December 2020
There will be no Christmas this year.
For some people there will be no Christmas this year. As St. Oscar Romero puts it bluntly, “The self-sufficient, the proud, those who, because they have everything, look down on others, those who have no need even of God — for them there will be no Christmas…”
There will be no Christmas for those who hoard their riches, who guard jealously their fame, and who wield their power unjustly over others. The glitter and bright lights of worldly wealth, honor, and power will outshine the star of Bethlehem. The noise and clatter of worldly allurements will drown the sound and the song of the angels. Their hardened hearts having been securely locked from within by these illusions of security and self-sufficiency will not welcome the arrival of the heavenly Child. There will be no Christmas for them this year.
BUT THERE WILL BE CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR.
There will be Christmas this year for those who have need of God in their lives.
There will be Christmas for those who possess the poverty of spirit and acknowledge their need for a Savior.
There will be Christmas for the poor and hungry, sick and dying, tired and weary, the oppressed and prisoners, all those who have need of that special Someone will behold the bright star of Bethlehem.
There will be Christmas this year for like the poor shepherds who lived in the margins of society, they will awaken to the call of the heavenly hosts and rejoice to the angelic voices singing, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
There will be Christmas this year when the Christ-child finds a warm and welcome home in the hearts of those who are truly poor in spirit. Amid the weariness of a world wracked with lies, division, violence, and death, the Savior will descend gently on all those who welcome him and fills them with a profound sense of joy and peace.
This Christmas, may our poor and humble hearts deeply yearn for and warmly welcome Emmanuel—God with us—in these challenging times. May He fill us with the abundance of his love that comes from becoming one like us, “the Lord Jesus Christ who became poor for our sake, although he was rich, so that by his poverty you might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8: 9).
A joy-full Christmas and hope-filled New Year to all of us!
FR. PRIMITIVO VIRAY JR., S.J.
Provincial Superior, Philippine Jesuits