Christmas without Christ

I stayed away from blogging for a couple of days to prepare a talk for the Faith Forum discussion at our Church. I must say that I worked really hard for it, picked apart the hard language of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and came up with a talk about the mystery behind the simple and inglorious birth of Jesus. Then came the disappointing part - I had three people in attendance to listen to the talk! It turned out people were too busy to come to church an hour early because all of them were busy getting ready for Christmas. Some even suggested that it was really not a good idea to schedule a talk a day before Christmas - even though the talk was about Jesus' birth. I am sorry if I sound bitter, but am I the only fool to see the irony here? We are too busy preparing for the birth of our Savior, but what about the Savior who is already here?


If you happened to be one of those busy people, as I was in the past, then you shouldn't feel all that bad though. Jesus has seen it before, soon after His birth that is. We all have heard about the three wise men who came to see Jesus after His birth. Though wise, they too made the mistake of looking for the king of Jews at the palace of King Herod. "When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born" (Matthew 2:3,4). Upon learning from the chief priests and the scribes that newborn King is in Bethlehem, the magi set out to the place where the child was. And there lies the problem - only the magi went to see the child; not the chief priests, not the scribes, and none of the inhabitants of Jerusalem!

The chief priests and the scribes were fully aware of the God's promise of a savior. They spent their whole life preparing themselves and others for the coming of the promised king. Then they came across three wise men who travelled a great distance in search of this savior whom they claimed has born already. But the priests and the scribes never bothered to accompany the wise men to see the child. They too were busy preparing for the arrival of the savior by ignoring the Savior who already came.

In a mad dash to do everything perfect for Christmas, we often forget to see "an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger". While running from one store to the other and from one Christmas party to the other, we are desperately trying to keep the excitement alive with the anticipation of a savior who is yet to come. The Christ that came already is no fun - He was too humble, condemned sin, warned us about the Judgement of God and died on a cross. What is the fun in that? So we just want the Christmas, not the Christ. 

"For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20). I used to wonder why Jesus said 'two or three', why not 'ten or fifteen'. I wonder such a way because I still haven't grasped the humility that Jesus possess or the love He has for us. How enormous He must be to become so small - the Creator awaits patiently for the fallen creation to return! I had three in attendance today. If I were to go by the word of Jesus, I am sure He was there in our midst. But I rescheduled the talk to a Sunday after the New Year bash. Needless to say, unlike Jesus, I am neither humble nor loving.

"Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross." (Philippians 2:5-8)