The wonder of the Nativity of the Lord, that holy silence that received the Word, evokes deep prayer. No human achievement, no technique, no method could ever achieve what is freely given during this Holy Season. Only humility can welcome the humility of God that this feast knows.
The freshness of this coming of the Word at Christmas is the only truly new thing that this tired old world has ever known. Having implicated Himself in our weakness and poverty, the Word of the Almighty God makes Himself as vulnerable now in our hearts as He was as a newborn baby. With great concern for the dignity of each one, He is careful not to overwhelm or to force, but to be present in a manner that is at once subtle, gentle and kind. Not afraid of rejection, He exercises His great power to address us by means of a bold invitation, a surprising appeal, an insistent cry of the heart. So great and inexhaustible is His desire for us that He constantly comes in ways that are never the same, always new - as if each Noel were the first Noel and the only Noel that He had ever offered.
Life-giving in the face death, He comes anew today to illuminate the Divine Tenderness towards us that we have too long shut our eyes against. His radiance draws, attracts and captivates. Why resist such beauty? This Light that our darkness cannot overcome is ever ready to save, to comfort, to raise up. What is more, in this Christmas Glory we see that God Himself longs to be held like a baby, to be carried, to be consoled. Bound in swaddling cloths for our sake, the smile of Divine Word on us awakens hope and provides that new beginning we thought we could never have. The Virgin's Baby does so all in a moment pregnant with truth, in a whisper that roars through our hearts,
The freshness of this coming of the Word at Christmas is the only truly new thing that this tired old world has ever known. Having implicated Himself in our weakness and poverty, the Word of the Almighty God makes Himself as vulnerable now in our hearts as He was as a newborn baby. With great concern for the dignity of each one, He is careful not to overwhelm or to force, but to be present in a manner that is at once subtle, gentle and kind. Not afraid of rejection, He exercises His great power to address us by means of a bold invitation, a surprising appeal, an insistent cry of the heart. So great and inexhaustible is His desire for us that He constantly comes in ways that are never the same, always new - as if each Noel were the first Noel and the only Noel that He had ever offered.
Life-giving in the face death, He comes anew today to illuminate the Divine Tenderness towards us that we have too long shut our eyes against. His radiance draws, attracts and captivates. Why resist such beauty? This Light that our darkness cannot overcome is ever ready to save, to comfort, to raise up. What is more, in this Christmas Glory we see that God Himself longs to be held like a baby, to be carried, to be consoled. Bound in swaddling cloths for our sake, the smile of Divine Word on us awakens hope and provides that new beginning we thought we could never have. The Virgin's Baby does so all in a moment pregnant with truth, in a whisper that roars through our hearts,
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