In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
Luke 2:1-7 (NRSV) – The Birth of Jesus
So it’s Christmas, and we who follow Jesus remember and celebrate that event where God became flesh – one of us, as what the first chapter of the gospel of John says. But the message of Christmas is not just about that one-time event. The message (or question, actually) of Christmas is whether we are willing to allow Christ to be born into our flesh, and into our lives.
Yes, we believe that God became flesh, and God did so by being born as human. But also, by God becoming human, we may also be born into God and born into God’s life.
This is not a question of worthiness, of who is worthy to embody God. Because all of us are worthy. All of us are being asked the same question of trust and commitment: are we able to trust God; are we be able to say yes to God; and are we able to trust that God will be with us, in us, and through us?
I hope this Christmas, we can trust God. Magtiwala tayo sa Diyos na gustong makiisa sa atin at maging kabahagi natin sa pamamagitan din natin. I hope that we can trust this God who desires to be in our flesh intimately, lovingly, and faithfully. I hope this Christmas we can say yes and allow God, allow Christ, to be embodied in our lives. And in this embodiment, in Christ becoming in our flesh, I hope Christ will transform us, transform our lives, our bodies, our genders, our sexualities, and all other kinds of differences, our whole beings be transformed in as much as Christ is transformed into our flesh, into our bodies.
And so, may love and justice be embodied in and through us. Doing so, may our lives, and my our Christ be alive in our world today.
Isang maligaya at mapagpalayang Pasko sa inyong lahat.
