Msgr. Paul V. Garrity
On the threshold of Christmas, Muslims, Jews and Hindu’s are bombarded with Christian imagery that is not part of their traditions. Santa Claus, who has disguised Christian roots, provides a way to enter this festive time of the year without compromising differing religious values. Thankfully, the world we live in today is a great deal more accepting of the diversity that we find in contrasting cultures and religious traditions. In the Catholic Church, this new era of comity was promoted by the Second Vatican Council of 1965 that encouraged Catholics to acknowledge and respect the spiritual and moral truths of non-Christian traditions.
Within the Christian family, there is agreement about what we celebrate at Christmas. The Gospel of Luke has the best description of the Christmas story. Mary and Joseph journey to Bethlehem to comply with the Roman Census. Jesus is born on a starry night in a stable or a cave. Shepherds from the surrounding hillsides come to worship the child Jesus because he is believed to be God. There are many other details in the section of Luke’s Gospel called the Infancy Narrative. Suffice it to say, this story is at the heart of what we celebrate on Christmas each year, the birth of Jesus.
While there is consensus about the roots of Christianity that begin with the birth of Jesus, there are many different opinions as to the significance of what we celebrate. Christology is a particular branch of theology that focuses on this question, exclusively. Who is Jesus Christ? Why do we call Christmas the feast of the Incarnation? What is the significance of his death on the Cross? What do Christians believe about His Resurrection that we celebrate on Easter Sunday? These are just a few of the multiple questions that Christology seeks to answer. When we hear Franklin Graham, Joel Osteem, Evangelical preachers and Roman Catholic priests talk about Jesus, each is speaking or preaching from an underlying theology that comes from their answers to these questions.
Saint Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament, is the most outstanding theologian of the first century. His insights into the significance of Jesus shape the way most Christians come to think about Jesus. After his divine encounter, on his way to persecute the early followers of Jesus, Paul has no doubt that Jesus is God. He also understands that God is Pure Spirit. The Incarnation, therefore, is God (Christ) taking on human flesh (carne) in the person of Jesus.
The significance of the Incarnation for the human race, according to St. Paul, is that all humanity is raised to a new dignity because God has become One with humankind. In his teaching, Jesus introduces his followers to the person he calls Father and teaches that His Father is now to be regarded as our Father, as well. Needless to say, the imagery of family is at the heart and core of the way that Jesus wants his followers to regard themselves. The Our Father prayer, taught by Jesus to his disciples, captures the relationship that Jesus wants his followers to cultivate with God.
In his relationship with Jesus, Paul experiences a union that defines his life. He talks about his life being hidden in Christ. He says: it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ living in me. He speaks of God’s plan that all people see themselves as adopted children of God. Jesus, in the famous passage about separating the sheep from the goats, says that whatever you did for the least of these you did to me. For Christians, therefore, Christmas celebrates the moment that all people everywhere become the adopted children of God.
The 19th century Danish philosopher and theologian, Soren Kierkegaard, famously observed that reason can take us only so far in life and that true knowledge requires a leap of faith. Christmas is the leap of faith that Christians make when the immensity of God is accepted as being born in time, in a manger, to the poorest of the poor. As we know, all people are not Christians. For all Christians, however, all people are objects of God’s unconditional love.
When Christians understand the significance of Christmas, the result is empathy for the suffering people of Gaza, the victims of war in Ukraine, the undocumented immigrants around the world who are only looking for a safe place to live, and the victims of violence and injustice everywhere. True Christians also understand that Jesus was put to death by the Roman Empire because his radical teachings about love and justice threatened the billionaires of his day.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!
Msgr. Paul Garrity is a Senir Priest of the Archdiocese of Boston and former past or St. Mary’s Parish and High School, Lynn.
