Christmas 2025

When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another,

“Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.”

So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger.

When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child.

All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds.

And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.

Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen,

just as it had been told to them.

Luke 2:15-20

---

Merry Christmas!

On Christmas, we hear our Mary wraps the child in swaddling clothes and lays him in a manger. And then as if we didn't get the point, the angels tell shepherds, 'you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.' Mary's prepared and wraps her child to protect him.

From the very beginning, we are meant to see and feel both the fragility as well as the threats that loom over life. Our faith always has this dual aspect, just as the birth of Christ had a dual aspect, loving care and rejection, glory and persecution.

Our faith has this dual aspect. The angels sing for him, but a sovereign will persecute him. One day, the people will acclaim his hymn as king, but shortly afterwards, he will be put on the cross by the same crowd.

Our faith has the same two aspects, rejection and glory, death and resurrection, intimacy with God, isolation from the world.

A genuine human life also requires protection. If the fountain that gives us life is not swaddled and cared for, it will wither and die.

Our relationship with God requires care and attention. And the truth is that we hardly know how to care for ourselves. And one of the signs of this incompetency is how humanity is so driven by disordered appetites. We crave so much. And even as we get what we think we need, our new possession is overwhelmed by some new appetite, a new obsession.

But now, on this Christmas day, there is hope.

Those who go to visit the child are given two contrasting descriptions, cared for by his mother, but deposited in the place of food for animals. Normally, a child has to eat, but this child is placed in a manger as if he is the food. And of course, he becomes bread for the world. My body is real food. My blood real drink, he will one day say.

Humanity is fixated with satisfying its appetites. This child brings the solution to the disordered appetites, first experienced by Adam and Eve.

And today we meet a new Eve: Mary, rejected by the other guests, is welcomed by the shepherds. It's not the owners of great herds, but the poor guardians of the sheep at night that have this wonderful experience.

And now it's our turn. All of us are on a constant journey, and we will be restless until we all meet in God. At Christmas, we have the revelation of the new life that's being offered to us, the life of children, who refuse to be slaves to their appetites, who refuse to seek a permanent and secure base in this life, who refuse to live a mediocre life where we become the measure, the value of everything.

How beautiful is this new life brought to us by Christ, who comes to take away the hungers of the world? This is the life of a pilgrim, of one who seeks the Father in all things, who journeys and grows in every action of their life.