested in full light” (Lumen Gentium, 8).
Each year, Christmas reminds us that God’s salvation, freely bestowed on all humanity, the Church and in particular on us, consecrated persons, does not act independently of our will, our cooperation, our freedom and our daily efforts. Salvation is a gift, true enough, but one that must be accepted, cherished and made to bear fruit (cf. Mt 25:14-30). Being Christian, in general and for us in particular as the Lord’s anointed and consecrated, does not mean acting like an élite group who think they have God in their pocket, but as persons who know that they are loved by the Lord despite being unworthy sinners. Those who are consecrated are nothing but servants in the vineyard of the Lord, who must hand over in due time the harvest and its gain to the owner of the vineyard (cf. Mt 20:1-16).
Let’s be vigilant: ‘as a result of excessive and misguided zeal, instead of following God, we can put ourselves in front of him, like Peter, who remonstrated with the Master and thus merited the most severe of Christ’s rebukes: “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on the things of God but on the things of men” (Mk 8:33)’. It’s a reminder for each of us as well as is a challenge that can make us more vigilant.
Let us remember that Christmas is the feast of the “great God who makes himself little and in his littleness does not cease to be great. And in this dialectic of great and little, we find the tenderness of God. A word that worldliness is always trying to take out of the dictionary: tenderness. The great God who becomes little, who is great and continues to become small” (cf. Homily in Santa Marta, 14 December 2017).
Happy Christmas to all!
Fr Joby Kavungal rcj
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Rev. Dr. Joby Kavungal RCJ
St. Thomas Quasi Province
Rogationist Fathers
West Desom-Aluva
683102
Ernakulam Dist., India
Mob. 0091-8547041790
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