In a world of wars and bloodshed, where the powerful and lawless of the Earth hypocritically and shamelessly call for peace, the “God of Peace and Father of the Sufferings” sends His Son once again to be born among men, bringing with Him “peace be upon all things”.
Joseph and the Virgin Maria will wander to look for accommodation but in vain; the land of Palestine more inhospitable than ever, since the modern “Herod rages and asks for the soul of the child” and the soul of the innocent children of Gaza and the mourning of the of mothers ascending to the Throne of God, will cover the angelic hymns and the song of the Pastors who await the Lord. The glow from the tracer-bullet will be confused with the Star and the three Wise Men, the Kings of the Persians, will lose the way that leads to the new-born King. The benign animals, terrified by the explosions, will scatter pale and their breath will not be able to warm the Holy Infant…
And so, Christ will look for another place, more suitable to be born. He will find a place in the heart of each one of us, he will desire the manger of our soul to come as a baby. However, once again our hearts are not ready to accept the Saviour, as our indifference to what is happening in our world, to the injustice towards the weak, poverty, exploitation, inequalities and above all to the war and the massacres of civilians, such as for example those that happen in Palestine, with the tolerance – if not with the blessings – of the Western -supposedly civilized- World, has covered every part of our existence that could accommodate the God-Man.
This is the question that should occupy us all for the New Year, which is coming up soon. Will we live again in a world that in every way refuses to give birth to the Messiah? Will we live this year again without Christ? Again we decorated our houses, the streets, the squares, the shops but the house of our soul remains untidy and inhospitable for Christ who is looking for a place to be born…??? And this question demands answers in a compelling and relentless way, and the answers cannot but be “Christ is born”, in spite of all those who deny Him…
Happy and blessed New Year!!!